Social Repose is the performing name for Richard McLean Giese (born February 9, 1990 in Cabin John, MD),[2] informally known as Richie. He is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and social media content creator.
He attended American University in Washington, D.C. and majored in film production, with an eye towards audio work on indie films. Some of the jobs he held in college included barista and Uber driver, and he was in a band.[3]
Richie didn't start making music until late high school/early college while working on his degree. Some of the influences he's named include Modest Mouse for their lyrically driven music, My Chemical Romance's creative videos, Death Cab for Cutie's sad introspective indie style, Imogen Heap's creative instrumentation, and the originality of Twenty One Pilots.[4]
Early career and YouTube beginnings: 2011-2014
The Social Repose YouTube channel launched April 22, 2011, with a debut single and video, "Helium House". Paradise, the inaugural Social Repose EP, was announced on Facebook and debuted on Bandcamp May 2, 2011. Additional tracks from the album were posted to YouTube in the following days. Richie posted his first vlog July 9th of that year, introducing himself. Paradise was followed shortly by several additional releases also in the electronic synth pop music style. To support his music, Social Repose played live shows at indie clubs in and around the D.C area. Richie also handed out demos at popular alternative band shows, and posted all of his music online. For him, 2011 to 2014 consisted of "grinding every single day learning how to make music, learning how to sing, posting YouTube videos."[8]
Early Social Repose YouTube offerings consisted of original music, vlogs, music videos, and cover songs. He gained a little traction and was able to perform locally as an opening act for better known bands, but Richie wasn't finding music to be a self-sustaining career, so he knew he needed to try something else. Fascinated by the way larger-than-life characters captivate people, he considered what he as a fan would like to see at a show. Drawing inspiration from an artist that he loved, and from World of Warcraft characters, Richie decided that he needed something to create a compelling visual identity.[9] He started out with an inexpensive feathered headpiece and some makeup, and across the next few years kept adding on elements. He often posted vlogs detailing the increasingly intricate aesthetic: outfits, makeup, accessories, and even wings. A signature look should be memorable and garner attention for his music, he reasoned, but his look wasn’t about shock value—it was about individuality and never wasting an opportunity to express himself creatively.[10]
After upgrading the look, Social Repose began posting covers of songs by Warped Tour-style bands, favoring short samples so that he could easily experiment with several styles. He landed a tour spot opening for Blood on the Dance Floor and some dates on the Grow Wild tour,[11] which only increased his exposure. Wanting to keep things fresh on his channel, he embraced the idea that approaching things traditionally makes an artist lose the spark of what compels people to follow them.[12]
He expanded his musical offerings[13] and continued to grow in popularity as a content creator:
Loop covers done with unorthodox instruments such as balloons and rubber bands.
A cappella covers usually featured nine or more screens and often incorporated choreographed head movements. This technique drew praise from Billie Eilish when she saw her song "You Should See Me in a Crown" covered.[14]
Videos featuring one song performed in multiple genres or with Social Repose singing in the styles of multiple vocalists further showcased Richie's vocal talents.
He also continued to release original singles.
