Public Warning's Declan Harding: "Beau made my life a living hell!"AXED Public Warning member hits out at former bandmate after "acrimonious" split.
[Above: The original line-up of Public Waring. From L-R; Carter Lee Alafouzos, Beau Elliot, Myles Dempsey, Declan Harding & Zander Lyons]Having spent four years together, just releasing their highly-acclaimed debut album and seeing it top the charts as well as another new single, the aptly titled
"Art of Letting Go", pacing for a top 5 debut on Monday, the Public Warning lads were seemingly riding the crest of one of the biggest yet smoothest waves the pop scene had witnessed in years. Things came crashing down around them, however, when Declan Harding was sensationally fired from the group earlier this week. The unexpected nature of it all, the back and forth of official public statements between the two parties, the Twitter spat involving Harding and Elliot and the divisive reactions among fans all read like something out of a "How To" guide written by counterparts Weekend and The Stat Nerds - two groups who have provided a slurry of tabloid fodder of this scale.
While many were blindsided by this turn of events, Harding himself included, a fractious relationship between members has been reportedly brewing for months. On the set of the video shoot for their previous chart-topping single;
"Ache & Breathe", the boys allegedly had a "blazing row" on location and they refused to work together or even speak to one another for that entire day. This resulted in the video being comprised of solo takes and cleverly edited moments to make the results look cohesive, professional and artistic. Reports claim that Declan and Beau engaged in a ferocious war of words behind the scenes and that Myles, Carter Lee and Zander threw in the towel and walked away from the situation after failing to calm them down. The source of the argument was over a jacket as Declan confirms when speaking to us in his exclusive first interview since departing from the band.
Declan Harding wrote:"The whole drama of the Ache & Breathe video is just one example of Beau's horrid temper. We were in wardrobe and I really wanted to wear this black jacket but no, he wanted it despite being much shorter than me. It escalated from there, really. Him wanting his own way. I actually didn't give two sh*ts about the jacket at the end of the day. It was the principle, though. That jacket didn't even fit him, it suited me most and because he wanted it and I DARED challenge him, it all kicked off. He always has to have his way. He's very intimidating, loud and entitled. Over the course of the years together, the other lads had become far more submissive to him than they used to be. It's like they just gave up and decided it's best to let him walk over them. I never did that. I always stood up to him and I think that was his biggest problem with me. Oh and he ended up not wearing the jacket in the end."
Of course, the problems were far more deep rooted than just something trivial like who gets to wear a jacket. While the boys have gone on record stating that they were all fine with the vocal distribution within the group, it is believed that the agreement to put Beau up front and centre stemmed multiple issues for them outside of the recording booths. As the band grew so did egos and popularity of certain members. While all five of them wrote and created their #1 debut album,
"A Moveable Feast", the limelight and credit seems to focus on Elliot while remnants trickle down to the bottom of the rung, where Harding found himself. Both he and Zander Lyons do not sing any lines on their own throughout their entire album and merely only join in to harmonise with the others.
Declan Harding wrote:"I remember Beau saying to me a couple of months ago; "You don't do enough in this group to even have an opinion!". That floored me. That was the icing on the cake, really. Showed me that the Beau I was once good friends with and hyped up and supported was gone. All ego and sadly, I was part in putting him on that pedestal. He was always a cocky b*stard but it was somewhat endearing and admirable. He just became a tyrant over the last year, however. When we got together, a decision was made to put Beau in lead position. That boy has an earth-shaking voice. I can't deny that. Beau is a SINGER. Me and the other boys are great singers too but we really wanted to highlight Beau because his voice makes you sit up and pay attention. We wanted to come out swinging and his belting is out of this world. We decided to do something different from the other groups and really focus on creating a strong and signature harmony, similar to a lot of Soul and R&B groups way back in the day. So that's what we did. It wasn't a case of us being lazy, us not being talented. We all worked hard in allocated roles. Just because I'm not up front doesn't mean I'm not working or singing. I have the lowest voice in the group and if you listen for that tone throughout our album, you can clearly hear me on the tracks. The narrative of Beau doing all the work is preposterous."
[The remaining four members are set to replace Harding in the coming weeks]The writing must have been on the wall for Declan and his time with the group as their latest single and last to feature him is titled
"Art of Letting Go" and again, it was the source of heated debates between the pair. The entirely Beau-lead track was not the choice Harding was hoping for as he believed there were much stronger tracks on the album to push as a single, namely
"The Wasted Youth" and
"Handful of Heaven". According to Harding, it wasn't just him that was initially against this choice for their fifth single, however, Elliot allegedly used "intimidating tactics" to get the others onboard. The low budget video was filmed in lockdown and features retro-styled summery shots of the boys in their garden interspersed with rehearsal clips as well as old photos and home videos of their childhood. While the video was able to be filmed relatively quickly and stress-free, similar tensions arose behind the scenes once again as Beau allegedly wanted more screen time, despite already singing lead for the entire song.
Declan admits that they were
"great friends in the beginning" and that he was the first person to really connect with the fiery Scottish teen.
"Beau and I are the most laddish of the bunch. We love our football, our video games, our beer - we really bonded. However, we were also the most opinionated and strong willed so we tended to clash the most but things always used to be resolved quickly but over the last year, the arguments seemed to be more plotted and like a personal attack," Declan confesses before adding;
"Beau made my life a living hell. We went from being best mates to feeling tense when the two of us were in a room together. Little digs here, little glares there. Frosty.". All of this comes after Public Warning's statements regarding Declan's axing and the alleged reason behind it. The band insist that Declan was "uncooperative" and "distant" over the last 12 months, having a negative impact on their work schedule and overall morale within their home. Declan vehemently denies this.
Declan Harding wrote:"One thing that hurt most was how they used my bad mental health days against me. Yes, there were times when I said I wanted to leave and I was too overwhelmed or upset to be all bouncy and la-di-da for cameras but we all had days like that. In fact, aside from Beau, I can tell you that every other member of that band at one time has said that they want to quit for one reason or another. It's just that when fame started to get to Beau's head and he began thinking he ruled the roost, he came down on me even harder because I always spoke up for myself. He started a narrative of "Declan's a pain in the arse", "Declan's a problem", "Declan's throwing a spanner in the works", when it wasn't like that. He took anything I said or did and amplified it. I couldn't breathe without him jumping down my throat over the last sixth months. He made it his mission to destroy and belittle me. Sad that he got into the other boys' heads. The fact that they went along with this stuns me. I'd also like to point out that Beau would also take trips to L.A. to see his girlfriend Lexi on our time and he even went and had a baby with her. So maybe I did take a few mental health days to clear my head but I didn't up and leave the f*cking continent to start a family on the side. Beau sees my needs as selfish but he can do all that and feel justified."
Declan rounded off his interview by stating that while he holds not resentment for Myles, Zander and Carter Lee, he still feels "disappointed" in them for "not having [his] back". He also still follows them on his social media accounts but has unfollowed Beau and his former management team. Declan is currently living with his parents amid lockdown and being evicted from his London home which he shared with Public Warning. The house just so happens to be in Beau's name. Harding claims that he has no immediate plans to return to music and is just focusing on rebuilding his life after the fallout.
