Kodaline might be about to release their second album, Coming Up For Air, the old fashioned way with Sony, but they were not against fellow Irish band U2 giving their new work away for free on iTunes.
Talking to Craig Fitzpatrick in an extensive interview (which you'll find in our new issue, on sale tomorrow), here's what the lads had to say about Songs Of Innocence...
"We were in the studio when it happened, recalls drummer Vinny May. "I read about it so I was like 'everyone check your iPhone'! We can see both sides of the argument but there's no real need for the complete outrage – 'how dare they invade my personal property'. It's a fucking hour of music! Jesus, I'm sorry! There could be worse things. It could be an hour of somebody giving out to you. Or an hour of somebody shouting fuck. It's an hour of music!"
Jay Boland : "It's those 72mbs they're taking up [that is annoying people]."
Mark Prendergast: "And everybody loves to take a dig at Bono."
Steve Garrigan: "Imagine it was someone like Justin Bieber..."
May: "Then I could see the outrage!"
"We're all fans so we were just happy to get a free album," Garrigan concedes. "If it was Britney Spears or someone like that, I don't know."
"The argument," says Prendergast, "is that they could have put it up as a free download. But there's something kind of edgy and ballsy about it – 'bam, here's our album.' Sure if you look on your iTunes, Bono's there already! The outline of the singer is Bono!"
For more with Kodaline, who open up about their new record, hanging with the likes of Hozier and Ed Sheeran, surreal encounters with Courteney Cox and Sasha Baron Cohen and much, much more, pick up the new issue of Hot Press, out Thursday January 22
To purchase your copy of Hot Press 39.01 with Kodaline on the cover order online direct from hotpress.com
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