The Secret Life of The Coronas - The Full Hot Press Interview

Midway through this interview, Danny O’Reilly of The Coronas makes a small confession: apparently, he and his fellow bandmates were suspicious of my intentions before meeting me.

“We were doing the photo-shoot with Katherine [Baumbach] down in the Hot Press studio before we came up here. We were messing around and I said, ‘Olaf wants to talk to us one at a time. I wonder is he going to try to get us to talk shit about each other?’”

Perish the thought! Actually, the reasoning behind interviewing Danny and his three bandmates separately was simply to avoid having all of them talking over each other. Even had my intentions been of the shit-stirring variety, having met all four Dubliners before, I’d already have known that there’d have been absolutely zero chance of getting this tight band of brothers to badmouth each other.

Rewind an hour or so. Your correspondent is already waiting in the Library Bar of Dublin’s Central Hotel when guitarist Dave McPhillips arrives (looking rather wary, in retrospect). A chiselled, friendly and politely spoken 32-year-old, he accepts my offer of a pint of Guinness and settles down to talk and reflect on his 10 years with one of Ireland’s most popular rock acts.

The Coronas have recently returned from a three-year stint in London, and last month scored their very first Irish Number One with their fifth studio album, the Eliot James-produced Trust The Wire. However, we decide to concentrate more on their earlier years.

Dave was actually the last member to sign up to the band. Danny O’Reilly, Conor Egan and Graham Knox had all been to Terenure College together and had formed a band called Kiros in their final year. They first met their future guitarist in Canada following their Leaving Certs.

“I wasn’t in school with the lads so I joined just after,” Dave explains. “We were on holidays in Vancouver and I was there with a few of my mates, and they were there with their mates. It was a guitars-on-the-beach-by-the-bonfire kind of thing. We all hit it off and they asked me to join when I came back. My group of mates kind of changed very drastically over the space of one summer.”

Interestingly, all four members were born within two months of one another in 1985. Dave is a Piscean, while the other three are Arian.

“It’s funny, but it’s come up a few times recently,” he smiles. “Horoscopes aren’t really my thing, but I know a load of people who are into all the star sign stuff. I was kind of slagging them about it, and I said, ‘Guess what star sign I am’. They said, ‘You’re definitely Pisces’. So maybe there is something to it.”

Either way, it was obviously written in the stars that the four would work (and play) together. Upon their return to Ireland, Kiros disbanded and The Coronas were born. They named themselves after the brand of typewriter the young music journalist in Almost Famous used. The four Dubliners hit the ground running. Within a matter of months they’d written and recorded their debut album, Heroes Or Ghosts. Released in October 2007 on Irish indie label 3u Records, it debuted at number 27 in Ireland, and was described in this publication’s review as “walking a soulful line between Jeff Buckley and The Libertines.”

“Yeah, that was quite a learning curve, to say the least,” Dave reflects. “It was full-on. You can build up your debut album for years in your head or whatever, or you could just do it today and out it goes tomorrow. There’s pros and cons of both ways, but certainly that was the way we went about it.”

All third level students themselves, The Coronas quickly became a live favourite on the Irish college circuit. Needless to say, they partied fairly hard in those early years.

ALL-NIGHTERS

“We drank our fair share, I suppose,” he shrugs. “I don’t think any of us have any serious problems in that respect, that it would really interfere with your life or anything like that. Certainly when we were younger, there were times you’d play a gig and the session after would be a lot more important than the gigs. Particularly when we were running around all the colleges and we were 22 or 23. You’d just kind of go fairly loose.

“You’d have to play a gig the next day, and that could be a fairly big gig, and there was definitely certain times where we would have played better if we hadn’t partied the night before. We physically can’t really do it anymore. You can’t deal with the all-nighters and going to a gig and pretending you’re alright. It’s just not fun. We’ve definitely kept an eye on it when we’re on tour. That said, we are still good for a good blow out every now and then.”

Sometimes things can go wrong without any booze or hangovers being involved. For instance, there was that disastrous support slot to Pink in Malahide about nine years ago.

