As many of you know, music is a huge driver in the Welcome story. So this is the first of many playlists from the people who make Welcome what it is. Instead of just giving you a bunch of songs, we want to give you the specifics on why the selections either move us or what they have inspired. Hopefully we introduce you to something new and maybe less homogeneous than what you have been exposed to. We will keep each playlist 1 hour or shorter to make it a more curated list (1000s of important songs left off which we will get to over time).
Here are a few notes on this one:
- Siouxsie & the Banshees: "Dazzle" - Inspiration for the "Sheep of a Feather" graphic. I don’t even know the correlation, maybe you can see it.
- OMD: "The New Stone Age" - Drew our "Haunted Horse" graphic while listening to this one. We need to bring that one back!
- The Cure: "A Few Hours After This..." - Another old graphic and not one of my favs but "Sugar Fairy" was born from this song. That said, it is my favorite Cure song and it never made the album it was meant to go on.
- True Body: "Television" - Working on a graphic now which their whole album is driving. So good from start to finish.
- Bow Wow Wow: "Sexy Eiffel Towers" - My first crush was Anabella and hearing this song as a youngster was a bit much to handle!
- Cocteau Twins: "Wax and Wane" - Same theme as teenage me, I remember cute goth girls wearing their shirt growing up and once I finally heard them it has been in constant rotation for me ever since.
- Post Malone: "Goodbyes" - Haha idk, I love this song because it has way more heart than I would expect.
- New Order: "Ceremony" - Usually the song I pick when I think of a theme song for myself. All versions, Joy Division and Radiohead as well.
- Freddie Dredd: "GTG" - Something about this song feels really raw and punk. This is what I listen to if I'm in the gym.
- Adam and the Ants: "Prince Charming" - "Ridicule is nothing to be scared of." The original creed of Welcome, this is where I got that. But I do still really feel that. Also, "Adam X Garuda" graphic came from this song. Finally, for those in the know, in the video for this song the dance moves he does at the end mean "Pride, Courage, Humor, Flair."
- The London Suede: "My Dark Star" - This band is pretty much inspiration for a lot of what I want to create. This is one of my favorites. Bernard Butler’s guitar…
- The Horrors: "Something to Remember Me By" - Another overall inspiration for me. Their evolution as a band from album to album is so amazing. I had some back and forth with Faris (singer) over video chat about doing a collaboration before this record, but we got so busy I dropped the ball on it. Need to revisit.
- Skepta: "Man" - This is why we made a track suit and why that is all I was wearing for awhile.
- Taylor Swift- "Wildest Dreams"- 1989 is such a good album... both Shane Cox and I had no idea she was so sick. "Wildest Dreams" graphic is the result of this one.
- Bloc Party: "This Modern Love" - The slow build and burn... fuck. Just the magic I want Welcome to be.
- Lana Del Rey: "Bel Air" - Over the last few years I started taking day trips to museums in Los Angeles for inspiration. Lana Del Rey captures the vibe that I romanticize LA to be (especially growing up nearby). This one is particularly ethereal.
Jason Celaya - Welcome Founder/Artist