It’s August 2018 and you’re heading to Montreal for the final day of Osheaga Festival.
Sounds perfect, if you ask us. But then, disaster strikes: you’re running late and you miss Lewis Capaldi’s set. Now, in the eyes of many a sensible music fan, this is enough to ruin your weekend. But, if you’re the quiet Canadian behind the Instagram account @Permanent.reverie, this may just end up being one of the best things that has ever happened to you.
“My friend was like, “there’s this guy called Dermot Kennedy who we should go and see instead!”, they tell us over a crackling Skype line. ‘I was a bit unsure about it ’til she told me he was an Irish singer-songwriter and then I was immediately ready to go…”.
Still, one Lewis Capaldi fan’s loss transpired to be thousands of Dermot Kennedy fans’ gain; for, it was this happy lack of prior planning that set them on a trajectory to creating one of the best fan accounts on Instagram.
But what did it take for them to make the transition from Casual Admirer to becoming the leader of Instagram’s premier Dermot Kennedy fan club?
“I remember searching “I loved you Dermot Kennedy Lyrics” to figure out what song it was. (That’ll be Moments Passed, ‘for the record’). I realised that there was a weight to the music and how important it was in the world, and I thought that other people must’ve been feeling the same way. I kinda just wanted to help, too. When you first become a fan of someone, you want as much content as you can. I want to watch interviews, and I want to know about the artist’s songwriting process, and I just couldn’t find one place to find all this information. So, I set out to create one.”
“The songs just struck a chord with me. When I first heard his music, I saw a part of myself being recognised. Other people I introduced him too would have the same reaction, and that feeling is just so powerful. Talking about something you love only feels the same way when you talk to people who also know how it feels to be in that position.”
Then, as Dermot Kennedy’s profile grew, the page grew alongside it. The latest milestone to be hit was the 10,000 followers mark.
Was that a big deal? “It was a big deal, but a big part was getting the ‘swipe up’ function on Stories! That benchmark was symbolic more than anything but it does mark the moment where the impostor syndrome subsided a bit.”
“It’s also cool to reflect on how we got here and all the effort that so many people put in. It does feel like the beginning of a new chapter, no matter how corny that sounds. I have noticed since the beginning of last tour that interactions are different; there has been a shift in the dynamic, and I am still working out how that is good and how that is bad. Still, it’s gotten this far, and yet I can still only remember maybe two or three bad interactions – and that’s on the Internet!”
“Generally, people are positive. Like, I was in line at a Sam Fender show and someone came up to me and was like “I love your page, by the way”, and I turned around so fast that I got whiplash! She even had one of my lock screens as her phone background.”
“It was weird because we weren’t even at a Dermot Kennedy show. Since then it has really been amazing to see what people can do. The surprises at shows are from people in the group chats that we facilitate before every show, but I don’t really associate that with the page. I just give them a platform to interact on. Just seeing how kind, interactive and respectful people are at shows is incredible and makes the whole experience so much easier.”
It is, of course, easy to forget that this is all a mere side hustle.
There’s still a social life and a work life to be balanced alongside being the second biggest Dermot Kennedy fan on the planet. “I think it has always been a struggle to maintain a balance between everything. Maybe not since day one, but definitely since, like, day thirty. I do enjoy posting as much as I can, and I do as much as I can even outside of the page; but, do I tend to get very anxious and stressed if I feel like I have a lot to do.”
However, as much work as running the page can be, it can open up important dialogues. “[The account] forced me to have an important conversation with myself. I had to ask myself whether or not it worth the time it takes; if things at work were busy, or the page was very busy, I had to learn to prioritise and not put pressure on myself on to reply to every message or comment. It took a conversation with people who I met through the page to tell me to set boundaries and to give myself time. I do struggle with balancing my work, personal and “Perm Rev” life, but the reward the page gives me outweighs the stress.”
