Article by Hope Mayer
Declan McKenna is not only a singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist who is incredibly talented — he has a sense of humor as well! We checked out his AMA on Reddit to see what we could gather on the English singer. He entertained questions like:
“So in the “Punching Declan McKenna in the face” YouTube video, are you really getting punched, or is it staged.”
With answers like:
“I was punched. at random. in public. in the face. with a fist. into a hot tub. I was eating some steamed kale. the kale went on the floor. I couldn’t see it anymore cause it was on the grass. the bits I could see were in the pool. I then fell in. it hurt. I was mad. The police came. They did nothing. They just laugh. I was sad. Fuck those guys.”
These interactions gave new and old followers of his music an insight into the personality we see in many of his songs. Declan demonstrates his incredible storytelling abilities in his songs, so it was exciting to see this quality within his answers. It shows he is consistent and cares about his music just as much as his fans. Below are a few other questions and answers from the AMA:
Congrats on the album, I saw you supporting Cage the Elephant at Brixton a few years ago and could instantly tell you were a generational talent. What keeps you interested in music? Touring is clearly challenging to both physical and mental health so what keeps that fire burning? Do you think you’ll still be putting out albums in a couple of decades?
Also, do you find people’s interest in the personal lives of musicians a bit weird?
Yeh I like to think I’ll keep going for a long time, I dunno if it will all be this project, but writing and performing music I can’t see stopping. It’s pretty taxing work a lot of the time but I’ve definitely learnt about what I need to do to stay in a relatively good space, wherever you’re ambitious you do have to set boundaries to keep going and not sink under everything. I guess all that is fueled by just loving music and being driven to create it, I never stop finding music I love and that drives me to make it, I guess it’s seeking those thrills in a weird way haha. Peoples interest in personal life of artists can be odd or overbearing but it’s also kind of normal, we all have stages of idolization, it’s ultimately something you have to get used to relatively quick, and also something again to be able to set boundaries and deny access at points that make you uncomfortable. this is such a long answer but good question to be fair haha x
After seeing your video from The Late Show with Colbert, I was wondering how many instruments you actually play (wouldn’t be surprised if it were even more than in said video), and at what age you started learning to play them. Also, what was in your mother’s milk, you’re so extremely talented!
Guitar has always been my main instrument since I was about 7, but always played a bit of bass too, got more into piano the last few years, and am beginner-intermediate at drums haha. also have played mandolin and banjo in my time lols
A very basic question, don’t mind me. but what was your favourite book (or book series) as a child and have they had any impact on you?
Series of Unfortunate Events! Read maybe between age like 8/9 and 11/12?? Was totally important for me as a writer, subverted all the things I knew books and plots to be I guess, and it was weird to me at the time, I was drawn to weird shit.
What song of zeros was the most difficult to write/record?
Eventually darling was pretty intense to get right haha. so many diff sections, lots of brain
After pulling these questions and answers from Reddit I realized something — Declan has it all. Talent, passion, personality, and kindness. Listening to his album after I read through his AMA, I felt like each song spoke to me more; I understood the artist in a completely new light. Yet, he is still so mysterious. The stories that he presents within his songs don’t have a definite plot or ending that is clear, so it grants artistic freedom to the listener to interpret however they decide to do so.
A song from the album that specifically spoked to me, wanting to interpret it, was “Be An Astronaut”. Providing an Elton John mixed with The Beatles tone with the echoing vocals and widened range of instruments, it puts the listener in a dreamscape environment right away– granting said artistic freedom I previously mentioned. I personally believe this song is a take on masculinity and how society forces boys to fit into this certain role that is expected of them.
The lines “and you wonder why boys will cry / boys will be boys / boys should listen / do as their mother’s tell them,” is a play on this idea that these expectations are constantly repeated and have been said among the years so they are engrained in what a boy believes he must be and the way he must act. They are also told they can “be whatever they want,” but the second that they stray from the expected role they are supposed to fill, society steps in and says what they want to be isn’t allowed. The metaphor here is that the boy is expected to be an Astronaut, a typical career society encourages young boys to pursue, but as the song develops I think the character, Daniel, realizes he wants to be an Astronaut, just not in the traditional sense.
I think a juxtaposition is created here between this role of a traditional Astronaut and his version. They do defy gravity, their bodies being well above the clouds, so I think this idea of being an Astronaut to Daniel refers to dreaming, having all of these goals that he could achieve…not necessarily an Astronaut like he wants to climb into a ship and go to the moon.
The guitar solo near the end builds this tension of defiance that the boy is choosing to make. “You’ll tell them what went wrong / they’ll say you’re lying” is a line that is repeated throughout the song, that I believe, may have a take on someone deciding to take their own path. While taking their own path, they have friends that are not being supportive because society has convinced them to live a certain way and they can’t imagine straying from the path. Throughout the song, it seems that the “boy” is trying to become more confident in his decision to be the one who strays from the path. In the line “born to be an astronaut and you’ll do it or die trying” sets a tone for the passion and drive that the “boy” has.
I also believe there is a chance that the Astronaut metaphor could be specifically viewed as not just the way boys are expected to live their lives, but potentially a take on sexuality. At the beginning of the song, Declan’s lines “the boys that wait outside of your house, I’ve got your number and I’m not afraid to use it, they’ll probably give it out to anyone they see, they’ll probably make up your mind as if you want them to,” could be a take on kids assuming someone’s sexuality and making fun of them because at a young age it isn’t exactly easy to understand someone’s sexuality being different than the typical “mom and dad” example that many kids growing up may have. I believe that even if the beginning is tied into sexual orientation, the metaphor of the Astronaut defying societal expectations of masculinity is still applicable. And hey! If this isn’t even remotely close to what Declan McKenna is wanting the listener to take away from this song, so be it. The fact that his storytelling abilities, instrumental genius, and passion put together are capable of creating numerous conversations as to what his songs mean is what I find to be truly amazing. Looking forward to listening to his newest album Zeros on repeat until he releases his next one.
Declan McKenna