“It was just after we recorded the first album,” recalls Dave, “and to say that was the biggest gig we’d done by then wouldn’t even come close. It was 20,000 people or something. The whole right hand side of the stage went because of a blown fuse. So we had no guitar. I think we still had vocal, which was probably just as well, but no guitar. It was only drum and bass.

“It was just one of those long ones... it was lashing rain, the crowd wanted Pink, not whoever the fuck we were,” he continues. “I remember that was the first one that we were really nervous about it, and it didn’t go particularly well. It was just, like… ‘FUCK!’ They’re the things you laugh about when you’re older. You’re glad they happened.” Still, at least that one had a happy ending.

“We went on tour with Pink after. She liked our vibe in general. It was a successful gig even if in your head it’s a nightmare.”

The band all graduated from university (Dave did Arts in UCD). In many ways they remain a student band. Their polished blend of pop and rock hasn’t appealed to everyone, and they’ve never been critical darlings… but that certainly hasn’t stopped them. Over the years, they’ve released a series of increasingly successful albums – 2009’s Meteor-winning Tony Was An Ex-Con, 2011’s Closer To You, and 2014’s The Long Way (their first – and, as things transpired, last – on Island Records).

“We’ve always been gradually getting bigger,” reflects Dave. “Eventually we played the 3Arena. When we got dropped by the label in London it was disappointing.”

The Island deal resulted in them relocating to London for a few years. After they were shown the door, Dave spent a few months living in Berlin before returning to his hometown.

“I’m really happy I went away for a bit before I came back home because I love Dublin now,” he says. “We left four years ago, and we’re back a few months. There’s a buzz around now.”

McPhillips was still with his Irish girlfriend when he returned. The relationship fizzled out a few months ago.

“We were on and off for a while,” he shrugs. “It didn’t really work out in the end so I’m back, back with the lads now, still feeling young so I’m not really too down about it all. It was a shit couple of months, but now the last months have been much better. I definitely want to have kids and family. I’m not making plans this minute.”

Home isn’t just where his heart(break) is. While they’re toured all over the world, Ireland remains the band’s biggest market by far. As Dave jokingly observes, they’re certainly not big in Japan.

“On the first album, we went out to Japan. We didn’t really go anywhere, though.”

THE LIFE OF O’REILLY

Wearing a grey flatcap and blue denim jacket, Danny O’Reilly arrives into the bar for the Changing of the Coronas, ordering a coffee as we wrap up round one. Before Dave departs, he reflects on the band’s longevity.

“We certainly never took ourselves too seriously. We know what we’re good at. You can move away from that. On the last album there were definitely efforts when we were writing to move away from what people expected.”

“We’re not that band that could shock you with something completely different,” he continues. “We just like writing songs and playing gigs. We’ve got lots of loyal fans. That’s just who we are. We’re not trying to come across like deep artists. We’re producing good music. Let’s keep to what we’re best at as opposed to trying to fuck the whole thing up.”

Always an affable sort, Danny seems to be in great form today.

“We’re just happy at the moment,” the singer says, smiling. “We’ve had a good summer. We’re happy with the album. We’re gonna be on the road in Europe, America, Australia and the UK.”

While The Coronas are happy to be in control of their own destiny with their So Far So Good label, they regret having also parted from Universal Ireland.

“It didn’t work out with Island in the UK. We didn’t want to leave Universal Ireland. They were really, really good and the value they brought to the last record was definitely to be seen. I know there’s a lot of bad stories about major labels changing your music, doing this and that. I’ve not a bad word to say about Universal Ireland. It just didn’t make sense financially for us to continue the relationship.”

Certainly, with such a loyal fanbase on their home turf, there seemed little point in paying a record label a cut of the profits to do what they could easily do themselves.

“At the size we are in Ireland, we can promote ourselves,” nods Danny. “We don’t have to go chasing the promo. Radio stations want to have us on and all that. Ireland is small enough that you can promote yourself.”

LEAVING ISLAND RECORDS

Danny appears relatively sanguine about their departure from Island.

“Even when we signed to them, we tried our best not to get too caught up in, ‘This is gonna be it now, we’re signed to Island, they’re one of the biggest labels in the world, they’ve got Hozier, Mumford And Sons, they’ve U2!’. We’d heard the horror stories as well and we’d heard the sad stories of, you know, ‘If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen’. Ultimately, we were another statistic. When the first single got released, and it didn’t take off, they reneged on what their plan was.”

