Limerick singer Emily Panter has released her debut solo EP, Remember They Love You, on new Limerick label SASP Records. We asked her the BIG questions . . .
Emily previously played with and released music as part of duo Inner City Radio and has since been DIY recording and producing her own music.
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Remember They Love You is SASP''s first release and is described as "a profound exploration of happy memories, powerful childhood influences, and navigating the complexities of adult life".
SASP Records, whose roster also includes Street Angel and Studio Psycho, was founded by Limerick musicians and aims to "support local and national talent and expand beyond borders".
"After years of performing and collaborating on various projects, we felt it was time to give back to the community that has supported us throughout our careers," they say.
"SASP Records is not just about releasing music; it's about building a family of artists who can grow and thrive together."
Tell us three things about yourself . . .
I was a scientist and now I am a youth worker who runs a youth cafe in Limerick city for awesome young people. I started playing guitar to play along with my dad when I was a kid I and got my first electric guitar at age 13. I get obsessed with things really quickly and my current fascinations are planes and nuclear power.
How would you describe your music?
I describe my music as a soundtrack to accompany my life, it is deeply personal and based on true experiences and emotions. The music follows the feelings of being a happy and strange child who was fascinated by everything, growing up, being faced with struggles with shame, mental and physical health. These memories and references are specific to me in my head. Childhood holidays driving with my parents through west Cork listening to Dire Straits or staring out to sea to glimpse the flash of the Fastnet Lighthouse with the car doors wide open, and Pink Floyd blasting into the night, or walking around hospital corridors at night a limp and a collapsed lung or being surrounded by friends. These are visual and visceral memories that inspire my music. I try to encapsulate those moments as best I can through my writing. The music might feel melancholic as well as joyous in parts, I feel this is an accurate reflection on life. What I want to get across is that it comes from a genuine place In my head and in my heart. When I hear music there is always a visual accompaniment - like, oh, this sounds like shelter at night, oh, this sounds like driving in the rain, this sounds like going to therapy, this sounds like a waiting room. My hope is that someone gets it, and that a listener might be inspired to imagine their own scene, actors and atmosphere in their heads. Sonically the music is guitar heavy, lots of chorus, distortion, big riffs and ghostly vocals, definitely heavily inspired by musical influences from childhood and early teens, if a bit distorted, warped and maybe under water. My hope is that it makes you feel something, and I can't wait to hear what you think.
Who are your musical inspirations?
I was given a great introduction to music from my parents, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, Status Quo, Don Henley, these bands gave me a foundational love of music. I always leaned heavily towards rock and metal music growing up. Nirvana, Pixies, Queens of the Stone Age, Alice in Chains, Linkin Park. Things changed when I discovered Tool in my early teens. Adam Jones heavily inspired my guitar style and a lot of my early learning was spent sticking out my tongue trying to lash out Tool riffs in odd time signatures. I discovered Burial through a friend in the dubstep scene in the mid-2010s and it changed me again. Burial’s music has peak atmosphere, he is the apex of where music and visual fantasy go hand in hand. Everything he does sounds like something else, like the rustle of a train, the sound left in your ears after you’ve left a really heavy, loud nightclub, the yellow glow of streetlights as it passes through the mist of a wet city. It's all so profound and he is without a doubt my favourite artist and biggest inspiration. I wish one day I could tell him how much his music means and has meant to me. I own his entire catalogue on vinyl and they are my most treasured items.
What was the first gig you ever went to?
My parents took me to see Cliff Richard in The Point, Dublin as a kid. That show was rockin’, thanks mum and dad. But the first show I went to see of my own free will was Tool for the 10,000 Days tour in 2006. I went with my older sister. They were supported by Mastodon, who were also incredible. That will stick with me forever. I remember meeting Bill Kelliher from Mastodon in the foyer and I just giggled and said nothing, he must have thought I was such an idiot. Oh well, great night.
What was the first record you ever bought?
Linkin Park’s Meteora, I bought it with my own pocket money in Golden Discs in Cork City. Savage, I love that album, I used to paint to it, thinking I was in a music video.
What’s your favourite song right now?
In My Mind's Desert by Slomosa, They are a stoner rock band from Norway. Incredible, they played Dolans Kasbah in Limerick this year and it was an incredible gig. This tune took the roof off. I can’t stop listening. Those riffs, those riffs!
Favourite lyric of all time?
"Once upon a time it was you that I adored". From Burial’s In McDonalds, that's the one lyric, it's a distorted sample from a short clip on YouTube of R&B singer Aaliyah singing an acapella version of her song, I refuse. It is spooky and gorgeous and makes me feel cosy and impenetrable.
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Darklight by Davy Spillane. This song is from a new age Irish folk album entitled A Place Among the Stones released in 1994. It featured heavily on our musical roster for our family holidays and is the soundtrack to rainy nights spent in a caravan on the west coast of Ireland staring out to sea and eating strong cheddar. If ever things get tough, this music will take me to that place.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Instagram - you can follow me @emily_panter_music, YouTube, Bandcamp and Breaking tunes. www.breakingtunes.com/emilypanter
Alan Corr
