The exciting new artist released his debut album "What Do You Think About the Car?" to acclaim, last year. This year is all things go for McKenna, who will be taking in a lot of the open road. A forty-three date US tour (forty-three!) and then there’s Coachella and his UK tour.
"Listen To Your Friends" was co-written with Vampire Weekend’s Rostam Batmanglij - what did you learn working with him?
I think just co-writing for the first time made me a bit more confident in going forward with ideas and trying things out. I think you can be too critical of yourself when showing your unfinished work to other people in a way that I hadn’t before. It definitely taught me that an idea doesn’t have to be initially great to be worth hearing.
Describe your style. Who are your style influences?
It's very varied and fluctuates. I'm into all kinds of fashion but I admit, don't know a massive amount about it. My style influences pretty much boil down to Annie Clark and the cast of Hey Arnold.
How have Trump, Brexit and UK politics influenced your music? Has any of it been a good thing for creativity?
I can't consider Trump or Brexit a good thing in any respect really. They're both bad for so many people and Brexit in particular could create a big reduction in the amount of UK bands that can afford to tour Europe. Neither have inspired anything I've created as of yet and I don't see it ever happening.
Should artists be more political with their music?
Not necessarily, there's plenty of political art out there if you look for it, and politics has been paving a way in the mainstream recently too. I think artists as people should be ready to speak up when needed to but in terms of art I can't really tell anyone what they should be making it for. A lot of art is inherently political and will reflect the times and the world around an artist, in whatever way.
What artists are you listening to (new or established)?
A lot of Belle & Sebastian, Bob Dylan, Osquello, Clairo, Superorganism, Scors.
What do you want to do for the first time in 2018?
I'm hoping to spend 2018 creating subliminal vegan propaganda for the first time but I'm mostly looking forward to getting some sleep.
The last 100 tickets for both UK shows, and the remaining tickets for his US tour, are available now via declanmckenna.net What Do You Think About The Car? is out now via Columbia Records. Follow us on Vero for exclusive music content and commentary, all the latest music lifestyle news and insider access into the GQ world, from behind-the-scenes insight to recommendations from our editors and high-profile talent.