Pat Reilly of Eramnesia / Fallahin Fall Interview

Feature Photo courtesy of Pat Reilly

As a veteran of the NYC and Long Island rock and metal scenes, Pat Reilly has established himself as a versatile shredder, capable of straddling multiple genres in one fell swoop. He’s deeply influenced by seemingly everything, and it shows with the far-reaching sounds he creates as a member of Eramnesia, Fellahim Fall, and a solo artist. Be it through the organic yet weighty music he creates or the groundswell of hyper-techy gear he deploys, few do it better than Reilly as far as the Long Island scene goes.

Keep an eye out for all Pat has going on via Instagram (@patthepanther) or his band’s accounts (@eramnesiaofficial and @fellahinfall). In the meantime, dig into this career-spanning interview with Pat, where he digs into his origins, style, career, gear, and more.

When did music first enter your life?

I have a music-loving family. Since before I can remember, there was always music in the background whether I was at home or a family party; good stuff, too, bands such as Pink Floyd, Depeche Mode, The Talking Heads, Genesis, and many more.

Which albums were most important in terms of sharing your sound? How did those records influence you early on?

Going back to my younger years. I didn’t even know what my sound was. Now that I have matured as a musician, I can surely say that my sound is a combination of many things. I can’t speak on albums, but if you combine the band’s Whitesnake, Pink Floyd, Evergrey and throw some ’80s synthwave in there, that might come close to what I envision as elements of my sound.

What led you to pick up the guitar? Can you recall your first guitar, and do you still have it?

I remember hearing a guitar for the first time in person; it was my uncle playing an acoustic at my cousin’s house. I fell in love with the sound and the possibilities. Not long after that, I got a Fender Squire, which I no longer have. I played the hell out of that thing for probably a year and a half before getting my next guitar, which was an ESP KH2, and yes, it was an actual ESP; I was a lucky boy. The KH2 was my first real guitar. I kept it for over ten years, toured with it, recorded with it, and sold it.

Paint a picture of the scene you were privy to in your early days.

My first band was a melodic metalcore band called Through the Discipline. For whatever reason, we only seem to be able to play with hardcore bands, so I guess I was privy to the NY hardcore scene back in the early 2000s.

Can you recount your first show and how that led to you signing a deal?

I don’t know for sure, but I am pretty sure that my first show was with Through the Discipline at Castle Heights in Queens. Through the Discipline never really got a record deal, but technically we had a label at one point, but I wouldn’t call it a record deal.

How did your latest album come together?

The last piece of music I released was a single. The song is called “Alone Under Neon Lights” from a project that my vocalist, Aimee Zambrana, and I founded called Eramnesia. The song was originally for my solo project that I had been sitting on for a while. I sent it to Amiee, who wrote some vocals, inspiring me to rework the song to fit her voice completely. We released a music video for it as well.

You’ve got a few projects; how does your approach change as you shift between them?

That’s a great question; I currently have three projects: Eramnesia, Fellahin Fall, and Pat Reilly. Although my approach is very similar through each project, my role in the project will dictate my input. With Fellahin Fall, Nodar is the main songwriter; he calls upon me to write solos and refine/spice up guitars throughout our songs before mixing.

With Eramnesia and Pat Reilly, I am the primary songwriter and instrumentalist responsible for all the music and production. Like I said, though, my approach is similar throughout all the bands in that I aim to compose memorable, interesting, and atmospheric music.

What sort of gear did you have to work with in the studio?

Since I like to be self-sufficient, my home studio is outfitted with some very cool stuff. I work through an Antelope Orion Studio Interface paired with outboard processing, such as a Warm Audio Bus Compressor, an SSL fusion, and a Neve Orbit summing mixer.

In addition to those things, I have writing tools such as Native Instruments Komplete 14 collector’s edition, Spectrasonics Omnisphere, and much more. I mix and produce with a hybrid approach, so I also use iZotope and IK Multimedia mixing plugins in addition to my analog gear. I’m always looking for the next cool thing to play with.

What combination of pedals and amps do you use?

Right now, I have three amps that I love to use. The one constant is the pedals that I use with them. The amps are an EVH Stealth 50, Bogner Ecstasy 3534, and an Engl Savage MKII 120. Because of the massive MIDI flexibility, I use the Engl most for live performances. I like to pair the amps with my XGear pedals from IK. Xtime, Space, Xvibe, a TC Sentry Noise Suppressor, and a Wampler Tumnus DLX.

Does making music in a low attention span world frustrate you?

The only frustrating thing is when people tell me I should cater the music to low attention span listeners. I prefer to write music without inhibition and without some line in the sand, telling me that if I write beyond that line, nobody will listen. At the end of the day, I make music because it’s who I am.

What’s next in all lanes?

There is a lot on the horizon. Eramnesia released a single in the summer of 2023, and Fellahin Fall has several exciting releases coming soon after. Eramnesia is also in the process of recruiting members for live performances because our ultimate goal is to hit the stage ASAP!