TJ Welch: I am doing pretty well. I am keeping busy, and managing to hold everything together at the moment. 

Can you tell us a little about the band and how you came to be? 

The band is a group of five guys who like to get together, drink, and rock out in my cellar once a week. Occasionally, we leave the cellar to either record a new cd, or play the occasional live show.  We came to be in 2004. I had just left The Blue Bloods, ...I had a couple of young boys, and I wanted to spend more time with them, instead of playing out every weekend.

   After a while, I got bored, so I recruited a bunch of guys with the goal of putting out a cd of punk music. The Welch Boys started out as a project to do a cd, and I never invisioned it to be a full time band. We are really more of a project than a band. The CD did much better than we thought, so we started to get busy, and do all the things that bands do. I fell into the same trap that I did with The Blue Bloods. We were playing out every weekend.  Lately, we have slowed down on the live gigs. We are trying to use the limited amount of time that we have to record a follow up cd.

You signed to Sailor's Grave Records, alongside other great bands like The Ducky Boys & U.S. Bombs...what prompted this decision? 

I was familiar with Thorp Records because our singer, Ed Lalli, is in Slapshot, and Thorp out out their latest cd. When we recorded our cd, I sent it to Andy at Thorp, and he liked it. I felt that Andy was an honest and genuine guy. He wanted to put it out. He was starting a new label called Sailor's Grave, which would be a division of Thorp. Sailor's Grave focused on the punk music, and Thorp was more of the hardcore and metal. Our cd was the fourth release on Sailors Grave. They have been very supportive of us, as well as a bunch of other great punk bands. We have some great company on this label.

  We also decided to have I Scream records put out our cd in Europe.  When I was in the Blue Bloods, I was on I Scream, and I liked dealing with those guys. They bought us to Europe for a month in 2003 to tour with Slapshot and Blood for Blood. 

   In both cases, we were happy to have our cd on labels that could get the product on the shelves at record stores worldwide.

With one release under your belt you guys have made quite the name for yourselves & played some amazing shows, so far which has been the most memorable?  

We recently had the chance to open for the Dropkick Murphys for a few shows. That was great. Their crowd really liked us, and it is always great to play in front of 1000 people. Also, we recently got a chance to play at CBGB's in New York with our label mates The Generators and the legendary Dead Kennedy's. It was great to play a sold out show at CBGB's , especially since the place is closing down for good.  

You guys all work hard and support families so you don't tour much. Do you think that the internet has been beneficial in spreading the word about the band?  

Touring is tough for us. We are a bit older than most new bands.  We want to do as much as we can, but things like families, kids, wives, mortgages, divorces, and rehab stints have made it difficult.

  Yes, the internet has been the best way for us to spread the word. We made a few videos with Joe Macon of Immaconmovies.com , and these videos have seen multiple thousands of hits. Back in the old days, before the net, you couldn't buy that type of exposure.  Also, Myspace, and our web page www.thewelchboys.com   get alot of activity. We get emails from fans all over the world. Indonesia, Australia. everywhere. 

Your songs touch on subjects that many of us can relate to like unity, friendship & pride.  Has the strong Boston music scene helped in the writing process? 

Every band member is involved with the writing proccess. I am influenced by my  upbringing in Malden Massachusetts, a blue collar city in suburban Boston.

  My song "617" is  about my pride and longing for Boston, and all my friends and family there. My wife helped me write the words. It's about as close to a love song for her that I can get.

 "United"  is a song about the importance of brotherhood and unity, especially in matters of freedom. There are forces in this world that are working to take away our freedom. Freedom is a basic human right. Those of us who enjoy freedom must realize that it can be taken away over time. We need to be vigilant. We need to appreciate the struggles that others have made in the past to get where we are. We also need to put aside our differences and unite when our freedom is threatened. I like the New Hampshire state moto " Live free or die" I used those words in the song.

  "Les Paul" isn't about a guitar as much as it is about a friend of mine who was going through a bad addiction to drugs. 

  "Upper Deck" is about a demented fecal prankster that I knew in college.

   Some of the other songs that I wrote have more personal and spiritual subject matter.

Where does the musical inspiration come from? Who has inspired you guys?  

I always liked the Beatles, Stones, Who, and all the classic rock. When I was a teenager, I started going to hardcore punk shows  in Boston. I managed to see all the old 80's punk bands like SS Decontrol, Jerry's Kids, DYS, Gang Green. I am a little crazy with music. I dj weddings for extra money, and I actually like alot of the wedding music like Frank Sinatra, Van Morrison, etc. I have about 10,000 cd's , and they range from oldies and jazz, to stoner metal, classical, reggae, and plenty of cheese.  Ed , our singer likes alot of hardcore and punk too. Cock Sparrer, Cro-Mags, Agnostic Front.  Mark worships the Ramones. PJ likes the metal, like Ozzy and Iron Maiden.

This isn't the first band you have been in, where else have we seen you? 

I started in the early 90's playing guitar in a band called Gage. Gage was formed by myself and Al Barile. Al was also the founder of SS Decontrol. We put out three cd's on XCLAIM records. Our sound probably had more in common with Tool and Pearl Jam than it did with punk. 

  In 1999, I formed the Blue Bloods with Tim Baxter . We wanted to play old school punk and hardcore music. I played on two cd's with them, before leaving to take a break and have kids.

What does the future hold for TJ Welch and The Welch Boys? 

Right now, we are going to concentrate on writing new tunes for the next cd. We may play out for gig or two in the next six months, but for the most part, we are going to try to put together a cd that is better than the debut by next year.  

Was Huey Lewis right...Is the heart of rock 'n' roll still beating? 

Yeh, it is. Huey was pure cheese, but his words ring true. Rock and roll is still going strong, and punk rock is pure, basic, rock and roll.  No computers, just Guitars, drums, bass, and attitude.

Thanks for the great interview!