The first time I saw Devon Welsh perform was at an after hours venue in Montreal that I’m pretty sure no longer exists. While my inebriated memory doesn’t serve me well, I must have liked the set because I have a roll of about 30 under exposed shots of Devon doing his thing. He’s since moved on to bigger things – he and bandmate Matthew Otto signed to Matador Records earlier this year under the moniker, Majical Cloudz, and they just returned from touring North America and Europe. Here, Maya Fuhr gets real with Devon about tour life and music stuff.
Intro by Rebecca Storm, Interview and photos by Maya Fuhr
You just got back from a long tour, how was that? What was the most memorable tour moment?
The tour was our first as headliners and it was also our longest tour. My perspective on performance was thoroughly altered — it felt like I was learning to really perform for the first time, and I came out of it having learned so much about what it means to be onstage. I became much more aware of Majical Cloudz as a band. In thinking about your question the first thing I thought about was my relationship with Matt. We rode in the car together every day, often for most of the day. We set up at the venue together, played every show together. The most “memorable moment” would have to be the constant moment of our subtly ever-evolving ultra-close-proximity relationship.
Your lyrics are often dark. Is it emotionally exhausting to repeat them night after night?
The lyrics of the songs we play are often dark but always come out of an intention to overcome dark feelings or to communicate something painful to someone for the sake of love. If we were making and performing cynical music that just dwells in darkness without looking forward I would probably not be able to tour.
Tell us about the name “Majical Cloudz”.
The name originated almost randomly and out of the necessity of coming up with a title for a series of improvised noise performances by myself and my friend Matthew E. Duffy in Spring 2008. It took on a life of its own after that, existing as the title of various collaborative and solo music projects before becoming the title of what I’m doing now with Matthew Otto.
Your dad is a pretty well known actor and you also studied Theatre. What has he taught you? Does theatre play a role in your musical performances?
The way I approach performing and what it means to be a musician has a lot to do with things I’ve learned from my father. I think I tend to view music through the lens of theatre, probably because of growing up around him. He’s a major inspiration to me. Ever since I started to make music (and particularly this project) I’ve had long discussions with him that have informed so much of how I perform.
Majical Cloudz
The first time I saw Devon Welsh perform was at an after hours venue in Montreal that I’m pretty sure no longer exists. While my inebriated memory doesn’t serve me well, I must have liked the set because I have a roll of about 30 under exposed shots of Devon doing his thing. He’s since moved on to bigger things – he and bandmate Matthew Otto signed to Matador Records earlier this year under the moniker, Majical Cloudz, and they just returned from touring North America and Europe. Here, Maya Fuhr gets real with Devon about tour life and music stuff.
Intro by Rebecca Storm, Interview and photos by Maya Fuhr
You just got back from a long tour, how was that? What was the most memorable tour moment?
The tour was our first as headliners and it was also our longest tour. My perspective on performance was thoroughly altered — it felt like I was learning to really perform for the first time, and I came out of it having learned so much about what it means to be onstage. I became much more aware of Majical Cloudz as a band. In thinking about your question the first thing I thought about was my relationship with Matt. We rode in the car together every day, often for most of the day. We set up at the venue together, played every show together. The most “memorable moment” would have to be the constant moment of our subtly ever-evolving ultra-close-proximity relationship.
Your lyrics are often dark. Is it emotionally exhausting to repeat them night after night?
The lyrics of the songs we play are often dark but always come out of an intention to overcome dark feelings or to communicate something painful to someone for the sake of love. If we were making and performing cynical music that just dwells in darkness without looking forward I would probably not be able to tour.
Tell us about the name “Majical Cloudz”.
The name originated almost randomly and out of the necessity of coming up with a title for a series of improvised noise performances by myself and my friend Matthew E. Duffy in Spring 2008. It took on a life of its own after that, existing as the title of various collaborative and solo music projects before becoming the title of what I’m doing now with Matthew Otto.
Your dad is a pretty well known actor and you also studied Theatre. What has he taught you? Does theatre play a role in your musical performances?
The way I approach performing and what it means to be a musician has a lot to do with things I’ve learned from my father. I think I tend to view music through the lens of theatre, probably because of growing up around him. He’s a major inspiration to me. Ever since I started to make music (and particularly this project) I’ve had long discussions with him that have informed so much of how I perform.
When you close your eyes what do you see?
Blue light reflection of my computer screen.