Next Wave #685: Declan McKenna

A teenager superstar in waiting...

Few musicians can say that they’ve gone from a total unknown to finding themselves on Sky News, signed to Columbia Records and gracing Glasto’s stage within six months – unless you’re Declan McKenna, of course.

The 17-year- old has nursed musician aspirations from a young age, and his career blossomed following his victory at last year’s Glastonbury Emerging Talent competition, earning him a slot at the festival and garnering huge amounts of critical acclaim. The competition also led to record labels clambering over each other in a frantic bid to sign him – a race won by Columbia, who sealed the deal at the festival itself.

Citing Jeff Buckley as his biggest influence, McKenna also counts The Beatles, Sufjan Stevens and St. Vincent amongst those he draws ideas from, taking musical cues from the likes of The Strokes and Mystery Jets. It’s these influences, in combination with his emotive vocals and infectious riffs, that have sent Declan’s career skyrocketing. “It’s really flattering to get people, whether it’s on Twitter or in person, saying that they like what I’m doing, and being able to feed off that energy on stage,” he nods.

His debut single ‘Brazil’ tackled FIFA’s decision to take the World Cup to the country in 2014, and his second, ‘Paracetamol’, was inspired by the suicide of transgender teen Leelah Alcorn and written from the perspective of an oppressive figure of authority. Despite this, McKenna disparages suggestions that he is intrinsically political. “I don’t really see myself as a Billy Bragg,” he offers. “I just write what I write about and sometimes it’s political. As I release more songs, people will see that actually I write about being a stupid 17-year-old half the time. I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to be viewed as a political voice, but I wouldn’t say it’s my main goal as an artist.”

Combining studying with his burgeoning career was always going to be tricky – while studying for his GCSEs, labels and management companies were “calling all the time, asking me to go for meetings, and I’d have to say no because I had my maths GCSE or whatever. The younger people understood, but it was really hectic.”

Now McKenna has left college in favour of making music full-time – although he hopes to continue his education online – and is focusing on making a bigger name for himself, alongside the early stages of crafting his debut album towards the tail end of this year.

Having recently formed a backing band, and with a smattering of headline dates in the pipeline, 2016 certainly looks like it mightn’t be a bad year in the life of the rising pop star.

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WHERE: Hertfordshire
WHAT: Breezy pop with bruised vocals for the indie kids
GET 3 SONGS: ‘Brazil’, ‘Paracetamol’, ‘Brew’

FACT: Declan is inspired by “religious pilgrimage points”, according to his Facebook profile.

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Words: Megan White
Photography: Samuel Bradley

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