For Pete’s Sake

The Irish musician speaks about the band he and fellow Strypes members formed, The Zen Arcade, inspirations, having a zine and podcast, and how this time around, they’re not compromising on their vision.  

Pete O’Hanlon is a musician from Cavan, Ireland with a quick wit, unique sound, and sharp sense of humor. Along with being a talented musician, podcaster, and zinester, Pete also has a quality which is hard to find in most people, especially within the entertainment industry- the ability to not take anything, even himself, too seriously.

At the age of 24, Pete has already had what he described as “the typical band experience”, through the band he was previously part of for about 8 years, The Strypes. However, following their 2018 break up Pete sought out the “not so typical band experience” which led to the formation of The Zen Arcade, a garage rock band, which he formed alongside fellow former Strypes members, Evan Walsh and Ross Farrelly. The band, who recently released their first and latest single, “Don’t Say a Word” in late October also keeps themselves busy through their zine, Cro Mag Non, and podcast, Higher Fidelity. Each of which are music based and go out of their way to create the space for humor in music which O’Hanlon’s always believed could exist, but just wasn’t granted much of a space to.

To give some background on their zine, Cro Mag Non is released monthly by the band and in comparison to the all serious music zines O’Hanlon recalls seeing at zine fairs in the past, their zine takes a different, more humorous, approach in the likes of the writing styles of Douglas Adams and the publishing, Viz. Throughout the issues you can find topics such as interviews with the bands they create, such as “The CIAgents'' who they interviewed, but then of course had to black out their answers as it was obviously, highly classified information- to the tales of  their “lo-fi, sci-fi” band, “Jet Blonde'', a space based band whose adventures are told throughout the issues of the zine. Similarly, the band’s podcast, Higher Fidelity, which O’Hanlon describes would appeal to the “power pop fans who grew up watching Disney Channel '' was created with the same light hearted intentions and also doesn’t lack in variety. Conscious of not letting the band solely rely on their innate rapport as quality for a podcast he designed it to have various segments throughout an episode which range from topics such as their “Guilty Hatreds'' in which they discuss all the bands they feel bad about not liking. To “Never Mind the Fuzzbox'', a spin on the intro round segment of the English music quiz show, “Never Mind the Buzzcocks.”  However, in their version of the segment a member sings the song into a microphone which they wire up into a fuzz box, the outcome being the people with the headphones hearing what he describes as, “an absolutely garbled mess” from which they have to decipher what song  it is the other is singing.

Pete O’Hanlon pictured above on the cover of Issue 7 for Cro Mag Non.

Their independent approach doesn’t stop there though, even in releasing their latest single they went about the release process in their own style, even while in a pandemic. He spoke about how the original idea for the single was to release the track on Spotify just as a “taster track”, thinking maybe that’d be enough for it to gain some radio play, they could do a gig around it, and maybe a tour. However, with the pandemic any and all physical elements which went with the release quickly diminished and the original plan behind the singles release had to change. Not wanting to prolong the release of the single anymore they went forth with its release and though he admits, “releasing a single during a pandemic is a nightmare, I wouldn’t wish it on anybody,” the release of “Don’t Say A Word” turned out to be one of the most successful releases they’d ever done by far. Unable to physically be there for fans, they decided they could give them something physical instead and gave fans the ability to buy the single on cassette, each of which came in a care package like style with mementos such as a handwritten letter, a few copies of Cro Mag Non, and a personalized certificate of authenticity, just to name a few things. This though, wasn’t the only unorthodox approach they took with the singles release. He explained how with a record label the typical approach is to not have a consolidated date for a single to come out by having different days which it is released on streaming platforms, radio, and then eventually, releasing the music video. They however, did not want to take this approach. Rather, they wanted to go the exact opposite route, by releasing it on every platform, video included, on the same date. While many thought they were crazy for this approach, they were insistent on the fact that they had enough content around it already, as well as the content from their monthly zine and podcast, thus having no need to roll it out over a month the way it’s typically done. So, going against all odds, they released the single the way they wanted to and proved any doubts wrong when the single instantly moved up the charts, cassettes sold out, and the song in every right, was a success.

