Justin Steven Welch (born 4 December 1972) is an English musician, best known as the drummer in

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex- Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times ...

Suede Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was firs ...

, and later the drummer in Lush.

Biography

Welch moved to London in his late teens and studied at London's

Drumtech The British and Irish Modern Music Institute, now styled as the BIMM Institute, is a group of eight independent colleges which specialise in the provision of creative education in Brighton, Bristol, London, Dublin, Manchester, Berlin, Birmingh ...

drum school. He played drums in a number of bands in the early 1990s, including an early line-up of

(where he would first meet

Justine Frischmann Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. She was the lead singer of the Britpop band Elastica after forming Suede, before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as a painter ...

) and

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Griff ...

. In 1996 Welch also formed the

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

supergroup Me Me Me with Blur bassist Alex James and

The Lilac Time The Lilac Time is a British alternative folk-rock band, originally formed in Herefordshire, England by Stephen Duffy, his brother Nick Duffy and their friend Michael Weston in 1986. The band's name was taken from a line in the Nick Drake son ...

frontman

Stephen Duffy Stephen Anthony James Duffy (born 30 May 1960 in Alum Rock, Birmingham, England) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist and then drummer of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo perform ...

, who released one single "Hanging Around". Elastica split in 2001 and Welch moved to

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

where he taught drums in secondary and primary schools. In 2012, he was in a duo with friend and former EMF frontman James Atkin called 'Asbo Kid'. He also played drums for local Brighton bands Das Fenster and Oscillator. In 2013, Welch briefly re-united with Suede for several gigs to replace drummer Simon Gilbert who was unable to play due to contracting

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. It was announced, in September 2015, that Welch would play drums in the newly reformed Lush. On 21 January 2017 three-quarters of the original line-up of Elastica – Matthews,

Annie Holland Annabel "Annie" Holland (born 26 August 1965) is a British musician. She is best known as the bass guitarist and co-founder of the Britpop band Elastica. Holland had an Elastica song titled in her honour. "Annie" was written by guitarist Donn ...

and Justin Welch – worked together on the remastering of ''Elastica''. In December 2017, the Elastica Facebook page announced that Welch featured on the debut single of a new British rock band called The Rockerati, "16 Tons". A post on Welch's personal Facebook page noted that the release had been receiving substantial radio airplay in the US. Welch worked on a project called Piroshka with their debut album, ''Brickbat'', released on 15 February 2019. On May 1, 2021, Rakka Rakka Records released ''Dethhaus,'' an instrumental project Welch participated in with Johnny Void (guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist). Welch is currently working on a new project called The Stalwart Lovers with Sean Curran from The Sickerthings and

Ricky Maymi Ricky Rene Maymi (; is an American rock musician, best known as an original member of the psychedelic rock Psychedelic rock is a rock music genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelic culture, which is centered on p ...

from

The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American musical project and band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called '' Dig!'', and have gained media not ...

their debut album, ''Love Songs For A Broken Heart'', Release date is anticipated to be sometime in late 2022. In 2022, Welch joined

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid. After signing to independent label Creation Records, they re ...

as their new drummer.

Personal life

He lives in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

and is married to keyboardist Sharon Mew (known for playing in Elastica on the band's second album, and Heave), who is currently working as an artist.

Discography

Albums

* ''Elastica'' (1995, by Elastica) * ''The Menace'' (2000, by Elastica) * ''Brickbat'' (2019, by Piroshka) * ''Love Drips and Gathers'' (2021, by Piroshka)

Singles and EPs

* ''2 Tone Techno'' (2012, by The Asbo Kid) * ''Blind Spot'' (2016, by Lush) * "16 Tons" (2017, by The Rockerati) * ''DETHHAUS'' (2021, by DETHHAU

References

https://oost-online.nl/mary-chains-justin-welch-it-was-written-in-the-stars/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Welch, Justin 1972 births Living people People from Nuneaton English rock drummers English songwriters Elastica members Suede (band) members Britpop musicians 21st-century drummers Me Me Me (band) members Lush (band) members