The Coronas talk new album, worst gigs, and a festival-filled summer

On a warm April day in Dublin, Coronas singer Danny O’Reilly remarks optimistically that this might just be the first day of summer! He then drops the suitably exciting news that his band will be releasing their long-awaited fifth album, Trust The Wire, in June.

He’s stoked to say it, and we’re delighted to hear it – but in all truth the news will come as no surprise to anyone who has looked at the band’s 2017 summer plans. Considering that The Coronas are headlining four Irish festivals this year - Sea Sessions, Indiependence, Live at the Marquee and Galway International Arts Festival - it was plain to see that something had been brewing.

Of course, before The Coronas had the pleasure of headlining anything, they were paying their dues by doing every festival that they could. “When we started the band,” says Danny, “our biggest ambition was to play at Oxegen – we’d have been satisfied with that. Then we finally got our first gig there, and a few years later, in 2010, we were on the Main Stage. We played ‘San Diego Song’ and saw all these people running towards us, and they all sang along to the lyrics. It’s moments like those that become turning points; that was when we said to ourselves: ‘Now we’re a festival band.’ Every festival afterwards has just been full of steps that’ve pushed us in the right direction. We played Electric Picnic a few years ago to about 50,000 people, which was probably our biggest crowd ever.”

Growing up with his mother, Mary Black, Danny would’ve been darting around festivals not long after he’d learned how to walk.

“Folk festivals, though!” he smiles, “Not anything like the festivals I’d go to these days. It was just a normal thing when I was young, to see your mam play a few songs during the summer. But I remember my first real experience was going to see REM at Slane in ’95. They’d just released their Monster album and I was only 10 but I was blown away. Then getting to perform in Slane all those years later was a great moment.” I get the feeling that great moments are in large supply for these lads, both as punters and performers, but have they had any howlers down through the years?

“Yeah, we’ve had our fair share of disasters,” Danny laughs. “That’s the thing about having no soundchecks at festivals, it’s in the lap of the gods as to how you’ll get on. Our funniest story was the very first year that we played Oxegen. They’d delayed opening the gates so none of the punters could come into the festival arena – don’t ask me why. We were supposed to start at 12 but there wasn’t a single person there to watch us.

“The security guard said, ‘Ye can wait, but ye still have to be finished by half twelve!’ So we thought, ‘Fuck it, we’re playing our half an hour!’, and we played our first two songs without anyone there. Then when they finally opened the gates at six minutes past 12, we could see all our friends running down the fucking field in their wellies to catch us!”

Would they have met many other people outside the Irish circle?

“We played the Isle Of Wight Festival and got to meet Paul McCartney,” recalls Danny. “It doesn’t get much bigger than that. And Macca was an absolute gentleman – I call him ‘Macca’ ‘cause me and him are tight now, of course. Then one year we played at Benicassim and we all decided to go on the Big Wheel about half-an-hour before Arcade Fire were due to play. And there’s Win Butler in the queue. “The lead singer of the band who are headlining the fucking thing and no one looks twice at him. He’s not one of those really recognisable people, I suppose. I went up to him and said, ‘Jesus, do you mind if I get a picture with you, Win?’ He said he would and was kind enough to wait until my ride was finished before taking it. Literally 30 minutes later he’s playing in front of 50,000 screaming fans!”

Doing the festival circuit might’ve also landed The Coronas in the company of Chris Martin and Ed Sheeran in the past, but Danny admits they’re happiest performing on their home turf.

“Indiependence is probably my favourite festival to play at, it’s a great size and there’s always a great atmosphere. The same goes with Sea Sessions. I’m really looking forward to returning to Galway Arts as well. We’ve been lucky to get so many good gigs this summer.”

All welcome news to everyone lucky enough to see the lads this summer then…

The Coronas play Sea Sessions, Indiependence, Live At The Marquee & Galway International Arts Festival. Trust The Wire will be out on June 2.