Tag Archives: Keelan O'Reilly

A Chat With :Keelan O’Reilly of Post-Party


Post-Party
have released the video for their brand new single, ‘Wasting Time’. This high energy track is a fantastic follow on from their previous single, ‘Being Honest’.With a sweeping rush on guitars, rampant basslines and driving rhythms, the track is an instant shot of adrenaline saturated in the infectious musicianship of Post- Party. I caught up with Keelan O’Reilly to talk about the new single, Colin Peppard’s magical camera skills and navigating through social media.

The band are all in their final year of college and studying for their exams. Between all this remote learning, final year preparation and study, the band manages to write, record and release some seriously smashing songs – ‘Wasting Time’ is the latest single to delight our ears.

“We wrote the song, just on the brink of lockdown when it was starting and we always really really loved it, just the energy and the ideas behind the track. I think it was the idea of how throughout the lockdown, we were spending all this time just waiting and waiting on normality to come back around, it felt like a good fit for the track with the name being wasting time. Everyone was picking up different kinds of hobbies and things just to pass the time that we hadn’t done before. It felt like a good fit, but the track had already been a favourite of the band in general, just because of the energy, and the ideas.”

The band have paced the release of their tracks well. Each track has been given its own time to shine. This has resulted in ‘Wasting Time’ being featured on key playlists, including Spotify’s New Music Friday, Hot New Bands, Fresh Finds: Rock, The Indie List and A Breath of Fresh Eire alongside Apple Music’s Breaking Rock, The New Rock and New in Rock.

“It’s just really good to see the reception we’ve received. Spotify have been very kind to us by putting us in all these fantastic playlists. It’s just really cool overall to see that people are receiving the music well. There’s been a good buzz from what we’ve released so the fact that we got a few playlists with ‘Being Honest’ and now for ‘Wasting Time’ to grow and develop on has been really really cool for us to see.”

“We definitely take everything on board, and we wanted to give ‘Being Honest’  enough time to breathe, but then we wanted to develop and push things on and we have loads of tracks we wrote and recorded during the lockdown period. We realized that we want to get them out and push the momentum forward, especially with the hope that live shows and stuff come back towards the end of the year or maybe the start of next year. We’re wanting to have as much music out for people when we are able to get a live show, but at the same time it is really important to let each track do its own thing, and to give it the time it deserves”

Post-Party shot the music video for ‘Wasting Time’ themselves with each band member recording their part individually, in separate locations. The result is a visually stunning video that superbly captures the band’s energetic and unique image. 

“Our bass player Colin [Peppard], he’s a magician with a camera, editing stuff and everything. He’s been so interested in film for years, and it’s only now in the past I would say two years he’s really taking a passion on learning the ins and outs of working with film. So that’s slowly become part of our identity as a band like the imagery we use for our music through video, and as a means of expression, that’s definitely down to Colin’s passion and drive for film. That’s been spread across all of us as four different individual members, we’ve all become really interested in what we can do with visuals to personify our music. I think the lockdown was a catalyst for that whole thing, because it gave us the time to really hone in on creative ideas and creative decisions. It was something that was going to come eventually but we hadn’t really developed it before we got a chance over lockdown”

“ When you’re releasing any kind of art into the world you’re consciously aware of how people are going to receive it. But I think there is something to be said about just letting your work, do the talking for you and letting each individual piece of art, do the talking. It’s important to not take too much consideration of what other people think about your art, but at the same time you’re releasing it for people to appreciate and for people to enjoy. I think you can be critical about anything and it’s important to be happy with the work you produce”

The band recently released Post-Party merchandise which sold out in just a few hours. It’s great to see people supporting bands especially now during covid, artists need merchandise and record sales perhaps more than ever and Post-Party put a lot of work into their image, visuals and designs, it’s fantastic to see people appreciating it.

“Yeah, that was really helpful. We didn’t expect that at all. We had some of the basic designs done by an artist from Russia, his name on Instagram is idlehead [Nikita Maslov]. We used the designs that he created. He designed the band’s logo. He designed the artwork for all the singles we’ve released so far as well. So we used his artworks as the main focal point of the designs, but in terms of designing the T-shirts, that was all down to again Colin. He was a big help in that factor. We all pitched in our opinions as well. We all came together and made it work and we’re really happy with the reception and people seem to like it.”

