From East Mains to the West Bank, Declan Welsh’s message remains the same.

The East Kilbride troubadour is a fast-rising act on the Scottish music scene, playing punky, political songs inspired by everything he sees around him, from broken hearts to the rise of right wing politics.

Last year he travelled to Palestine and performed songs there.

“It’s all about looking at what people are like, and what unites them,” he says.

“I’ve done songs in Palestine about growing up in East Kilbride and people there have understood it. It’s about leaving the town and wanting to get away, and the basic emotions are the same wherever, they’re just amplified in Palestine given the situation there.

“One of the moments in Palestine that really resonated with me was hearing people say they wanted to leave but felt they couldn’t, because they were betraying their cause. It was harrowing.”

Accompanied by his band the Decadent West, Declan has already released the likes of No Pasaran, a fiery call to arms against fascism, and plans to work on an album later this year.

With a love for poetry and sharp lyrics, he’s been compared to acts as varied as the Clash, Courtney Barnett and the Arctic Monkeys, with upcoming gigs at the Electric Fields festival near Dumfries, and Glasgow’s multi-venue and band bash Tenement Trail, taking place on September 30.

Writing about politics (and regularly discussing various topics on Twitter) was never a deliberate move for the singer. Instead he fell naturally into it, the same way he’d pen a tune about getting his heart broken.

“It’s never been a thing where I’ve wanted to be seen as a political writer, it’s just something I’m interested in and I write about that,” he says.

“I wrote a song last week about a taxi driver I was in a cab with, and there’s ones about heartbreak, or the Spanish civil war. It’s all the same thing to me. You need to be saying something, whether that’s political or social or about love or loss. You have to put personality into the lyrics.”

Declan is busy offstage too. An essay he wrote online after the independence referendum in 2014 brought him into contact with the children and families agency Children In Scotland, where he now serves on the board. He is a vocal advocate for how aware younger generations are, both politically and socially.

“Older generations always think the younger ones don’t care and then the young people become that older generation and think the same,” he says.

“People in general are always more engaged than they get credit for, despite the system trying to put them off. People do care about things, and young people are always the more optimistic because they’ve got a future to fight for. You’ve seen that with Jeremy Corbyn and the independence movement and things like Take Back The Night [anti domestic and sexual violence group].

“You have to take power back and do what you can now, and young people can lead the way there.”

Declan’s words are amplified because he is such an exciting onstage performer, an artist with something to say. Last month he played a storming show at King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, capped off by being joined by pals from various other bands, like the Van T’s and the Vegan Leather.

The gig reached an emotional climax when they performed Time, a song influenced by memories of the late Gary Watson, the Lapelles singer who tragically passed away last year.

“I was close to Gary for the last year or so,” he says.

“Watching the Lapelles felt like seeing a band who were going to go stratospheric but more important than that was that he was the nicest and kindest guy you could meet, just a great person.”

Being joined onstage by those other acts also spotlighted Glasgow’s current musical scene, which also includes the likes of garage rockers Babystrange, pop songstress Lucia and indie rockers Catholic Action. It’s a scene Declan feels is flourishing.

“Glasgow’s having a really good time right now where there is a ton of people doing amazing things,” he enthuses.

“It’s a great city. There are so many people with different ideas of what they want to do musically. It’s not like a scene where everyone sounds the same, it’s one where everyone is united by being a nice person and just plugging away. It’s really cool to be a part of that.”

Declan Welsh plays the Tenement Trail on September 30, £20.

JONATHAN GEDDES