Wild Youth: On hit singles, working with The Script, and their upcoming debut EP

The big tents at Electric Picnic don’t look like much from the outside. Once you’re in them though, that tunnel of space between the Main Stage and the back entrance packs in about 10,000 people, easily.

Intimidating at the best of times. So what do you do when you’re a band who’ve only released three singles, barely been around more than a year, and been given the awkward slot on a Sunday afternoon?

Doubt yourself, naturally.

“We went to see Dermot Kennedy in one of the tent the day before our set, and the place looked so big that we got nervous and had to leave,” laughs David Whelan, vocalist and guitarist for Wild Youth. “His gig was packed. It hit home how much space there was and we were like, ‘Oh fuck, if we can’t fill this it’s gonna be embarrassing!’”

“We were on at 3.30 like!” adds co-vocalist and pianist Conor O’Donohue. “The All-Ireland was on at the same time. Everyone’s always dying on the Sunday afternoon. We thought we hadn’t a hope.”

Premature pessimism, lads. Hot Press was down at the set in question and can confirm that it was the GAA, in fact, that didn’t have a hope. While a few hundred packed into the Irish Language tent to watch Dublin smother Tyrone, upwards of 10,000 caught Wild Youth’s blistering half-hour performance. They had hits for days, showed themselves to be accomplished musicians, and strode around the stage like they owned the place. Everyone who’d wandered into the tent accidentally was asking the same question – “Who the fuck are these guys?”

HOW IT BEGAN

“Wild Youth started with me and Dave,” explains Conor. “We’ve been best friends since we were kids and we used to meet up after school and play music together. Then once school finished, Dave joined a duo and I was in a different band. It was one of those things where we didn’t see each other for about a year after school finished. Then one night we were out and bumped into each other at the same bar and we both talked. I was like, ‘I don’t really enjoy the band I’m in’, and he said ‘The duo’s good, but I really enjoyed what we did.’ We had this buzz when we were making music together.”

While the pair of them hadn’t gained much traction doing their separate projects, things picked up almost immediately when they began working together.

“The moment we played our first gig, we had an offer from a management company,” says Conor. “We thought, ‘But we’re nothing?’ Then second gig – another offer. So we thought, ‘Alright, maybe there’s something here.’

“I think there was a connection that shone through with our friendship. So when we got those offers, we went and wrote more music. We decided the direction we wanted to go in, we decided what our name might be, and then we knew we wanted to make it a full band to fill out the sound, so we recruited Callum and Ed. We played them our music and – I know it sounds clichéd – but they just clicked with it too. We all just clicked.”

Wild Youth’s three singles, ‘All Or Nothing’, ‘Lose Control’ and ‘Can’t Move On’, have all become instant radio hits. What was it about the group that made the record companies come running?

“Look, we’re not naïve,” says Conor. “We know we make pop music, we know that’s not for everyone. But the one thing I’ll always say to anyone is that before you judge our music, come to our show. Come see us live. If you see us live, we have the energy of a punk band. That was our vision from the start – we wanted to be a super energetic rock band live, but then also be super clinical with the songs so that they come across on radio. But honestly, for the live show, we give it our all.”

“And that’s natural for us,” adds David. “It was never Conor saying before the show, ‘Right, go up there and lose your shit for half-an-hour.’ It’s not a conversation we ever had. It’s just a natural thing that all four of us have going for every show.”

“Sometimes we go up on stage and we’re throwing drums about and Dave’s jumping round the place and then afterwards we get off stage and we’re like, ‘Who the fuck do you we think we are?!’”

David laughs. “Yeah! Throwing digs at each other and all!”

“Having to have conversations with ourselves like ‘Calm the fuck down now! You’re playing pop music boys!’”

REWRITING THE SCRIPT

Wild Youth now have a dedicated network of fans, and they’re packing out festivals and gigs across the country.

“We’re still processing it,” David says, shaking his head. “Like, we’re not massive obviously, but I don’t think you can ever treat it like a normal thing to have 10,000 people scream your lyrics at you – that’s not normal. I think if one day you find it normal, you’ll find it boring. So it’ll always give us a little tingle down our spine.”