“ That was a big help for us because I think people realize the struggle of the music industry at the moment. A lot of artists are putting out new merch, and it’s getting bought up really quickly and it’s really nice to see that the fans are coming together and trying to support those artists that are struggling to make a living at the moment. Luckily for ourselves, we’re only at the very early stages of our careers and we’re all finishing college at the moment. But for someone who is heavily involved in music as their nine to five. It’s really important for the fans to support them through this awkward stage. Luckily we’re hopefully coming towards the end of this but without people supporting the industry, I don’t know how things would go in building things back up.”

The return of live shows is an exciting prospect for Post-Party as they have been releasing music during the pandemic and growing their fan base, without having to tour. The shows will be different when they do return as the band will see new faces and fans that haven’t been able to see the band perform live yet.

“Yeah 100%. That’s something we’re really excited about. We’ve obviously had a good solid fan base coming to all our shows prior to the pandemic, but it’s really exciting for us to see new faces and new people listening to the music and enjoying what we’re doing. We’ve received loads of messages of people saying, as soon as the show is announced they will be at the show so that’s just really exciting for us to know that people are waiting and are excited to see the songs we’ve released over lockdown live in person”

The music scene in Ireland is very vibrant lately – there are so many amazing acts producing great music. Before the pandemic hit there was live music almost every night in Dublin. I wondered if the rush for venues when they open will create competition between bands to book certain venues, etc.

“ It’s something we’ve been aware of. The ideology behind it is when things come back, everybody’s going to be out the door and ready to go. I’ve seen a lot of gigs, and just live events being announced, as of now, and for the next 12 months or more. I think when things really do get back to normal, there’s going to be a stage of just so many bookings, so many gigs So there is going to be a lot of competition and we’re aware of that and we’re willing to wait until it calms down before we go out with our music,  We’re very happy with the pace that we’ve built our audience through the release of music and we are super excited to play live, but we’re not in any immediate rush, knowing that it’s going to take some time before things clear up”

A lot of artists have had to promote themselves more, and be more active on social media because of this pandemic. This is something O’Reilly and the band have had to become proficient at. Now that they have the hang of how social media works there is no stopping them.

“Yeah, absolutely. Social media has always been something that, personally, I’ve never been great at. It’s something that over the lockdown I realized how important it is to artists, seeing a lot of artists, expand their fan base through TikTok, Instagram and all these different platforms, and to such an extreme extent, compared to what you would have done in live performances beforehand, but the pandemic has shown, I guess, that social media is so powerful in that it can be nearly as powerful as live performances, or you know releasing music, if you use each platform in its unique position. I think in the future, for example, we started the TikTok just at the start of the pandemic to just put off our music video and we’re going to continue using that through the summer when me and the guys are all moving in together, and we’re going to try and push our TikTok a bit further. It’s quite difficult to create content when we are all separated, and it’s a lot easier for individual artists or a singular person, but as a group, we want to express our identity through our social media and it’s more difficult when we’re not all together.  So it’s going to be really exciting to get the opportunity to do that over the summer and just expand on what the public see and how they perceive us as a band.”

Post-Party create air-tight guitar-led tracks that are sharp, elaborate and energetic. The band’s sound is a fine display of feel-good dynamic indie rock at its best. ‘Wasting Time’ displays the strength of their songwriting and provides a glimpse into the ever-growing talent of this young band. Looking forward to hearing what they have in store for us in the near future. 

Watch the video for ‘Wasting Time’ below


Author : Danu

A Chat With : Keelan O’Reilly From Post-Party

If you’re looking for a feel-good indie band with a sound bursting from the seams with vigor, youthful adrenaline and lush melodies then Post-Party are going to be your next fix. By a chance meeting that completed the dynamic line up Post-Party formed in late 2018 in Dublin and have since built a reputation for their energetic live performances playing in various well-known venues across Ireland and the UK. 

I caught up with frontman Keelan O’Reilly to talk about the blazing new single ‘Being Honest’, the band’s writing process, and how dressing up as a female singer for a secondary school musical helped him overcome his stage fright.

