Catching up with the ex Majical Cloudz frontman
In the two years since Majical Cloudz’s breakup, Devon Welsh has remained quiet, slowly working on his solo debut, Dream Songs. Released on his newly formed label, You Are Accepted, Dream Songs is a perfect next step for Welsh. The record keeps the skeletal form of Welsh’s past work while introducing a strong focus on organic instrumentation and lush arrangements, which pair perfectly with the crooning baritone that we’ve all loved since day one. Whereas before, Welsh took a more ominous tone in his music, Dream Songs focuses on positivity, growth, and self-love. “I know there is a garden in me / I feel it growing,” he sings on the closing song, “Take It Easy.” The Strand sat down with Devon before his Toronto show to talk about going solo, the anxieties of success, and music journalism today.
How did the songs on this album come about? Are any from the Majical Cloudz era?
Whenever I’m making albums, I collect songs so I always have stuff. The process usually takes a really long time, from the beginning of writing and then paring them down to the recording process. The earliest song from Dream Songs was written in November 2013 (“Dreams Have Pushed You Around”). Dream Songs came once I was aware that Majical Cloudz wasn’t going to continue. I wasn’t writing with this built-in framework in mind. That was November 2015. That’s when I started thinking about making music under a different project.
Do you feel that Majical Cloudz was a persona with a specific image you were trying to push, compared to now, where your music is more personal under your own name?
It’s definitely more personal now. Majical Cloudz wasn’t a persona but [rather] a certain set of aesthetic rules and guidelines: this is what the project is about, these are the ways that we perform songs, building songs around loops, and it was kind of something that was tightly defined. [In] deciding to make music under my own name, one of the benefits was that I could do whatever I wanted. I can make different types of records and experiment.
Do you feel weighed down by the way that people’s expectations of a Devon Welsh project will always be compared to Majical Cloudz? Does it bother you to be constantly written about in relation to Majical Cloudz?
I think with doing press around this album, it’s kind of necessary to address the transition. The idea of doing something that people liked, then ending that and trying to do something else has a lot of sides to it. On one hand, people like what I did—that’s great. Period. If somebody continues to say that “this great thing in the past still means something to me,” that’s something I’ll enjoy as long as I’m alive. On the other hand, there’s people who say “I connected with Majical Cloudz more”; obviously that’s bittersweet—“I connected with you more in the past,” like an old friend you’ve grown apart from. But I can’t worry about it too much. Life carries on and I’m trying to connect with people that are interested in what I’m doing now.
I think a big question for musicians today is what is success and the point of making music? Is it having a large following, making money, or maybe just playing for yourself?
Everyone has their own definition. For some people there’s a certain way you begin to relate to your music when it takes its own character. For me, I don’t know exactly what all the causes of the breakup were, but at a certain point I started to disidentify with Majical Cloudz as a project. I didn’t feel like “me.” I felt I was doing it because it was working and there were certain parts that started to feel disconnecting. Maybe other people have this experience in the way people relate to the music I’m making. Sometimes you want to move on.
Did it feel like you were making music for other people, fans, or your label?
It’s a great experience to have people love your music. But it’s also something that you don’t necessarily need to bask in forever. There was something, at that time in my life, that was a little bit the idea of playing old songs [and going], “Oh I’m not into this song,” but everyone wants to hear it. At that point I wasn’t interested and wanted to do my own thing, re-establish my own relationship to making music. Make it in a way that was authentic to me.
I definitely see that in this album. Do you think we place too much importance on music reviews and publications?
I think I have a skewed perspective. There could be more emphasis on reviews and publications. We need more well-researched editorial voices doing it for real reasons that are commendable. I feel like journalism in general has declined with respect to the quality of the work, and music journalism is no exception to that. I remember 2008 to 2010 as the glory days for [music journalism]. You would go on the internet on a blog and it would explain the whole playlist or collection—“Why I think it’s really good” or “What it means to me.” It would be great if there was more energy put into music journalism.
Why did you decide to start your own label, You Are Accepted, and self-release Dream Songs?
I had a certain experience [in] the music industry and there were parts of it that I wasn’t entirely comfortable with. I felt like an outsider. There were parts I liked but I wasn’t done figuring out how it made sense for me to relate to being a musician. So self-releasing seemed comfortable for me. It allowed me to do things the way I wanted to do [them]. I could have my hands on each step of the process. I didn’t feel like before, where I was trying to present something earnest and genuine, but then there was this middleman that didn’t share this perspective.
What’s the future? Do you think your next album will also be released on your label?
For now, I’ll self-release it and hold on as long as I can until I’m completely broke [laughs]. Then figure out the next step from there. To me, music is about making the recordings and then connecting it directly to people who relate to it. I don’t need a massive intervention to spread my music into the world and along the way accrue these corporate relationships and sponsorships. I’m trying to get rid of that, do it on a smaller scale. Self-releasing is being able to do that more easily and not feel like there’s this entity hovering in the back grinning.
So you feel more comfortable in a smaller space? Compared to that Lorde Tour, do you think that impacted your views on large scale, commercial success?
It absolutely did. Prior to that, I had the thought that I could actually do something with this, and people [in the industry] went, “Oh, you can go places!” But I never really thought about the end goal or how big I wanted it to become. The experience of going on that tour resulted in people saying, “You’re way more legit now.” Suddenly I’m [thinking] what’s next? That was a strange experience and it’s hard to explain, but it wasn’t comfortable for me.
Maybe it wasn’t what you thought it would be? The expectations of big success.
Yeah, it’s in my personality. I’m kind of neurotic and other people were like, “I think you’re gonna do good but…we’ll see.” It gave me this sense of “Oh man, I need to fulfill these people’s expectations, I don’t wanna let them down.” Those giant shows were very alien to what I implicitly considered a good show in my mind, which is a small space and the dream would be just mastering that. Going on that tour [I felt] if things go perfectly, this is what I can aim to do in my wildest dreams. Then I thought I don’t belong in this environment, I felt like I was wearing clown shoes. After that I had these [questions] of “Where is this headed? What am I trying to accomplish? What does music mean to me? What inside me am I trying to satisfy by making music?” I realized climbing to ever greater heights of success was more corrosive than positive to me. I had a sense that I needed to get out of there.
What’s next for Devon Welsh?
Making [Dream Songs] took a really long time, especially since there was a lot of figuring things out for the first time in terms of self-releasing. I have a lot of songs that are written but yet to be recorded and released. My goal is to release another album by this time next year. I’ll be working towards that.
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