Check Out WELSHY's Latest Track 'HAITI' Which Already Has Hit 1million + steams & with a total of 41 Million+ Streams | We Chat About Everything From Viral Success To Irish Pubs
Welsh (real name Ross Walsh) has emerged as Ireland’shottest young producer, independently achieving over 41 millionstreams and earning recognition from superstar names BTS, Kygo and The Chainsmokers. Now signed to Insanity Records, Welshy shares his new track ‘Haiti’. It’s the official version of his bootleg track, which went viral and exceeded a million streams.
It takes one spin of ‘Haiti’ to discover why it has captured the imagination of so many people. The topline, courtesy of Haitian vocalist Coralie Hérard, is irresistible: a gleaming mix of beauty, exuberance and sensual soul. It’s elevated by Welshy’sproduction, which skillfully highlights house music’s brightest and boldest traits in pop-orientated package with international appeal.
Achieving viral success with your original bootleg version of ‘Haiti’, then the official version, has this success opened any door for you?
This track to me was the key I needed to get into the door I’ve been knocking on for years. This track has already given me so many new opportunities and introduced me to a lot of new people. I’ve always heard the saying it only takes one song to breakthrough, Haiti I hope is that track as so far so good.
Finding the original vocalist for ‘Haiti’ sent you on a wild goose chase. Can you tell us about trying to find the original recording and how you managed to find Coralie Hérard?
So that is a pretty long story, when I created the original bootleg version of Haiti, It just happened I had this amazing vocal on my computer. I love trawling the internet looking for acapella’s and samples for song ideas. When I find something I like I download it and put it into a folder I have on my pc for song ideas. When I made the initial beat that later became Haiti I was looking for a vocal that would suit the beat, so I went into the folder on my pc and came across a file that caught my attention. Initially it caught my attention because I didn’t recognise the file name so out of curiosity I played the audio file and I was blown away. Because the vocal file I used in my bootleg version wasn’t labeled correctly I didn’t know what the original sample was, after some research I then eventually found out what the sample was which was Michael Brun and Gardy Girault - Peze Kafe ft Coralie Hérard. After some more research we found out that Peze Kafe was actually a traditional Haitian folk song. After finding out the beautiful story of Peze Kafe and rich Haitian culture that came with it, that’s when I decided to call the project Haiti. When it came to doing the official version we all agreed that there was only 1 person who could deliver these vocals so we chased Coralie. We eventually found Coralie who was in Montreal at the time, my team and her team went back and forward and we eventually got a studio session for her to record in Montreal and the rest is history.
What made you want Coralie Hérard to re-record her original vocals and produce from scratch instead of resampling with the original vocals?
Coralie has one of the most beautiful soulful voices I have ever heard. When we decided on the re-sing we all agreed that it had to be Coralie. Coralie’s vocals bring a beautiful authenticity to the record.
‘Haiti’ mixes upbeat funk, soul and house to create an uplifting summer sound that makes you want to get up and dance. Did you grow up listening to a lot of funk and dancehall music?
Growing up disco and Mow-town definitely had a big influence on me but a lot of other eras and genres did too. The beauty of growing up in my household was that there wasn’t a particular style or genre playing in the house. There was a massive variation in taste between my parents and siblings so Kool and The Gang could have been followed by Robin S followed by The O’Jays to Chic and then Kylie Minogue.
As a teenager, what was the nightlife like in Kilkenny? Is this something that influenced your particular sound?
The nightlife in Kilkenny is predominately pub culture. Kilkenny is well known for its traditional Irish pubs and late bars so it wouldn’t really be known for the sound I’m creating. What really influenced my sound I guess would have been what I grew up listening to and then seeing what the likes of Avicii and Calvin Harris were doing at the time.
You’ve sold out headline venues not just in Ireland, but also throughout the UK and internationally. Do you have a favourite venue to play at?
I don’t have a particular favourite as every gig I’ve played all brought its own special elements. 1 standout show for me would have been my sold out headline show in my hometown of Kilkenny last Christmas. That was a very special moment for me as it was the first time I played in my hometown as an artist and to see the amount of friends and family that came to support me that night was a super rewarding experience that I will always cherish.
With your viral successes both bootleg and official, what do you think differentiates your remixes to other DJs and producers?
That’s a really good question, to me I think what differentiates me is I’m not being afraid to try out new things. I am a firm believer that a good idea that’s really innovative but may be slightly rough is way better than a song that’s produced to a super high standard but generic.