“We’ll never think about being known or being big,” says Conor. “One of the great things about being best friends in a band is that we’d never be able to get an ego or think that we are something more than ourselves.” “I think we’d bring each other back down to reality,” smiles David. “If I ever saw Conor being a dick, I’d be sure to give him a clip behind the ear. That’s the kind of friendship that works well.”

“We’ve had that conversation before,” says Conor. “We spoke about that and we said, ‘Listen, if things do get crazy, we’re gonna stay the same.’”

That seems like a distinctly Irish quality, not to let your ego get out of control…

“It is the beauty of the Irish thing,” says Conor. “Like we’ve been lucky enough to do a lot of work with The Script. You’ll never meet a more down-to-earth group of lads. They’ve played Croke Park, they’ve played Shea Stadium with Paul McCartney. They’ve played world tours to millions of people, but when they walk in the room, they could be three people walking into your local. You’ve got Hozier, you’ve got Gavin James, and there are no egos anywhere.”

The band supported The Script during their summer tour and co-wrote ‘Can’t Move On’ with lead singer Danny O’Donoghue. Did they learn many lessons from them?

“They’ve kind of become mentors for us,” Conor reveals. “We’re like sponges around them, soaking up every bit of guidance they give us.”

“And we learnt a lot from their work ethic,” adds David. “They don’t have downtime. They’re always in the studio working on the next vision for themselves, or else working with us. Then they might be off doing the next thing. Then the next thing. There seems to be no off switch with them and that’s obviously why they’ve been in the industry for so long. We’ve learnt a lot from them.”

The band have promised that their debut EP will be coming out in January. It’s something which, according to David, will encompass all their disparate influences – from the soul singers that their parents played for them when they were younger, to successful indie acts like Foals and Wild Beasts. Most of the writing revolved around a series of break-ups, which shaped the band both personally and creatively.

Before that happened however, a freak accident which hospitalised Conor shaped his and David’s friendship with each other.

“I was playing football one day and I wasn’t exactly paying attention, so I ended up running into the side-hoarding on the pitch and I ruptured my spleen and had to get emergency surgery. I was in ICU for about four weeks, then I was home bound for about six months after that, learning to walk again.

“That’s where Dave and I built our strongest bond. I couldn’t leave the house, I’d lost the ability to do a lot of things, and he used to ring me up every day and he’d come up and help me. He’d come round with his guitar and I’d get up to the piano and we’d just play and sing for hours. That was part of the rehabilitation, singing and playing in that front room.”

“That’s what we should call the EP."

"Front Room Rehabilitation?"

"Yeah. Or maybe just Rehabilitation.” Dave turns to me: “There you go, you heard it here first.”

STADIUM SIGHTS

Happy to help… Someone else who got to hear Wild Youth’s ideas first was former One Direction star Niall Horan, who Conor ranks as a close friend and confidant.

“He is one of my best friends,” Conor nods. “But in saying that – Niall’s a person who likes what he likes. He’ll be honest with you. If he likes something that we show him, his face lights up. If he doesn’t like it, he’ll tell you straight up – ‘Not my thing’. But he’s the most down-to-earth person I’ve ever met for having such a big public profile. And it’s like what we said about The Script, to have someone with that much talent and that much knowledge of the industry, to have them on the other end of the phone and be able to pick their brain and send them new music, it’s cool to have. We’re grateful for that.”

Wild Youth have come a ridiculously long way in a short space of time. It’s also evident that so much is going on in the background to pave the way for a successful future. Where do they want it to end?

“We want to be a stadium band,” David confirms. “We’ve always said that. We want to tour the world and play stadiums for the rest of our lives. We’d love to play Croke Park. We have dreams of big live venues in Ireland.”

“The dream has never been about getting rich or famous,” Conor adds. “It’s just about playing to as many people as humanly possible in the biggest venues.”

‘Can’t Move On’ is out now. Wild Youth tour throughout Ireland this autumn/winter.