Picture This bigger PICTURE
Kildare tour de force clearly see the…
Before they started making records, Picture This were breaking them. The Co. Kildare duo sold out the Dublin Academy before they had even released a single. They also sold out two nights in the Olympia Theatre earlier this year, becoming the first Irish band to do so before releasing an album. It was a similar story with Live At The Marquee in Cork. With only one EP to their name there was no room under the canvas two nights running in June, where they shifted 8,000 tickets in the process.
If you are looking for tickets for their November shows in the 3Arena you had better get a move on as nearly all those tickets are gone as well. Ryan Hennessy and Jimmy Rainsford truly are a phenomenon. They have known each other since childhood in Athy but only got together in October 2015.
‘I heard Ryan’s recording of his song Take My Hand, which he had recorded on his iPhone,’ Rainsford explains. ‘I have a small studio set-up and I asked him to come in and we would make a proper demo of it. I knew the minute I heard it that it was a great song. We put it up on YouTube and people just went mad for it.’
‘The sentiment of the song is something everyone can relate to but we didn’t think it would get the reaction it got so quickly,’ Hennessy, 21, says.
Rainsford, 23, previously toured the world as a drummer with singer-songwriter Ryan Sheridan, and his music industry nous has proved invaluable. He knew Take My Hand’s instant success meant they had bypassed some of the drudgery new bands have to go through to get noticed.
‘Our first Dublin gig (in the Academy) sold out. Some bands take years to get to that stage. Some never do at all,’ he says.
‘A lot of people have said to us: “Ah you missed out on that part of your development,” but we don’t regret that in the least,’ Hennessy adds. ‘It meant we could concentrate on writing great songs.’
‘The people, the fans, made us,’ continues Rainsford. ‘We’re not some manufactured band. The concept of us and how we present ourselves comes from us.’
Does that approach ever lapse into control-freakery? ‘I’d say we probably are control freaks,’ Rainsford says. ‘But this is all about the songs and how good they are. We get involved with the other stuff because we have a handle on how we should be presented. But, at the same time, I don’t care whether someone recognises me when I’m out somewhere.’
‘I quite like if I’m recognised,’ says Hennessy, who with longer hair and tattoos looks every inch a rock star. ‘It’s not that I want to be famous for the sake of it. I just like it when someone comes up and says: “Your songs mean so much to me,” or that a song of ours got
them through a hard time. That’s what I’m in this for.’
Their debut album, released on Friday, is full of songs of that calibre. Hennessy’s vocal style wrings every ounce of emotion from tracks such the aforementioned Take My Hand, Jane and Everything I Need.
They will soon play tour dates in London and Stockholm, supporting Niall Horan, another man who knows a thing or two about instant fame. And though they have an indie sensibility, like Horan they have a sizeable teenage female following. On Monday, they posted details of a secret gig and, after only two hours’ notice, 2,000 people, many of them fitting the above profile, followed clues and rushed to Dublin’s Grand Social venue, with just 600 getting in to see the show. The disappointment of the fans left outside was quelled somewhat when the duo came out and played some songs for them. Touches like that engender love and loyalty. Certainly, these two see a much bigger picture.
Picture This’s self-titled album is on Republic Records. They play Dublin’s 3Arena on November 7 and 8.