GREYWIND: Touring With As It Is And The Irish Emo Takeover
Raw, unfiltered emotion under the red and blue lights bled through Merseyside into the crowd, as Steph O'Sullivan (vocals) and Paul O'Sullivan (guitar) from Irish emo band GREYWIND gave it their all on a Sunday evening at District in Liverpool. OUT OF RAGE caught up with the band before the show to talk about touring with AS IT IS, their latest record Severed Heart City, recent and the emo resurgence.
The band has had a lot of fun playing new songs from Severed Heart City. When asked about the fans' reactions to their new record released back in January this year, Steph was pleasantly surprised how people connected with it so quickly, adding “it's been amazing, beyond my wildest dreams honestly! Because we're so proud of that record.” Paul added that their song Waterfall has been going viral again, with “so many new fans discovering our music”. Also making an interesting point with a favourite thing of his, “you could be a band for 10 years and so many people haven't discovered your music yet, and they can discover it today and you're a new band to them.”
GREYWIND has supported so many bands in recent years, and shows with WATERPARKS, TONIGHT ALIVE and now AS IT IS show a consistent and repeated desire from crowds to see them again and again, and having them on this line up in particular felt like a perfect fit for the crowd attending. When asked about their favourite moments, Steph particularly highlighted her thoughts about the Academy in Dublin whilst on tour with WATERPARKS. “I know we're not from Dublin, but it felt like a hometown show in a way because obviously it's an Irish crowd!”, and as Paul reminisced about Camden Town Forum in London, Steph added with excitement that it was a “brilliant venue!” The way they spoke about these shows felt like they were core memories for the band, not least due to some of the new fans they picked up along the way saying things like 'Oh, I saw you with WATERPARKS!', Steph looked back at those moments saying “it's so cool to be like, okay, we did a good job!"
Back in July, GREYWIND played at 2000Trees festival, which felt like another iconic moment for the band. Both Happy and Make Believe made their live debut from the new record, and even better in Paul's eyes was the fact that the band “got a mosh pit immediately!” In Steph's own words, playing at such a unique festival “felt magical”. Festivals like this one have been amazing for the band, they’ve started to notice so many familiar faces in the crowds. “That's what's getting so exciting for us, is that you start to see the little Irish emo cult growing”.
Emo has been making a huge resurgence in recent years, and GREYWIND has been there throughout the last decade. Their first album Afterthoughts released in 2017, which is coming up to its 10th anniversary next year. “I'm so proud of it, 'cause I feel like when we released it at the time, a lot of people were like, 'This genre is dead, it's done.'" Paul states. But the band persisted, pushing on with their dreams of being in an emo band. They grew up listening to some of our favourite bands and this shows in their music, taking influence from the likes of MINERAL, JIMMY EAT WORLD and of course MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE - “this is the music we've always loved”. When you hear in the news that 'Emo’s back!', Steph is wants everyone to know "We've been doing it all along, emo never left!”
Lyrically, GREYWIND keep to the tried-and-true emo doctrine of more emotion and more vulnerability is generally better. When asked how they navigate tapping into those heavy themes, Paul felt that “songwriting is therapeutic” to them. Steph added that “we're not afraid to just be blunt and just say it”. Taking these songs out on the road, to let those emotions ring out into the crowd is a beautiful thing. Fan reactions after a show letting Steph and Paul know a song 'helped [a fan] in a really dark moment in my life' is the reason they “are never afraid to say something”. They are authentically themselves. "Hey, this is us, if you like it, great, if you don't, then it's not for you."
For a small Irish emo band like them, things are looking better than ever as they're starting to be known all over the world. Nowhere is this more true than in the US, where they’ve played in places they’ve never been before like Lincoln, Nebraska, playing to fans who know all their songs, while touring many miles from home. After they finish the tour with AS IT IS, they’ll be back over there for their first ever US headliner, and you can feel the excitement in the room with Steph adding “some of the shows are looking like they're going to be sold out, which is insane!”
Paul felt “this year has been the best year in GREYWIND so far, and it's not even over!”, as their dreams are slowly but surely coming true. Both Paul and Steph joke around with how an “Irish Emo Takeover!” is coming, they “feel like it's brewing!”. Certainly it's been a great year, not only for GREYWIND but for emo as a whole. Going into 2027, this band might just be the big ones to keep an eye on.
Words: Amy Lynch
Photos: Amy Lynch
With thanks to: Major PR and Greywind
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