telco wrestles with solitariness and commitment in debut single “Say Hello”

Sup? Welcome to our new feature franchise where we literally just answer the category in question and give you some insights into an indie artist’s work. In this first-ever Sup? issue, we present to you Michael Gilbride’s solo project, telco, and his emotive debut single, “Say Hello”.

Released last August 14, “Say Hello” is officially Michael Gilbride’s first step into the indie music world. It is the first track off of the singer-songwriter’s highly anticipated debut EP, my name is not kaiser, which is coming out next month. As its title implies, the track wants you to take heed and connect with it—get lost in its striking, faint sketch.

Gilbride goes by the moniker Telco (stylized in all lowercase). “We live in a world where people are posting pictures of their faces constantly, I thought it might be refreshing to have a little restraint in the way we expose ourself,” explains Gilbride, who admits to taking influence from a handful of elusive, then-solo mysterious acts like Bon Iver (Justin Vermont), Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst), and AWOLNATION (Aaron Bruno). The Pennsylvania native is now based in New York City and has been particularly busy honing his craft in his and a co-producer’s apartment to and fro, relentlessly demoing all sort of melodies he comes up with.

“Say Hello” is among his promising initial outputs. “It is a song that seeks to capture the push and pull between the desire to be alone and the need to share your life with someone you love,” he says of the cold, absorbingly spacious number. Armed with a voice reminiscent of James Bay’s, Gilbride aims his soul-searching narrative at those who find themselves at war with indecision as regards two of life’s most difficult choices: to stay alone or to share your life with a beloved.

In an attempt to reflect the struggle associated with picking one desire over the other, Gilbride in “Say Hello” resorts to cleverly switching from an immersive minor chord progression to a rather rosy, vivid efflux of major keys. Towards the end of the song, he finally settles with the major mood as to “end the struggle on a hopeful note.”

Stream “Say Hello” below. Be sure to follow telco and not miss a thing.

Sam Corrazza

Sam is a mediocre artist, musician, and the founder and editor in chief of UNXIGNED. He is a Juris Doctor who leads an excitingly boring life in the confines of his room juggling studies with passion and dreams. He is terrible at finding balance but gets by anyhow. He wants you to follow his artist pages and channels for when he decides to up his game. Pretty open for collabs and will mix your would-be hit song for cheap.