“I guess, me and three of the guys have been playing music together for years. We went to school together and it wasn’t until we went to college that I met Matthew who was the final member of the band to join. Me and Matthew were in a class together and they were doing the roll call, and my full name is Keelan Anthony O’Reilly, and they called out on the roll, Matthew Anthony O’Reilly, and it turned out that me and Matthew had the same middle name and surname, and after class, I was confused about the situation so I approached him about it and we just started chatting. It was such a weird coincidence. After that we were like yeah we have to do something with this. This is a sure sign”

Post-Party have become known for their vibrant sound. Guitar and melody hooks seem to be an instantly recognisable factor in their songs and their high-energy indie is unsurprisingly blowing minds and gaining them fans with each show they play. New single ‘Being Honest’ follows this infectious recipe.

“ ‘Being Honest’, stemmed from a different song we had for years. I had been working on a song with the three lads, just working it through, practicing together. It came from a place of personal experience. It’s about the silly fickle arguments and things that happen when you’re in a relationship with someone. When Matthew joined we decided to rewrite it, and just finish the ideas that we had started on. When we got into the session together on the first day it became what ‘Being Honest’ is today.”

“ I guess a lot of the time the first melody you come up with is often quite strong and a lot of the time it does come organically. Sometimes things have to be reconsidered, and that’s all part of the process of writing the song but the first melody we come up with is often the one we stick with, and after that we get some feedback from people we trust, and see how we feel about it if it needs to be changed. We’re not gonna be too personally involved, we’re all able to be professional and decide if this works or if this doesn’t. So, yeah, that’s kind of the process.”

“You kind of build this bank of lyrics, and melodies, and it’s all in your head when you write a song. Then you decide maybe I’m not fully happy with this song, but you enjoy a certain part of the song, you’re going to keep that and you’re going to store that in your head. That’s where these organic melodies come from because you’ve come up with a melody, and maybe it doesn’t get used, and then in three weeks time you’re writing another song, and it finds its place and it just really fulfills that song, much more than it had in the original idea. “

The band have worked hard developing their music and building a fanbase through the live circuit. It is in the live scene where they bounce songs off the crowd to see how a song would translate with fans before they release it. This practice not only gains them new fans but also gives them confidence and helps the band hone their sound. So naturally with the lack of shows 2020 brought, it was a difficult time for Post-Party as they had to navigate through social media to find other ways of connecting with their audience. 

“Yeah, our favorite part of this whole thing is the live scene, and that’s been from day one.We just love playing music together in front of a crowd and an audience. It’s really thrilling, and just so exciting. That was one thing that we wanted to maintain when we are writing. So we always consider ‘how can we make this full of energy, how can we make this something that a crowd would enjoy’. It’s become very central to our sound, because we focus on making our songs youthful and dancey”

“ We started writing songs and playing shows before we recorded anything. So, we released ‘Love You Everyday’ in 2019. We had a full year of just playing shows before that. It was looking at the reactions from the audience to our sound, that would enhance our ideas on what was good and what wasn’t. That’s where the feedback comes from on the writing, you can tell straight away if a song is working once you play a live show. It was a perfect opportunity to be able to hone in on sounds, and energies, especially for that first single ‘Love You Everyday’. That’s something that’s been super important to us.”

“We see a lot of familiar faces. We have really supportive friends and extended kind of Post-Party family so it’s really cool. That’s one of the best feelings in the world and especially when you haven’t released a song and people are recognizing it from being at other shows and stuff, that shows that people actually really enjoy what you’re doing and engage with what you’re doing.”

“ It was upsetting to lose the live side of everything because it’s very motivating being able to play in front of a crowd and have an audience listen to your music. So it even takes away an aspect towards the writing of the music as well. But, especially, with the loss of live music, you know we would have hopefully been playing a lot of festivals over the summer had COVID not been around, but unfortunately now, we didn’t get that opportunity. But we’re optimistic for the new year, we’re optimistic for 2021 and we’re just gonna have to push the music without the live. It’s gonna be very different. It’s a different scenario. And it’s challenging but I think it’s achievable.”