In describing his creative influences, he cites artists such as The Undertones, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Squeeze as musical influences. Even accrediting how Chris Stifford, a song writer in Squeeze who’d also been a co manager of theirs for a while, uses language and has an ability to write couplets into song as an influence on him, one which he even carried into the podcast and zine. His influences don’t just stop with musicians though, one of the most interesting influences of his is Stiff Records, the English record label of the 1970’s, who were as he describes, “really self destructively independent” in how they were so ill equipped for a record label, yet made it work. He acknowledges how The Zen Arcade take a similar approach, by even setting up their own record label, Dental Records, along with the release of their single. O’Hanlon also accredits his dad as an influence in how he’s always seen that when he takes something on, he does it using his fullest capabilities and this approach carried onto him too. “I’m not a fan of adequate,” he explained. “I kinda like things to be as fully realized as you can make it and if it’s going to look bad, make it look deliberately bad.” Even in his Stiff Records inspired approach, he makes sure everything he does, even the things he does in good humor, are fully seen out. From how the  blank space on the spine of the cassette was used as a canvas for a poem just to not let any space go to waste, to the roughly 20 minutes he admitted it took to put together a cassette the way they did, it’s easy to see everything he and the band put out are done to their fullest capabilities and is created in a way that’s very personal to themselves.

While he admits the band is still navigating much of their new, independent approach, they’ve proven that you can create what you want without compromising on your vision and you don’t have to be a major professional in any sort of field to do it. When I asked O’Hanlon if he could give any advice to his younger self starting out in music, or to anyone getting into music right now, though he admitted he too is still very much in a learning position right now. There were a few things though which he was very adamant about, one of the main ones being, “You never have to compromise on your vision.” Explaining in detail, “Even initially when you start out because no one’s banging on your door. So when you’re fleshing out ideas, or doing recordings, or anything to do with the band at all, you absolutely maximize the volume on it, like go so over the top with it because when you’re pitching it  people need to see as massive an inflated an idea of what your vision is so they get it, because obviously you understand it because it’s yours. But it needs to be as bright and colorful or as kind of like, as exaggerant as possible to properly sell it to someone, and when I say sell it I mean in terms of like getting the idea across.” This process he adds, applies to demos as well. “If you’re doing a demo, throw every single idea at it, have it like an absolute mess so that you can pick away and be like these bits work, these don’t.” Though he admits that as you make your vision more refined it will be harder to find people who will work with it, that doesn’t make it not worth not seeking out people. Right now as they speak to agents and promoters they make it very clear what they want and though there are people whom that won't work for, when they find someone who’s on the same page, it truly does benefit everyone.  

One of my early questions for O’Hanlon was how he kept his honest self in his work and the more he explained the concept behind the band and all its mediums, it was easy to see there’s no way him, or any of the members really, couldn’t be totally integrated in everything it is they do. Though all the work they’ve done throughout their musical careers so far has been nothing short of talent, there is a very unfiltered, down to earth element about The Zen Arcade which in a society which values likes and trends more than authenticity, becomes harder to find. O’Hanlon is very authentic when he speaks, as one of his most important pieces of advice is, “I think be silly, I think the biggest thing in the world is don’t take yourself too seriously, it’s such a pain to look at a band who like so convinced of their own greatness. There’s a difference in being confident and then being too serious and taking yourself too seriously.” And it’s easy to see he carries this advice into all he does. O’Hanlon isn’t trying to sell something which is perfect and attempting to appeal to a mass market, these days he and his fellow band members are more so creating something which holds a space of its own and is true to themselves- a vision which is fun, unique, and not open for any compromises.

The Zen Arcade releases their zine Cro Mag Non on the first Tuesday of every month and you can find their latest issue, as well as previous ones here. Their podcast, Higher Fidelity, is released on the third Tuesday of every month and you can also listen to their most recent, as well as previous episodes here. Their first single “Don’t Say A Word” is available on all platforms and you can stream it here, as well as watch the music video (which they shot on themselves!) here.

For any additional information you can check out The Zen Arcade’s website, Instagram or Twitter.