Yalta and Empress: 2015-2019
Social Repose released Yalta in the fall of 2015, choosing the name to signal a new beginning. Richie wanted to make emotionally meaningful music, thus the shift from electronic dance music to experimental indie. He wrote and produced this transitional album, citing Imogen Heap and Twenty One Pilots as big influences. Themes touched on identity and relationships, with softer piano replacing aggressive synth and with melodic, often poetic, vocals.[15]
Social Repose is primarily a solo artist, so touring to support Yalta reduced the time available to upload new musical content. Richie apologized in a tour vlog for the delay, explaining that he managed his own travel, stage load in/load out, and merch, and didn't realize how little free time he would have. He still posted music as he could, but to keep his content in front of viewers, the Social Repose channel expanded into more diverse types of content. He created clever musical bits such as making songs out of comments and tweets, and rounded out the content with skits, reaction videos, and collaborations with other YouTubers.[16]
In the fall of 2016, Social Repose released trailers that contained glimpses of an upcoming work, and on Halloween the "Filthy Pride" song and video dropped. The melancholy lyrics touched on relationship and mental health struggles and the accompanying video was a striking monochromatic piece. The following fall, two more video trailers appeared, each followed shortly by the music video debuts for "Villain" and "Empress" respectively. The Empress EP released on the same date as the video, and Social Repose toured to support "Empress" across the US and Europe through late 2019.[17] Continuing Social Repose's shift to alternative music that began with Yalta, Empress featured a dark, atmospheric sound inspired largely by bands Daughter and Twenty One Pilots. Richie wrote Empress around the themes in the "Filthy Pride" single because he felt they needed to be talked about. His candid, oft-confessional songwriting didn't shy away from the topics of depression and sadness, and the dichotomy of toxic relationships.[18]
During this period, Richie was very open about struggling with depression and burnout. The time demands of providing constant content left him feeling increasingly isolated from friends and family. He spoke about how the pressure to constantly upload and maintain relevance made it difficult to focus on time-intensive creative work like songwriting. Recording covers felt less like a passion and more like a job, since some of his favorite bands were not as well known, so wouldn't generate as much attention. With Richie feeling stuck in a creative rut but depending on YouTube numbers for income, he shifted Social Repose uploads more towards skits and satire.[21]
Calamity and beyond: 2020-Present
On January 1st, 2020, Social Repose posted a video, fading away, which featured Richie reciting the poem "Before the Past Happened" by V. B. Price. Calamity, a word in the poem, was also the name of the new Social Repose album. "Me" debuted the next day, a spoken word piece with accompanying concept video. "Malevolent" dropped at the end of the month and the rest of Calamity became available towards the end of March. Calamitys tracks contained existential reflection and contemplated relationships, with some songs being nearly autobiographical in nature. Richie's lyrics drew heavily from both personal experiences, and from the ongoing professional struggle to balance artistic expression with personal well-being.[22]
Richie loved making music and videos, so he originally launched Social Repose online for creative self-expression, and had many fulfilling years with YouTube and other popular social media sites. As the viewer base changed, however, he felt conflicted with the shifting landscape. Creators found themselves constrained by the need to focus on titles and thumbnails, rather than their actual content, in order to maximize views. In 2012, YouTube algorithms began demonetizing videos not deemed advertiser-friendly,[23] which affected some of the Social Repose artistic videos and made Richie question whether his content was welcome on the platform anymore. He was bothered by the idea of censorship, and concerned about pouring heart and soul into an art piece only to have it essentially "dead on arrival". Eschewing posting to please the algorithm, Richie decided that Social Repose would continue to upload, but stick to emotional and creative art that would hopefully resonate with the audience.[24]
The Social Repose Patreon [25] became the new home for progress updates, personal posts, behind the scenes production videos, early releases, and a subscriber Discord. YouTube, Facebook, and other Social Repose social media sites focused on music:
Rock and heavy metal style song covers with accompanying videos shot both in studio and on location. These featured dramatic lighting and heavier guitar.
Performance video covers shot on location both domestically and overseas.
Short covers with video taken in picturesque locations. Songs performed from atop a picnic table became fan favorites.[26]
Collaborations with other social media singers and musicians.[29]
Working at his own pace, with an emphasis on singles rather than albums, allows Richie to give Social Repose projects maximum focus. Whether it's a cover or an original, audio or video, he appreciates feeling like each work has gotten his best.
Cinematography
Richie's film school background helped him bring his creative ideas to life, both in art videos and in Social Repose music videos. He has jokingly referred to himself as a pretentious art student, but he has demonstrated a willingness to take on emotionally difficult or divisive topics. Examples of his work include the "Nothing Matters" art video series which features simply silence and ambient music, and a spoken word piece titled "These are my pills". Behind-the-scenes videos let viewers understand the depth of preparation and the technical process of creating Social Repose concept videos. Richie lost significant weight for the "Mercy Kill" video, spent 13 hours in and out of acrylic paint-filled bathtubs for "Filthy Pride", and submerged himself in a swimming pool in January for the "Me" spoken word video. [30]
From the muted tones and deliberate pacing of "Stand Tall" to the dark dystopian imagery of "Dry Run", Social Repose music videos paired visual storytelling with the lyrical and musical complexities of the songs. Showcasing Richie's imagination and vision, the concept music video anthology built around "Filthy Pride" from the Empress EP featured bleak black-and-white visuals with dramatic character struggles. He fell victim to the YouTube algorithm determining that the "Villain" video was not ad-friendly, but he didn't let that deter him from continuing to create high concept Social Repose music videos.[33]
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