Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Caroline Reilly. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Caroline thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

Growing up, I was constantly confused about my artistry. I started playing guitar at around 14, and that’s honestly around the time I started writing music. I always felt like my mentors were unsure of where I was going to take my music as I got older. I felt this constant pressure to do something that made everyone I knew happy. Some of my mentors were huge “I hate pop music” types of people, so I felt like I had to do something edgier. I was always overthinking my lyrics and melodies in my songs.

When I turned 18, I started working on music by myself for a while. I wasn’t really thinking about what anyone thought of my music anymore. I had a vocal instructor at the time who wrote some amazing songs in all different genres. It was so inspiring to see someone write anything they wanted without fear of judgement. After seeing that, I immediately knew what I wanted to do. I just woke up and decided I wanted to be a pop punk / pop rock artist. I wanted the lyrics to be “cheesy” just as long as they were real. I wanted to be able to tell my stories in a way that’s completely my own. I was tired of being told I wasn’t “rock enough,” “too pop,” or too much of any other genre. The amount of anxiety I felt was crippling.

The moment that I finally chose myself was the most important moment of my music career thus far.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello everyone! My name is Caroline Reilly and I am so excited to give you a look into my music career and the path that led me here. When I was little singing was my passion. I loved it so much that I asked my parents to put me in musical theatre. They saw how passionate I was about performing and later had me take piano and guitar lessons. Learning how to play instruments kind of solidified my love for music. Once I joined my first band I knew this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

Once I turned 18 I really started to dive into my artistry. Songwriting became my new favorite daily activity. I was always going back and forth with myself. “Is this too pop?”, “is this song catchy enough”, “what genre do I even resonate with the most?”.

My style and influences were all within the rock/alternative circle. My idols like Hayley Williams, Blondie, Gwen Stefani, Joan Jett (ETC.) helped me realize that it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks I sound like. I was ready to start writing for myself.

I’ve been so unbelievably thankful for the amount of live performance opportunities I’ve gotten over the past couple of years. I’ve had the opportunity to open for pop/rock artists like Lit, Royal & the Serpent, Stand Atlantic, Icon For Hire, and many more! My dream is to tour and open for a sick pop rock artist.

I honestly would not be where I am without my parents and my mentors. I have some of the most supportive parents in the whole world. They are always at my shows cheering me on and helping me whenever I need it.

I couldn’t be more excited for the future!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Creative people are such a gift. I work with so many creatives that I can’t believe aren’t famous. You can support local artists by going to their shows, sharing their music on social media, and showing their content to other people you know. We appreciate every bit of support we can get!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building an audience on social media is a lot harder than it looks. You have to think about colors, filters, post times, hashtags, reposts, followers. Sometimes you have good hashtags but it crowds up the caption of your post and doesn’t look aesthetically pleasing. As silly as that sounds… it’s what we have to think about every time we post! Social media as a whole is very silly but essential in boosting your career. For independent artists, a good social media presence is crucial.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carolinereillymusic.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinereillymusic/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carolinereillymusicc
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/carolinermusic?lang=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8VzJAZK3vxQLgEkyeQluyw

Image Credits
Tessa Wessel