Exposed Vocals Interviews Dan Reilly
Reilly is a young MC hailing from Birmingham, England. He works in a number of different genres but is mainly involved in making music of the UK based grime genre. Reilly is one half of Lyrical Realm, alongside fellow rapper Robby Php, and works mostly alongside producer DynaMike. Reilly began writing at 16 years old and released a few tracks here and there but it’s only now he’s finally starting to become involved once more on a full time level.
Exposed Vocals: So tell us your story. Where did you grow up? What made you decide to become an artist?
Reilly: I was born and raised in Birmingham, which is in the West Midlands of England. I’ve always been a massive music fan for as long as I can remember, and was introduced to rap when The Eminem Show came out, and since then I was hooked. I didn’t really plan on being an artist though! I used to write from the age of 16, and did it more as a personal thing just to keep my brain active. I messed around with it with a couple of producers and was getting good feedback so decided to actually do something with it, and hence, Reilly was born!
Exposed Vocals: How did you come up with that name? What was your inspiration behind it?
Reilly: It’s my surname! Original, I know! But I’m proud of my surname and so decided to use it for music as it’s what a lot of my friends would call me anyway when I was growing up so it’s always been a nickname anyway.
Exposed Vocals: What do you think about online music sharing? Do you ever give your music away for free? Why?
Reilly: I’m always putting out free music! I think in this day and age, it is so much easier to get music out there with the internet and it allows you to put your music out there for the whole world to hear. There’s so many platforms out there now that I do think that if you have the talent and the confidence, then you should share your music online, and I do believe you should give some music out for free, even if it’s a song a month.
Exposed Vocals: Since everyone was a start-up once, can you give any smaller or local bands or artists looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Reilly: Practice, practice, practice! That’s always the biggest tip but a huge part of it is to believe in yourself and the vision you have. Without believing in yourself, you’ll have a hard job getting others to believe in yourself so do that, and the rest will follow. You should always stay true to your roots too, write about what you know if you’re a songwriter, I don’t rap about things that I’ve either not seen or been involved with as I have no experience. Last tip is to reach out to as many people as possible using social media! Twitter has put me in contact with a good few producers and artists who I will be working with.
Exposed Vocals: Where do you usually gather songwriting inspiration? What is your usual songwriting process?
Reilly: All my songwriting inspirations come from things I’ve experienced, or been around in my life. On top of that, I know that a lot of people can relate with my lyrics and so I try to write songs that people will listen to and automatically be able to think of a time in their life in which they experienced something similar. My songwriting process is a lot better now then what it was five years ago! I would write a few lyrics and then I’d get another idea and end up writing new stuff so I’d end up with a load of unfinished lyrics. But I prefer to have a beat to write to, but I do sometimes get ideas when I’m out and will end up writing it all down and ending up with a whole song without listening to a beat. But I’ll normally begin writing my verses, and in that process, the hook will slowly start coming to me. I’m just so unstructured!
Exposed Vocals: Do you have a band website? What online platforms do you use to share your music?
Reilly: I do! Check out www.lyricalrealm.com for all the latest music and news from myself and Robby Php! Also, check my Soundcloud soundcloud.com/reillyartist and follow me on twitter @ReillyLyricalR. Most of my music and updates are posted through twitter so that’s worth checking, and if you’re an artist or producer yourself, get in touch, I’m always looking for new people to work with!
Exposed Vocals: If you were given half a million dollars and a year off, what would you do? How would you spend it?
Reilly: I’d be straight onto a plane and I’d literally travel all over the world. I’d get together one or two contracts for some young up and coming artists and whatever money I’m left with will be spent on a new car. I’d probably throw a massive party for all my friends too, just for the fun of it.
Exposed Vocals: How do you find ways to promote your music? What works best for you?
Reilly: I mostly promote it through Twitter and Soundcloud, but I get my music sent through to as many people as possible. I’ve made the effort to go and speak to as many people involved as music as possible and they help me out a lot. It’s nice when people show interest and so I always make the effort to talk to everyone who likes my music. My fellow rapper Robby Php and manager DynaMike really push my music quite a lot and that works best for me, so I’m lucky to have a good team backing me.
Exposed Vocals: So, what’s next? Any new upcoming projects that you want to talk about?
Reilly: I’m dropping my mixtape ‘Bar Wars: Episode 1’ on May 4th 2016, so look out for that as it’ll feature some never before heard tracks that are in my opinion my best work. On top of that, I’ll be dropping a mixtape with Robby Php as Lyrical Realm later on this year, and if you check my twitter, I’ll be releasing a song every week for the rest of the year.
Exposed Vocals: If you weren’t making music, what would you be doing?
Reilly: Realistically, I’d be doing a normal job but if I could pick any career outside of music, I’d either be an actor or a football (soccer) player!
Exposed Vocals: How do you juggle the rest of your responsibilities while trying to stay ahead in your music life?
Reilly: Between me and the rest of the Lyrical Realm team, we set up our own studio so we always get together and put new stuff together. It helps that DynaMike lives over the road from me so I can run over there for an hour, record my stuff and then leave him to mix and master it all so having a good team around me makes getting music done easy.
Exposed Vocals: What should fans look forward to in 2016?
Reilly: Hopefully I’ll take over the UK and then I’ll bring my music to the States! I’m currently working on discussions with a couple of rappers and singers so I’ll be releasing music with a few different artists and as I mentioned, my mixtape will drop on May 4th. But I’ll be staying true to myself and will be giving the fans new music every week so keep your ears pealed!