By Carron Stacey, A Humdrum Mum

Welly are ‘the new big thing’ after seeing them at this year’s Victorious Festival and below is what happened when A Humdrum Mum interviewed them there.

• Read on for reasons including how Welly like one hit wonders

Q: How did you guys get together?

A: We were in a band ages ago in Southampton and then moved to Brighton, went to uni and met another couple of people. During lockdown I wrote about 80 songs. We’ve only been gigging for about a year; coming up 12 months next month. 

Q: Who are your musical influences? We can hear Yard Act, which we thought of immediately, and in your guitarist, I could hear a bit of the Orielles and Orange Juice from back in the 80s. 

A: Honestly, really 80s. A lot of Human League on the synthier tracks. I’m a really big Madness fan – the whole image. That’s where all the dancing comes from. I like The Clash. I don’t mind mind a little Britpop and Blur. I like one hit wonders, songs that were like huge for just ten minutes and then went away. It’s all riffs. 

Q: You’ve got a bit of a ska thing going there too… I usually like to name a group as in the bastard child of X and Y. Who would you say you are?

A: Something crazy like Sleaford Mods and Madness.

Q: What’s the ethos behind the band? Is it just to have some fun?

A: Exactly. We’d played in other bands for ages. We got sick of seeing bands standing still, acting really cool. That’s why I got my friends involved, no offence to them, they’re great musicians but rather than getting musos in, I got my mates in so we could have a laugh. I’m sick of seeing bands taking themselves way too seriously. I think the songs are amazing but I like to enjoy the crowds too. 

Q: Why the PE kits? (Welly perform in PE kits, including the odd bib and PE whistle on a lanyard.)

A: We wanted to find something that we could all wear, something quite English hence the PE kits. We are into all of that visual humour like Reeves and Mortimer, Harry Hill. We’re just trying to make it a gimmick.

Q: You’re a bit young for all that sort of comedy aren’t you? Is it what your parents like?

A: No! Well, my dad’s into that stuff. I don’t like clubbing, so I just watch Madness documentaries and obscure comedy from the 80s. That’s where I get my inspiration from. My lyrics are just like nonsense, stories like Ian Dury, Alan Bennett, stuff like that.

Q: What’s in the pipeline for you now?

A: There’s a eight track live EP coming out in December/January. We recorded it in a village hall and it’s just like a film documentary. We are doing a premier back at the same village hall. I wanted to put out the live stuff, that’s what I’m proud of at the moment. 

Q: You are a live act, most definitely. And finally, have you sent your stuff to Marc Riley on BBC 6 Music yet because I think you need to.

A: I sent letters out to Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley and Steve Lamacq. Steve got back to me and played us about three times. I sent him a letter and completely forgot about it and five weeks later, he played us on the show. I wrote in the letter, “When finished with this, please either frame or send to the V&A,” something like that and he liked that! Maybe more than the music! 

Catch Welly at The Brunswick, Brighton Friday 23 September and Edge of the Wedge, Portsmouth Sunday 27 November. We are. You’ll love a bit of it!

• Pictures via Facebook courtesy Welly and Victorious Tickets
• Read more from Carron at her blog A Humdrum Mum
• Have you seen any of these shows? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook