While growing up in Dublin, Peter Richardson had a feeling that he would go into the arts later in life, a feeling which was spurred on by his supportive family, who encouraged him to take piano lessons at age eight. But while they cherished their son’s talents, sometimes their pride expressed itself at inopportune moments.

“I remember, one time when I was younger… –  I always tell this story – …when I was younger, myself and a few of my friends got mugged when I was like ten or something,” recalls Peter while talking with Post-Burnout.

“And the guards came to my house to take a statement from me, and my mum ended up… – because, at the time, I was doing piano and singing, and my teacher had told my mum to encourage me to perform in front of everyone – so, the guards came for my statement and happened to see a piano in the corner.

“My mum was like, ‘Oh, do you want to hear Peter play a piece?’ So, it was a little, ten-year-old Peter, terrified out of his life, singing to the guards in his house! So, I think from a very young age, I got used to performing in front of people; at this stage, it feels like something I’ve been doing, all my life.”

But Peter didn’t truly begin his musical career until life hit a standstill at the beginning of 2020. When the pandemic hit, Peter was in his third year at UCD. “I had definitely wanted to start it for a long time before then,” Peter says. “Like, all through my first three years in college, I was waiting for the right moment.

“But I knew that I didn’t really want to do it unless I could fully commit – at least at the start, anyway; I’m juggling lots of things, now – but, with the songs that I had, I wanted to be able to properly give it my all and do it justice, and with juggling college… – I was doing Science at the time – all this kind of stuff.

“I didn’t feel like I could properly throw myself into it, so I think the timing was just the right thing, which was, suddenly, I had reached a stage where I was ready to start making things, and then you get this government mandate that you have to stay in your living room for a year, and I was like, ‘OK, now is the perfect time.’”

Peter had been writing music since he was twelve, but the time at home in the early stages of the pandemic was the first time he attempted to record his ideas. “I was completely new to it,” Peter says of music engineering. “Like a lot of songwriters of my age at the time, I had GarageBand and a USB mic, but that was about it, to be honest.

“So, taking that step was a huge learning process, and, of course, you do pick it up very quickly. So, that was all learning over COVID, figuring it out as I went, which we all have to do at some point, so that was great.”  

Peter released his first single, “The End of the World,” in October 2020, followed by “Please Don’t Believe Me” in March 2021, “The Coast” in February 2022, “Pray” in April 2022, and his first EP, Then & Now, in June 2022 (which featured the latter two singles).

After his string of releases, Peter wanted to perform a live show, but he needed to form a band. While attending UCD, Peter was involved with the college’s Musical Society. “I wasn’t really into it when I arrived, but I stumbled into it,” Peter remembers. “They were lovely people and I had a great time. Interestingly, I met all of the current band through that.

“So, a lot of them would’ve been in the orchestras or the bands for the shows. Like, my guitarist, Rob, I met when we were doing American Idiot, the musical. So, he was the lead guitarist for that, so I picked him up there.

“So, I started the project completely solo, and then, when the time came, I knew I wanted to do a gig, the world was opening back up again. I was like, ‘Why don’t we book Whelan’s Upstairs?’, and then I realised I needed a band, so I just went to the lads, recruited them, and I was like, ‘Do you want to come play a gig at Whelan’s?’ and they were all for it, and, since then, we’ve stuck together, so they’ve now become a lot more involved and I’m incredibly grateful to have them all.”

The band’s first gig accidentally ended up going from the smaller Upstairs room to the significantly larger (and highly coveted) Main Room. “[It] was a bit of a happy accident,” Peter says. “We were supposed to be playing Upstairs, but we sold out and we all got COVID on the week that the show was meant to happen. So, it was pushed back [by] three weeks, and they were like, ‘You have an extra three weeks; do you wanna try the Main Room?’, and we were like, ‘Grand!’”

In April 2023, Peter released his next single, “Emily,” with guest artist anna leah, which coincided with a headlining launch gig at The Sound House, which served as Peter’s second live show. In November ’23, Peter played his third gig at a packed Bello Bar, and then in April of this year, Peter dropped his latest single, “Better Alone.”

Produced by the highly-sought-after Daniel de Burca, “Better Alone” is Peter’s first track to be fully crafted in a professional studio, something which he describes as “bizarre.” When we spoke on the day of the single’s release, Peter said, “There is more of a plan now. This is very much the kicking off of a new chapter now, and you can hear it in the song.

“The song is a lot grittier. It’s much more informed by the sound that we have found as a band, over the past couple of years, with a bit more of that rock sound. The whole band are playing on this one. This is very much that next step in the…[Smiles] We’ll call ‘Emily’ the half-step! This is very much the next step in this new direction!”

When we spoke, Peter’s full attention was on his then-upcoming, since-gone gig at The Grand Social, which, for all the success he has had, was only his fourth gig. With the single out, we asked Peter what his upcoming plans were.

“We’re very much in the strategy stage now, I think,” Peter responded. “The good news is that we have enough music written for…there’s nearly enough music written for an album, I would say. I’m currently working on writing a lot more. So, I’m not sure what the timeline is like, but an album down the line is a dream.

“I have a vision of what I want for that, I have most of the music, and we have a good bank. The thing with the ‘Emily’ release, for example, was we finished that song and part of the reason why it was on its own was that we had just been focusing on that and didn’t have anything else ready.

“Now, I’m happy to say, we do have a good bank of songs in the back pocket that we can strategically use from now on. So, I think, potentially, it’s looking like an EP is probably the next step, but once we’ve got this release out and this show complete, we’re going to take a couple of weeks to step back, look at what we have so far, and start piecing together the grand design, if you will!

“So, there’s definitely more coming, but I’m not sure when or in what order, but we’ll probably be working on an EP. Maybe aim for autumn/winter, around then, and then who knows?”

Peter Richardson’s latest single, “Better Alone,” is available now on all streaming platforms. You can keep up with all of his music, live dates and social media accounts through his Linktree.

Tune into POSTBURNOUT.COM Interviews… tonight at 21:00 (IST) to hear this interview in full, where we go into further depth about everything discussed, as well as further topics on Peter’s live dates and singles, their plans for gigs, working with producers and what each one has brought to the projects they have been involved in, Peter’s inspirations, continuity between music, each song and EP released thus far, and much more. Available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music Podcasts.

Aaron Kavanagh

Aaron Kavanagh is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Post-Burnout. His writing can also be found in the Irish Daily Star, Buzz.ie, Totally Dublin, The GOO, Headstuff, New Noise Magazine, XS Noize, DSCVRD and more.