Post-Party
Interview
Anyone concerned that they missed anything at Electric
Picnic this weekend, you should be very concerned. It was a weekend that
changed lives, broke records and even left me with sunburn that I’m putting down
as a tan! But if the fomo is hitting hard right now do not fear, tickets for EP
2020 go on sale on Friday and Saturday which I will definitely be purchasing.
As well as cycling 80km for charity to get
into the festival I also was lucky to receive a press pass which let me behind
the scenes at EP. I interviewed two amazing bands that I am betting to be
selling out large the likes of the Olympia by next year. The first band I got
to interview are from Dublin and Monaghen and are called Post-Party, they have
recently been taken up by the trendy friendly manager Niall Morris who also
manages Wild Youth and Ryan Mac. I met Mr.Morris, who eagerly requested I called
him Niall, deep in the crowd at the Post Party gig. We were both delighted at
the turn out and equally impressed by the gig.
I watched the gig on the
Rankin’s Wood stage which was packed out and an absolutely unreal set which
really got the crowd going. I was then ecstatic to get into the media tent to
interview them. I sat and had a great chat with Matty and Colin about the
divisive Irish music scene as well as making it onto the scene.
I first congratulated them
on a really good set and asked their opinion on how they got on. Matty told me
he was delighted with the sound even if there were minimal technical difficulties.
“Even if there were a few problems with
sound I was still delighted, that was our first time ever playing Electric Picnic
and my first time at the festival! Myself and Keelan always said that we didn’t
want to come to Electric Picnic unless we were playing the festival. My mates went
to EP since fourth year but my parents were always a bit more strict so the
only way I was getting here was by actually playing.”
The gig also had no shortage of Post-Party fans who knew
every lyric without fail. This surprised me because they only have one song on
Spotify, this means the fan base have been going to their gigs so often that they
now know the words to their songs. I brought this up to Matty and Colin to see
what their opinion was on the matter. Colin gave me the entire history of their
relationship with their fans.
“I
was recognising faces today that have been with us since day one that I was
literally face to face with in a tiny room one year ago. Now I feel so far away
from them.” Matty agreed and added there were a few practical things they
never thought about. “ Our leads were so short, at one point I went to run
over to Colin and my lead just shot out of the guitar, I just wrapped the wire
around me and went for it.”
I had done as much research as I could and found out that
Post-Party started out as another band called Litehouse so I was interested to
see how they transitioned. I asked what brought around the change. Colin was
one of the original members of the band so answered the question.
“I was
doing my Leaving Certificate in Monaghan and all my mates were going to Dublin,
we already had a name for ourselves as the cover band in Monaghan doing Arctic
Monkeys songs, which we wanted to move away from. Our guitarist also moved to
Belfast so we wanted to cut ties with it completely. Then the rest of the lads
met in college” Matty also added, “In college they organise you by your
full name, so I’m Matthew Anthony O’Reilly and Keelan was Keelan Anthony O’Reilly,
so we said to each other even if we are the worst musicians in the world we
have to form a band.”
The Irish music scene is starting to resurface
internationally again with bands such as The Murder Capital and Fontaines DC
making names for themselves around the world. One thing that these bands have
in common is that they are Dublin proud. Seeing as Post-Party are a mix of
Monaghan and Dublin I was interested to see if they seen themselves as part of
that scene.
Colin who is from Monaghan spoke about his relationship
with the capital. “I was studying primary school teaching in Pats in Dublin
so I ended up basing myself in Dublin, Keelan and Peter lived together in
Dublin and Matthew lived close by to them. We based ourselves in that house on
Ash street. We do call ourselves Dublin musicians but we don’t dwell on it too
much.” Matty agreed and added, while saying that it has nothing to do with
the question I asked, “It’s so cool now and, it’s done so well, that the Fontaines
and the Murder Capital take this love for Dublin and put it into their music,
it comes across so well. Even though we’re from that part of Dublin that has the
most character, the liberties, we want to have a sound that can come from
anywhere.”
This June Post-Party released their first single onto
Spotify, Love You Everyday, and is currently sitting on 55,773 plays, I was
told that they were recording new material. After seeing such a powerful live
performance I was keen to see what the band preferred doing with their time,
gigs or recording. Colin surprised us all with his love for recording.
“I
personally enjoy recording more than gigs, there’s something about how calming
recording is, it’s very chill. Whenever we do a live gig there is a demand for
a lot of energy, but that being said today’s live show really gave me a huge
buzz.” Matty then supplied very useful information, “My
opinion is I don’t know” Myself and Colin burst out laughing. “When you’re
in the studio there is such a creative atmosphere and Phil (the producer) is
like your da and your brother and even that cool uncle. I really enjoy the
recording process.”
The conversation then moved onto all the other amazing
acts that are playing the Electric Picnic over the weekend and eventually
Otherkin came up in conversation and their unfortunate decision to stop making
music. I compared the career of Otherkin to that of The Strypes. I then asked
if that is a fear as a band to see some of the best bands in the world come to
an end. Colin believes that it is dependant on the sound of the band.
“We have a bit more of a
pop/radio type of sound but I think Otherkin have a sound that wouldn’t be as commercially
popular, but would that really effect ticket sales that much? These days it’s a
lot more about being popular and having
money, it’s about how other people have an image of you. It is a definite fear
though to answer your question.”
The conversation lead to successful artists who made
it through radio plays and I mentioned Sam Fender. Matty instantly turned into
a fan-girl as he just kept saying how tall Sam is which had me in stitches, but
turns out Matty is such a huge fan of Fender that he even has a very impressive
tattoo in homage to the solo artist. Then Colin requested that Matty tell a story
involving Sam Fender and Lewis Capaldi.
“There’s
a spat developing between Fender and Capaldi and between their fans, one side
saying the other is shite and vice versa. But we were playing down at Indi (Indiependence Festival Cork) and we
were playing the same day as Lewis Capaldi. He finished his set and walked
through, I was cans deep at this stage, I ran up to him and got a picture with
him but then asked if he wanted to see my Sam Fender tattoo. In the end I was
on his Instagram story. But it was the next day on Twitter everyone is sending
me stuff from fan accounts saying who is this Sam Fender fan because they are
so similar.” It wasn’t until they
said it but, Matty is terrifyingly similar to Sam Fender I can’t lie.
We
began to wrap up the interview and discussed who we were going to see this weekend.
I cannot emphasise enough the genuine kind nature of this band. Love You
Everyday has quickly become one of my favourite summer songs this year and has
found its way into many of my playlists due to its easy listening abilities. I seen
a lot of bands at the Picnic this year but I was surprised how well their gig
stuck with me. Their professionalism and quality of sound really broke through
on the Rankin’s Wood stage that Saturday. I cannot recommend them enough if you
love the Irish pop scene. It wont be long until these guys find themselves headlining
venues like The Olympia. Catch them quick!
I would
like to thank Matty and Colin for their
time on Saturday evening and congratulate Peter and Keelan and the band for an
amazing gig. I wish them the best of luck in the future. Go listen to their
debut single on Spotify Love You Everyday.
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