Off The Record: Let’s get loud with Limerick's Van Panther
FOR VAN Panther, it all started as a bedroom project. Now, the Limerick quintet is beginning to be known as “a very loud band” - quite the welcomed tag line.
Originally, it all started as a “bedroom project” for singer and guitarist Kieran Ralph. But what was once a solo endeavour quickly turned into a party of five as he was joined by guitarist Adam Keegan, bassist Gavin Foye, synth player Jordan Donworth and drummer Brendan Miller.
Speaking of how it all started, Adam recalls: “It originally started as a bedroom project by our lead singer Kieran. He wrote all the music, recorded it and released it under the name Van Panther.
“And then he slowly started building up his library of songs to put on gigs, and he needed to get a band. So he started looking for different members, and we've had different members throughout the years.”
Now, the band has just released their new track, A History of Violence - one they had been working on since the midst of the pandemic.
“We had songs that we were writing and songs that we were practicing together - and this was one of them,” says Adam. It’s a song about being away from home and feeling like your whole world is on fire or has gone up in flames because something's after happening at home, like an accident. It just started as a demo and over the course of the last like few years, it has been developed, and it's changed, and it has really come into form when we started properly rehearsing it and getting ready to record.”
On top of being a musician, Adam is also an artist. And he is the one who created the enigmatic artwork for their song.
“Being part of the band is like the perfect creative release for me because I get to write and play music and I get to use a way to create art. I’ve the music video for Compos Memphis that came out earlier in the year.”
Inspired by the likes of Nirvana, Gorilla and Blur, the group aim to be loud and dynamic as they delve into themes of isolation and helplessness.
“The members in the band all come from different backgrounds, with loads of different influences. It’s a bit moodier, a bit angrier, compared to our earlier stuff. But it's definitely a sound that I think we all enjoy and have a passion for, and when we're playing it together, we can feel the energy in the room,” says Adam.
Not a reference to an animal, their name was inspired by The Trials of Van Occupanther, an album by American rock band Midlake.
“This is actually something I’ve only learned recently,” he laughs. "It’s based off of an album that Kieran was a big fan of, and he took the Van and the Panther from that. It’s a lot easier to explain to people other than just being like 'Oh, it has actually nothing to do with wild animals or vans or anything like that.'”
So far, the response to their latest single has been great, judging by the constant buzzing of the guitarist’s phone while he has been answering questions.
“I'm hoping it's good anyway. We put a lot of effort into this one, we really kind of pushed it and we tried to make sure that we got the most out of the release.”
As a band, they are, so far, happy with their sound.
“We are really thankful that we've been able to do it all ourselves. We recorded all the guitars and bass ourselves. We tracked drums with, with Ben Wanders in Wonderland Studios, it’s been a long time coming to put these songs out, so we're really happy to have them out, and we're really excited to see what people think.”
Later this year, Van Panther will be releasing their first album.
“It will feature a history of violence, which came out today, and we have one more single to come out at the end of September called Fire Out at Sea,” notes Adam.
What can people expect from them in the future?
“We’ve been told by numerous people that we're incredibly loud. And I think that’s what we've begun to be known by, as being a very loud band.
“So I think that's like a little tag line,” he concludes.
A History of Violence is now out on all platforms.