Fortunately, thanks to the Coronas’ wily manager Jim Lawless, their Island deal stipulated that, if things didn’t work out, all of their recordings would belong to the band.

“Well, Island were the first to admit that they’d reneged. That was a pity more than anything else. That was probably the low point, when we sat down and said, ‘Okay, this isn’t working’. Thankfully, we’d put in the contract that if they didn’t meet certain criteria, stipulations, like with releases, and releases in different territories, that we’d get the masters back, and the album [The Long Way] would become ours again. We got an album that they paid for out of it. We just lost two years.”

On the bright side, they had a serious ball in London.

“Yeah, we’ve grown in the UK to a certain extent, crowds-wise, and the highlight was Shepherd’s Bush Empire. We sold that out. It’s an amazing venue. We got minimal radio support. Instead we built up through the venues.”

It’s a matter of record that not all of Danny’s time in London was so blissfully happy. His long-term relationship with Irish TV presenter Laura Whitmore ended soon after the couple moved over there. Was the stress of re-locating a contributing factor in their break-up?

“I don’t think the location had a bearing on it in any way, to be honest,” he says, shaking his head. “I think relationships break up for whatever reason. If anything, the breakup that I was going through happened before the rest of the lads moved over. The timing worked out well. They moved over, we moved in together. They were there for me, as they always are. They’re very good. Breakups are things that happen. You learn and get on with it.”

Danny might be unlucky in love, but at least he can mine his heartbreak for lyrics. Both The Long Way and Trust The Wire feature a number of heartfelt breakup songs.

“Well, they come from different experiences,” he explains. “On the new album, I think not so much from the Laura experiences, no. You know, I’m always reluctant to talk about it. One thing I’ve learned in the past is anything you say can be turned into a headline. I trust you, Olaf. But there’ll be a line taken out of this Hot Press interview, that’s extensive and it has context, and it’ll be on the cover of Goss.ie tomorrow.”

Danny and Laura were Irish tabloid fodder for months after the breakup. Did he feel very burnt by the media during that time?

LYRICAL THEMES

“I understand it comes with the territory,” Danny shrugs. “But anyway, to answer your question, the breakup songs on this album are about what was going on in my life in the last two years. And the lyrics always are something that me and Dave work on together. Sometimes it might be personal to him. People think that they know what’s going on, but it’s not always accurate.”

Is he in a new relationship now?

“Yeah... well I don’t want to even comment on my relationship status if that’s okay,” he says, scratching his beard. “I’m not married. Myself and Dave look at Knoxy and Egan and sometimes we almost have envy. But life is what it is, and whatever happens happens. I’m very happy in myself. Eventually I’ll get married.”

Talk turns to the new album. While not offering any sonic surprises, Trust The Wire is a well-crafted collection of pop/rock songs – very much The Coronas playing to their obvious strengths. They wrote and demoed the songs in the Kerry village of Dingle before recording them in London.

“It’s funny, I think Dingle had made an impact,” says O’Reilly. “We wrote the last one in London, and it’s quite fast-paced and big-sounding, and you’ve got singles like ‘How This Goes’, which is loud. This one is understated and the more scenic. Writing in Dingle had that effect. We were looking out over the sea. As opposed to being in the rehearsal room, where there’s another band downstairs banging, so you have to play louder than them.

Did all of these new songs come out of real-life experiences?

“Yeah, I think so.”

Did any come out of a bottle?

“I don’t know,” he smiles. “I don’t think any of mine come out of the bottle. A hangover, maybe. gets songs out, You have stuff you need to get out and it helps you feel better.”

How about drugs?

“We never got into Class A drugs at all. Well, I didn’t, personally.”

Even living in London? The cocaine capital of the world?

“I ENDED UP GIVING UP THE WEED...”

“I can’t speak for everyone... don’t know what they were doing,” muses O’Reilly, shrugging. “It was never really my thing. It’s funny, even at festivals, I would never be against trying drugs. And people would say, maybe at a festival you’ll do it. And I remember at a festival last year, someone goes, ‘Do you want some drugs?’ And I’m like, ‘You know, I’m happy here with my whiskey, I’m having a good time, I don’t need to’. I think it’s because I know that I have an addictive personality as well.”

