Declan Melia will be visiting Tasmania in the New Year with the rest of the band known as British India (Declan Melia: Guitar, Will Drummond: Bass, Nic Wilson: Lead guitar, Matt O’Gorman: Drums).
The name Declan means ‘full of goodness’ and this is a band full of original musical goodness, Declan’s surname Melia means ‘rival’ or ’emulating’ and indeed it may well be that this band has few rivals but many that seek to emulate British India’s unique sound and vision.
As a school boy Declan and the other guys that comprise British India were something of misfits at school, even though they were academically gifted they didn’t want to follow the normal route of school and university, a conventional job and necessarily the picket fence dream -or at least not yet!. Instead they decided to take their music as far as they could and this aim continues.
The guys found their name in Hong Kong when on holiday in 2005 they stumbled across a shop called British India. At the time there was resurgence in reverting to 60s and 70s sounding group names and their name British India was in part a rebellion against this in that they didn’t want their music defined by a specific genre and even blurred their origins, with many mistaking them to be a British band.
Unlike some musicians their music is not written from personal experience but is instead inspired by art and film.
This can be seen in their video clips, one example being ‘I can make you love me’ which might be viewed as a re-telling of beauty and the beast from the beast’s perspective but on another level, a darker edge giving voice to the monster within us all.
The group are usually pretty busy when on tour but this trip to Tasmania may give them a few extra days for relaxation. The guys are already MONA aficionados, calling it ‘groovy’.
You can see British India when they support ‘The Hunters and Collectors’ in Tasmania on:
Saturday March 15 Josef Chromy Wines, Launceston
Paula Xiberras
