THE WORLDS of social media and entertainment are becoming ever more blurred with the advent of platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and that experience can be personified no more so than in the rise of Irish singer-songwriter Robert Grace.
Hailing from Graignamanagh in Co Kilkenny, the pop singer found success in the early days of the pandemic with his song 'Fake Fine'. Released just as the first lockdown began in Ireland, lyrics for the song draw a direct correlation between the pandemic, mental health and a collective experience of getting by during difficult periods.
The song, despite not being pushed by streaming services, found success through the following that Grace had built up in the month's leading up to the single's release.
"I had been building up my TikTok in the lead up to Fake Fine and it had gotten to about 100,000 followers," Robert said. "I think I did a video every day for a month or two because a lot of artists nowadays have to be their own PR person, writer, producer, everything. I'm lucky that I have a team around me but I do as much as I can because I don't expect anyone else to push it as much as me."
The videos he makes on TikTok show him sampling sounds from other users' videos and turning them into the beginnings of a pop song, with many of them later being turned into full versions. The catchy hooks and relatable topics of the songs appears to be what draws users of the app to his music.
https://www.tiktok.com/@robertgracemusic/video/7077638135424797957?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7056811884809324038
"There's so many communities on there for absolutely anything you like or are interested in," Robert said. "There's no taboos on there and you don't have to feel uncomfortable so you can talk about whatever you want. For me that's normally songs which touch on mental health, and you will always have people supporting you or who are interested in that."
The sudden success of Fake Fine was preceded by years of hard work to break into the music industry in Ireland, especially at a time when pop music was somewhat absent and indie singer-songwriters and bands were dominating.
"I decided I wanted to pursue singing when I was about 17, and I wrote and entered songs into ever competition I could. That's how I met my manager Dave Reid.
"At the time there was so much music coming out of Ireland but I felt that there was a lack of Irish pop. Now, there is an abundance of it, but when I was between 17 and 20, there were a lot of singer-songwriters, nearly too much of them. Everyone was trying to do that so I felt that I had to do something different."
Despite the steady radio plays he was getting, Robert considered turning away from the profession.
"I was beaten down a bit that it came to the point that I was very close to packing it in," he said. "I had given it a good run but it just got to the stage where I was married with one child at the time and was choosing between electricity or a phone bill or rent.
"I had a really bad start to 2020, and that's not even to do with Covid. I felt like I was starting it off in a bad position, just with money and my son was sick for a few weeks, and then my grandmother passed away so there were some regrets with not seeing her as much as I could or should have."
It was that period of time where he wrote the first verse of Fake Fine, and just a few months after the song's release he was signed to Sony Records.
"That was crazy because it was all done through my phone and the laptop and I never actually met anyone. Was I dreaming? It took a long time to sink in but thankfully when things opened up a bit I got to go over to Berlin and meet the team with label. I'm really lucky that I have a great team at the label and also with my management and the people who help out. It lets me focus fully on the music."
Grace has just released a new EP XXVII, which is being accompanied by a tour in some of Ireland's most popular music venues, including the Academy in Dublin, Dolan's in Limerick and Cyprus Avenue in Cork. He is also set to play Indiependence festival in Cork at the end of July, with other headliners including Bastille, Becky Hill and Rudimental.
"With the EP I wanted to have a bit of a break from mental health as a topic for the EP, so it's a bit lighter. There's songs about toxic relationships, getting drunk and calling them, wanting someone back - the whole journey of relationships.
"It's also the first proper tour of my own that I've done, so it's a very weird feeling. I'm excited and nervous because it's a brand new thing for me to go out and do that. I have to figure out what works in front of a crowd, crowd interaction and singing songs that people don't know. It's exciting but weird that it's only happening now nearly two years down the line from Fake Fine."
XXVII is available to stream on all platforms now, and Robert can be found on Twitter, Intstagram, TikTok and Facebook.
