Justin Welch
Justin Steven Welch (born 4 December 1972) is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Elastica, Suede, and later the drummer in Lush. Welch is currently the drummer of Piroshka,  Aircooled & The Jesus and Mary Chain.

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 (where he would first meet Justine Frischmann) 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 Brighton based band Das Fenster.
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 three-quarters of the original line-up of Elastica – Matthews, Annie Holland and Justin Welch – worked together on the remastering of Elastica.In December 2017, the Elastica Facebook page announced that Welch featured on the debut single of a new British rock band called The Rockerati, "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 a member of Piroshka (featuring members of Lush and Moose) who have to date released two albums (Brickbat and Love Drips & Gathers) on the Bella Union records label. Welch is currently playing in a new band called AIRCOOLED  who in 2022 released their debut St leopards on their very own Music's not dead label and are currently finishing their second. The band say they are aiming have this record released later this year.
In 2022 Welch joined The Jesus and Mary Chain as their new drummer playing festivals throughout that year and shows performing their seminal sophomore album Darklands. Welch continues to perform live with the band on all forthcoming dates.

Personal life
He lives in St Leonards-on-Sea and is married to keyboardist Mew (known for playing in Elastica on the band's second album, and Heave), who is currently working as an artist.

Discography
Albums
Spitfire (1994, by Spitfire)
Elastica (1995, by Elastica)
The Menace (2000, by Elastica)
Brickbat  (2019, by Piroshka)
Love Drips and Gathers (2021, by Piroshka)
St Leopards (2022, by Aircooled)

Singles and EPs
17 (1997) Stephen Duffy
2 Tone Techno (2012, by The Asbo Kid)
Blind Spot (2016, by Lush)
"16 Tons"  (2017, by The Rockerati)


== References ==