Justin Steven Welch is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Elastica, Suede, and later the drummer in Lush.
Biography
Welch moved to London in his late teens and studied at London's Drumtech drum school. He played drums in a number of bands in the early 1990s, including an early line-up of Suede and Spitfire. In 1996 Welch also formed the Britpop supergroup Me Me Me with Blur bassist Alex James and The Lilac Time frontman Stephen Duffy, who released one single "Hanging Around". Elastica split in 2001 and Welch moved to Devon 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. It was announced, in September 2015, that Welch would play drums in the newly reformed Lush. On 21 January 2017, Elastica's official Facebook page posted photos featuring three-fourths of the original line-up - Welch, Donna Matthews and Annie Holland - during a visit to Abbey Road Studios in London. Mastering engineer Sean McGee tweeted that he had just "cut a record for Elastica today" and that the band members "hadn't seen each other for 20 years." The specific details of the record have yet to be announced, but in response to fan comments regarding Frischmann's absence in the photos, the Facebook page stated that, "Justine's involved in what's happening too." In December 2017, the Elastica Facebook page announced that Welch featured on a new British rock band, The Rockerati's debut single "16 Tons". A post on Welch's personal Facebook page noted that the release had been receiving substantial radio airplay in the US. Welch is currently working on a new project called Piroshka with their debut album, Brickbat, released on 15 February 2019.
Personal life
He lives in Hastings and is married to keyboardist Mew Welch, who is currently working as an artist.
