A chat with Declan Melia (BRITISH INDIA)

Interview / Written by Sean Sebastian

                                                     

The most iconic image of Declan Melia would be his figure illuminated by blue spotlights, his red hoodie pulled over his face, screaming into a mic. His presence on stage is marked by the way he is almost unaware of the crowd, or when he does glimpse their ecstatic faces in the glow of the stage lights, his speedy attempt to cover himself up. Speaking to him on the phone however, he is full of energy, despite a slightly blocked nose, “I’m performing, if for anyone, for the other guys in the band. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism, you know, I pull the blinds down. I’m sure an experienced psychologist could tell you more about this than me”. He ponders this statement for a moment, then continues, “I’m not nervous about it, it’s just a tense experience. You’re very much on display. To describe the stage as a comfort zone is just bullshit - it's the absolute south-pole. There’s nothing comforting about it. It’s white light for me. It’s almost like being drunk, cos it seems to pass almost immediately”.

This is a rare quality for the front man of a young rock band, but British India hasn’t suffered from it at all. Their rapid rise to prominence with their debut album Guillotine in 2007 was lined with sold out shows throughout the country and performances at all of the major music festivals, including the Big Day Out, Splendour in the Grass and Falls Festival. This prolific touring was punctuated by a nomination for the Triple J J Award and extensive airplay on the radio. And Melia feels that the support from Triple J lay the foundations for the band’s success, “When we’d be at planes and airports and people would come up and ask, ‘What kind of music do you make?’ We always answer with, ‘We’re a Triple J band.’ We don’t mean we only get played on Triple J, but they gave us our career, like so many bands. They’re the reason we’re able to do what we do. We owe them everything”. He pauses, then playfully adds, “You know how you may have a beautiful girlfriend, but you don’t really appreciate her and treat her like shit and not call her back. We’re not like that with Triple J, we’re trying to be good husbands”.

The momentum set in the band’s early national gigging hasn’t let up in the last four years, and the band plan to embark again on a tour, starting tonight. “We’re kinda renowned, and rightly so, as the band that never stops touring. But, in truth, we haven’t toured the whole country in 6-8 months. It’s been a while between drinks. I’m looking very forward to getting up to some shenanigans,” Melia states excitedly. This tour will see the band tackle an international crowd, with a short trip to the US, and a journey through Germany, the UK and Japan. “Not having a label, we don’t really have anyone to shepherd us over there, so we more or less have to work things out for ourselves. But generally, there’s some enthusiasm left in the band, which is exciting,” Melia says.

As the conversation wore on, Melia became seemingly candid about the simmering tensions within the band. Positing themselves as an alternative band, British India had to fight against the pull of the mainstream when they’d stirred up some popularity. “One thing about British India, the best parts of our history have been us resisting the music industry; the chicanery, the fifteen layers of face paint and all the mascara that goes on. I feel like we’ve really had to fight that at every turn,” he says pensively, “When [the music industry] turned around we were kind of like the ugly girl in high school who got hot at about 20, but we weren’t interested anymore”. Though this sentiment is rife within the other members of the band, Melia points out that guitarist Nic Wilson is somewhat of a fanatic. “You can deal with it if you switch off the cynical part of your mind. Nic can’t. Nic hates it. He’d rather sit in a pub with a beer than be at some horrible after party. He almost refuses to do it, which is a constant thorn in my side,” he adds. 

“After [the tour], we’re coming back and gonna try and record the album I think. I’d really like to release it, and this is an exclusive for you, before the end of the year,” Melia reveals. He goes on, “As to how and when and what it would sound like, history’s kinda writing itself, which is exciting”. This album would be the band’s fourth in as many years, but the recording process of Avalanche has whet Melia’s appetite to finish writing. “I’d love to record like that again, but the time’s past. I dunno. Maybe we’ll go to the Sahara this time”. But for a band of 7 years, the fourth album would mean gathering members with “differing levels of enthusiasm,” as Melia puts it. However, the front man is remaining optimistic: “British India are at a strange point in their career where we can plough ahead, or throw things in completely. I think we’ve still got a lot of things to say and we still want to say them. We just wanna party on and look at it as an exciting thing. And we are excited. The day we lose that excitement, we’ll fucking pack it in man. We’ll pack it in faster than a removalist on speed. Or we’ll pack it in faster than I could think of that metaphor”.


The dates for British India's 2011 tour can be found here.