‘Trying to Reach You’ reached number 1 in less than 24 hours and then later ‘Sunshine Day’ How did it feel when you heard the news?
Those were 2 very special moments for me, 2 moments I still have to pinch myself to. When I heard the news my first reaction was disbelief, when it all sunk it was a massive feeling of accomplishment. I never in a million years thought anything like this would have happened to me so it was a very rewarding experience.
When making beats for your tracks you take a playful light-hearted and unconventional approach like hitting a rugby ball, rubbing bales of hay, or asking your friends to make nondescript noises. Have you had any amusing situations occur when experimenting with alternative noises?
Great question, I guess the most amusing story about this approach is that the initial production idea of Haiti stemmed from me slapping a rugby ball. The irony of it all is I’ve probably created thousands of songs over the years using fancy sample packs, spending hours on drums and sound design that never got picked up and the song I made slapping a rugby ball was the track that got picked up by a major record label. The reason I like doing these unconventional light-hearted fun tracks is I would like to inspire people and let them know that you don’t need all the expensive music equipment or sounds to create a hit. The only thing in my opinion that limits you in music is your lack of ability to not think outside the box.
#createdontcontaminate is the campaign you produced a sample for the during lockdown how did this come about? Furthermore, Did you find lockdown musically challenging or did you find it a time to be more experimental and playful?
#createdontcontaminate was a brilliant campaign setup by RTE in Ireland and the mission goal of this campaign was to get you creating content and having fun in lockdown instead of out spreading the virus. I was asked to take part in the music challenge which was to create a song in lockdown which I slightly went overboard on lol.
I of course found lockdown challenging like everyone but it has been really beneficial to me as a producer. The thing that’s kept me relatively sane throughout these strange times is I’m trying to use all the free time I now have to educate myself on as much as I can. Whether that’s in my own college education or learning a new compression technique for music production it’s essentially to me that I keep busy.
Being a self-taught DJ and producer (having taught yourself at age 14), how did you go about experimenting with different mixing and sampling programs like FL Studio and finding your individual sound as a young teenager?
I was very lucky in that regard that I’m a very stubborn person and only ever tried out FL Studio (I wouldn’t let it get the better of me). I’m a huge Avicii fan and when I started off producing music I wanted to make music like Avicii. My thought process at the time was that to make music like Avicii you needed to use what Avicii uses so I downloaded FL Studio. I have never looked back ever since, I love FL Studio - the amount of material that’s available online about this program is amazing.
‘Géibheann’ by Cailtlin Maude is an Irish poem you used in 2016? What was the thought process behind this decision?
Unfortunately there was no real master plan behind this decision. At the time I was studying for my Irish Oral exam in school. To study for our Irish Orals the textbook came with CDs that had Irish poems and dialogue you could to listen to. When I was studying one night I thought it would be hilarious to make a tune out of one of the poems on the CD. I out it online for my friends to see and it just blew up, I think that was the first time I ever went viral too which was pretty mental.
Do you find it important to show your process and progression of how your music has developed over the last few years?
Of course, I think it is very important that I show my progression not only for myself but for anybody I may have inspired. If you dig deep enough on youtube you will find my first ever youtube channel where I uploaded all my early productions, the quality of these tracks is absolutely horrific but I will never delete these tracks as it shows where I started. It also shows any new producers that Rome wasn’t built in a day that it took me years to get to where I am today.
Signing to Insanity Records now, how has this helped your music and career as an artist?
Signing to Insanity has already helped me in so many ways, in terms of my music I feel like I’m producing the best music I have ever produced right now. In terms of as an artist they are really helping me to develop into the artist I want to be. It has been so much fun so far.
Who are some of your favourite up-and-coming Irish Artists / DJs?
My favourite up and coming Irish artist at the minute is Shane Codd, Shane only recently came to my attention this year, his new song Get Out My Head is an absolute bop.
What is your favourite form of social media to connect with your followers and why?
I really like instagram, I really like how Instagram is setup where you have the main feed of pictures and videos, stories,igtv and now reels for me Instagram has everything.
Last year you were in the Evening Standard for scamming an online scammer into giving you money and donating said money to charity. You also love different challenges on social media such as the 10 minute music challenge. What fun new games or experiments should we be anticipating from you in the future?
To answer that question in short, expect a lot of fun light-hearted content that will hopefully brighten up your day.
Interview | Aly Blanchette