Does he smoke?

“I started smoking last year, but I’m off them now... six months.”

What, he started for the first time last year?

“Yeah. I was smoking a bit of weed but then I ended up giving up the weed, started craving the tobacco. It was my way of weaning off weed. It was horrible. I’ve been off them since the first day of Lent this year.” Was that a religious thing?

“It just seemed like a good time to give up,” he laughs. “I’m not religious at all. Even my relationship with drink has changed a little bit. I had a lot of my crazy days in my twenties, when we were on tour. And it’s not like I don’t drink. I was just at a wedding. I’ll drink all weekend. Maybe that’s why I’m not today. I know I don’t need it. I don’t need it for songwriting, I don’t need it to have a good time.”

Has he ever done a pill?

“Never taken a pill, no.”

The Irish government is currently debating the possible decriminalisation of all drugs, taking a medical rather than a criminal response as they do in Portugal. What’s his take on that?

“It’s definitely worth investigating. Again, nothing that I’ve really read or know too much about. To a certain extent there could be benefits to decriminalising certain drugs, class C drugs especially. Especially for medicinal purposes. If someone wants to smoke a joint to ease their muscle pains, there should be no problem with that. You’re asking the wrong man, you need someone who has more experience maybe. I’m happy out with my Jameson, my pints... that’s it.”

Family is obviously extremely important to the singer. His mother is widely acclaimed singer Mary Black and his sister, Roisin O, is also an established solo artist. On the business side of things, there are vague plans to make So Far So Good a proper record label.

“The industry is changing,” notes Danny. “Becoming an indie label is probably not the most sensible avenue. At the same time you never know what it could be. So far it has paid off. This is our first number one.”

Conor Egan and Graham Knox – better known as Egan and Knoxy – arrive together. Both friendly and reserved, they’re slightly flummoxed about why I would want to talk to them.

“I’m sure Danny has probably told you everything,” says Knoxy. “Danny likes to talk.”

Unlike the singer and guitarist, the drummer and the bassist are both married men. So what’s the secret of their success in romance?

“Dunno, just... backbone,” Knoxy laughs. “We both met our wives now at the same time basically, about 11 years ago. We’ve been together ever since. I think we got lucky.”

Do Danny and Dave go to the guys for advice about their love lives? “Never, funnily enough. That’s how they end up getting themselves into tricky situations!”

Egan tied the knot just a few weeks ago.

“Brilliant day,” he enthuses. “A little bit nerve-wracking on the morning, more so about the album. There was a bit of nerves, thinking about if we’re gonna get to number one. I found out that we had on the way to the church, in the car with my dad. It was a great feeling.”

BIGGEST MOMENT

Knoxy was his best man.

“I was with one of my friends when I found out about Trust The Wire hitting number one. I was like, ‘I’ll celebrate later. At the moment I’m just thinking about the speech!’”

When they play in Europe, Australia or the US, are their crowds mostly Irish expats or are they locals?

“It depends,” Knoxy says. “If we went to Germany, where there’s not that many Irish people, you could be playing Whelan’s-sized venues. You’re looking at 500-600 people. Mostly locals, which is great.”

Who are the most intimidating crowds?

“The Irish ones, ‘cause if you’re crap they’ll let you know,” Egan laughs. “At the same time, the Irish are the best craic, ‘cause if you’re entertaining them they’ll give you back way more.”

What’s been the biggest moment of The Coronas’ career?

“I’d say the recent Kilmainham gig – selling that out and doing a great show,” says Knoxy.

After more than ten years playing together, do they see The Coronas as a long-term thing?

“As long as we’re selling gigs and albums... yeah,” replies Knoxy. “I don’t think we’ll ever break up. Especially now that we’ve just set up the record label. Jim, our manager, wants to get that off the ground. We’re looking into getting a few more bands involved.”

Egan has the final word.

“The thing about The Coronas is that we’re all friends anyway, so everyone has their own opinion. You can tell people if it’s good or bad. Everyone’s driving for the same place, everyone’s pulling in the same direction.”

Trust The Wire is out now.