A Decade in the Making: Picture This Discusses Growth, New Music, and More

Following a standout week of performances at SXSW Sydney, Irish pop-rock powerhouse Picture This sat down with Pleaser to reflect on their whirlwind journey. Having travelled across the world to perform at SXSW Sydney, the band found themselves experiencing a full-circle moment that felt both surreal and electrifying. With their new single, “Yours Forever,” marking a powerful bridge between their impressive EP Let The Light In, frontman Ryan Hennessy opens up about the songwriting process, the band’s creative chemistry and the authenticity that has defined them since their viral beginnings a decade ago.

PHOTOS BY ADRIANNE ARMIDA

PLEASER: Congratulations on your SXSW Sydney shows last week! How did it feel to bring Picture This to this event so far away from home?

Ryan Hennessy: It felt amazing getting to travel all the way from Ireland to Australia to play at such an iconic event. That feeling of traipsing across the globe to play at important events like SXSW Sydney never gets old. And for us, having attended SXSW in Texas way back in 2017, it felt like a cool full-circle moment to be doing it again, many years later, but this time in Australia on our first visit to the country. 

You’ve played some of the biggest venues in Europe. How does playing a showcase event like SXSW Sydney compare in terms of energy and intimacy?

RH: The thing about our band is that whether we’re playing to a crowd of 60,000 of our own fans or we’re playing a showcase show in a tiny room, we always bring stadium energy and treat every show the same. By doing that, the crowd responds in the same way, so whether it’s 60,000 people or six people, the energy is always the same for us and in turn for the audience, and that’s very important to us.

Coming straight off the release of the new single, “Yours Forever,” how has the reaction been about the new song?

RH: “Yours Forever” has actually gotten the biggest reaction to a song we’ve had in quite a while, which is an amazing feeling, because we didn’t think too much about the release itself. It was a song that we really loved and cared about and wanted to get out there, but it was not a big single push with a campaign. Yet somehow, it’s found its way into so many people’s hearts and became a lot of our fans’ favourite song.

Was there a specific moment in the writing or recording process when you knew this song would be the next single?

RH: I wrote the song at home on a mandolin, and I remember when I finished it feeling like this is one of those songs that has an immediacy and it’s not gonna sit on a laptop or a hard drive for months and be forgotten about. We all kind of knew that we had to get this song to our fans as soon as possible. 

“Yours Forever” feels like one of your most emotionally raw releases to date. Did it come from a real experience, or did you find yourselves writing more from observation?

RH: Every Picture This song comes from a real place or a real experience and I think that’s a huge reason why people connect so strongly to the songs. It’s probably a subconscious thing but I think the listener can sense when something is real or something is contrived. For us, it always comes from a real place. 

Let The Light In, your EP released earlier this year, was such a thoughtful record. Do you see “Yours Forever” as a continuation of that emotional journey or the start of a new chapter?

RH: “Yours Forever” actually felt like the perfect bridge between the emotional and lyrical landscape of Let The Light In and where we’re going next. It was really the only song that we could release right after Let The Light In that would perfectly bridge that gap to the new world that we’re stepping into with the new music that we have coming. 

What does the creative process look like for you as a band when writing music and preparing for live shows?

RH: When creating music, it usually starts with me writing a song having all the lyrics, and taking it to Jimmy who produces the songs. Then we all get together as a band and play on it and finish it together, which is fun. 

In terms of the live show, that’s very much everybody involved from the start. All four of us get creative and come up with stage shows and productions together. We all collectively make decisions about how we want the show to be, and even physically build parts of the set ourselves.

Your viral video that jump-started your musical career was posted a decade ago. How have you evolved as a band since then, and what do you hope to learn in the next decade?

RH: I think in many ways we’re the exact same band, which we’re all very proud of. We’re closer now than ever and still have the same heart and vision that we had then. At the same time, now we have so much experience behind us that can help us to achieve the goals that we have set for ourselves and for the band. 

With your Australian headline shows coming up next May, what can fans expect that’s different from your European sets?

RH: Well, having had our first taste of Australian audiences, they’re very different from a mainland European audience, and they’re actually quite similar to an Irish audience in terms of their energy and their madness, which we love. So our Australian fans can expect high octane shows that are centred around the connection between the band and the audience and one big sing-song. Coming to Australia for the first time as headliners is very exciting, and I think well overdue. We have had amazing fans in Australia since the band first began, and we have to make up for lost time with those fans. We’re very excited to give them our all and connect with them. 

Is there a city or venue on your upcoming tour you are particularly looking forward to? If so, why?

RH: It’s actually really hard to pick one, because we genuinely fell in love with each city that we went to last time out. We’re buzzing for each show. Maybe Perth is one that we’re really looking forward to, as last time we played Fremantle, it was amazing. But then again, as I said, we really loved every city.

Do you have any pre-show rituals or superstitions before hitting the stage?

RH: We don’t have any crazy rituals, we just listen to music that gets us in the mood, and that changes all the time actually. Sometimes it’s an Irish singer called Joe Dolan, sometimes it’s Raye, sometimes it’s heavy metal, sometimes gangster rap. Just whatever we’re feeling in the moment. 

After everything you’ve achieved, what still gives you that same excitement as when “Take My Hand” first went viral?

RH: Well, it’s funny, because “Take My Hand” is our first and oldest song but the excitement that we still get when it comes to playing that song in the set is the same excitement as we had when we first wrote, recorded and started playing it. And I think that’s quite rare for a lot of artists.