“NO Pasaran” was the rallying cry used by republican leader Dolores Ibarruri in their stand against Franco fascists during the Spanish Civil War. Meaning “they shall not pass”, it’s also the title of the current single by Declan Welsh and The Decadent West.
Set to an intense guitar riff, Welsh sings in an acrid, fearsome tone: “No pasaran, no f****** chance, not in our streets, not in our towns.”
“I’m OK with not extending the hand of friendship to the far-right,” says 23-year-old Welsh, a day or so after he and his band launched the single at Glasgow’s Stereo to a packed crowd. “To me, that’s where the liberal message of ‘let’s understand all sides’ has its limits.
“The far-right is really such a small group of people. It’s not that everyone who, say, voted for Trump, is like that.”
With his sharp political eye honed during years of studying law at Strathclyde University, Welsh’s love of the clever, witty lyricism of songwriters such as Jarvis Cocker, Alex Turner and Courtney Barnett inspired him to delve further into the work of the likes of Allen Ginsberg and John Cooper Clarke. The latter’s caustic rhythms can be heard on the likes of the decidedly feminist spoken-word track Lads.
After spending 18 months as a solo artist, he now heads The Decadent West, the band being vindicated by their triumphal appearance at T in the Park in July. The following month, Welsh, who is also on the board of children and families agency Children In Scotland, was invited to play Glasgow’s newest twin city, Bethlehem.
Visiting a farm near the town of Ni’lin in the central West Bank, Welsh was among those who were tear-gassed during a protest against the Israeli Defence Force which had confiscated some of the farm’s crops and land.
“I can tell you first hand that tear gas really is an effective way to disperse a crowd,” he says. “The soldiers were just bored teenagers working in 40 degree heat. There were kids as young or seven or eight there and to them it was a common occurrence, whereas we were panicking. When it happened, this boy of about 12 said to us: ‘don’t worry, my house is just over there, we can take shelter’.”
Originally from East Mains in East Kilbride, Welsh admits to having itchy feet. Before travelling further afield next year, he and the band plan an extensive tour of Scotland in the coming months, as well as a new EP.
“I’m an internationalist, a socialist, someone who wants things to be better,” he says. “And the more I travel, the more I realise people are the same. They want the same things, have the same worries. And the visit to Palestine affirmed to me, that even subject to oppression and daily difficulties, humanity and culture shine though.
“This is why I’m optimistic that after what seems like the triumph of the far right this year that things can change,” he says. “A culture of hostility to migrants, to the unemployed, to refugees, to women, to LGBT people has been manufactured and allowed to thrive. But I have faith that can be changed, though it’s going to take a lot of grassroots work.”
facebook.com/DeclanWelshMusic
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