“ We definitely had to take a different approach. I was chatting to Matthew, our guitar player in Post-Party about this and we were saying, after releasing ‘Being Honest’, we would have played a live show, to launch this single. So…we definitely had to reconsider how we went about promoting the song. Last year TikTok was the platform that really took off over lockdown, and even setting up a TikTok page, which we just did two weeks ago,to help promote the single because there’s a lot of organic growth on the social media platforms with everyone being at home. So we really had to consider how to engage people through social media, rather than through the live scene. It just takes a lot of thought and processing how you can achieve something like that. “

“It’s definitely a learning curve, and it was something that we hadn’t really expressed ourselves in enough probably. Last year gave us the opportunity to learn how to use the platforms that are available to us”

“It’s quite a competitive marketplace. You’re competing with your peers. I love all the bands that I follow on Instagram or Facebook or whatever, but you’re essentially competing with those artists. There’s only so much music that can get heard by so many people. It’s a challenge, it is very daunting but I think last year a lot of people have learned how to navigate it.”

Post-Party have taken the uncertainty in their stride and created cracking tunes and an impressive music video during this time. The music video for ‘Being Honest’ sees the band performing the track while some bullies set their sights on terrorising a teenager. Featuring a heroic janitor and a nail biting badminton game, the band provide an entertaining visual (along with some fun bloopers on their facebook page).

“Yeah, it was a very cool concept and our bass player Colin actually came up with the idea. He directed, acted, edited, he did everything possible to contribute to the video. He really knocked it out of the park. We tried to capture that energetic, fun feeling that we strive towards, and I think the ideas that Colin formed were perfect for capturing that energy and vibe.

“ If you’ve seen the bloopers. There are about 1000 takes of the guys laughing at each other. It was so hard. I think one of the bloopers Colin literally says in the background that it’s impossible…but yeah, at the same time, it was so fun and that’s the main thing”

Being the frontman of a band can be a daunting task. You have to express the song’s emotions as well as carry the band’s message. However Keelan does this with a confidence and charisma that highlights his passionate velvety vocals. Keelan explained to me the moment he found his confidence.

“Yeah, it’s definitely something that I’ve learned. I remember the first time I played in front of an audience, and it was the scariest thing ever. I had really bad stage fright when I was younger, I did a musical in my secondary school, and I performed as a female singer. I had to get dressed up in a dress and high heels and everything. It really just put me in the spotlight and I had to adapt. I think that was the moment where I realized,I don’t actually have to be afraid of stepping out in front of an audience and being myself or whatever, even though in that particular moment I wasn’t.”

“It was a great experience. I really enjoyed it and it gave me an idea of what it was like to perform and the enjoyment you can have on stage.”

Post- Party have played venues such as the Roisin Dubh in Galway, sold-out headline Dublin shows, toured Ireland, performed at Electric Picnic and Indiependence as well as  supported the likes of Miles Kane and The Sherlocks.The band soaked up as much of the experience to see how they can improve their own shows.

“You learn stuff, yeah 100% you learn stuff from every live show you go to. So going to any concert as a musician and as an artist you’re constantly taking mental notes in your head about what you enjoyed about the performance, or what that certain act did that blew you away. We never got any advice from Miles or The Sherlocks or any of the lads. They told us they loved the music, so that was a good thing. I guess just watching Miles Kane, he’s an amazing performer. He just pulls the crowd in and they are in the palm of his hand for the whole concert. As an artist, you would be analyzing what he’s doing to make the crowd so engaged. I myself went and saw The 1975 in 2019 and one of the things I really loved about the show was the lights aspect and the actual stage setup. It was something that we were really motivated by. It’s something that we’d love to do in the future. It was an insight into what the possibilities are for live shows, etc.”

Post-Party has set the bar high.‘Being Honest’ is a great track to start the year. I wondered what the band has planned to tantalize our ears for the rest of the year. 

“We spent the last year writing, so we have loads of new material. We’re super excited about it. We’ve got some new tunes in the pipeline, and we’re hoping to see if maybe at the end of the year shows come back. It’s all playing it by ear at the moment. We’ve got some stuff we’re really excited to share. For the moment we’re just focusing on ‘Being Honest’, promoting the song, and we’ll see what happens in the next few months.”

Post-Party is a band to keep an eye on.Their heartfelt energetic tunes are irresistible and laced in emotive feel good indie.Teamed with deft lyrics and guitar hooks flying at you from all angles, it’s difficult to resist this band’s infectious sound. From strong bass lines, blood pumping drums and blazing guitar lines to warm vocals and sweet melodies Post- Party are charming the ears of all who hear them. 

You can follow Post-Party on their socials below

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/Post.Party.Music/

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/postpartyband/?hl=en

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/PostPartyBand

Stream ‘Being Honest’ below


Author : Danu