The Coronas

Indie rock band from Ireland.

 

One of their best lines: “Will you wait ’til you see me before you do something that we could never get over?”

 

Quick facts

Started in: 2003

Hometown: Dublin, Ireland

Released albums: Heroes or Ghosts (2007), Tony Was An Ex-Con (2009), Closer To You (2011), The Long Way (2014)

Members & instruments: Danny O’Reilly (lead singer), Conor Egan (drums), Graham Knox (bass), Dave McPhillips (lead guitar)

Best song in our opinion: Heroes or Ghosts

Connection to The Script: The Coronas supported them in 2009 and 2011 in Ireland and in Europe.

Read our interview with lead singer, Danny O’Reilly.

Thank you for taking the time to talk to us Danny, what are you up to in the first days of spring? Are you an outdoorsy type?

We’ve just started work on the next album, it’s great to be back in the rehearsal room and start writing again. Early days yet, we don’t plan on recording the next album till the end of the year at the earliest but nice to get back playing and writing. Apart from that I just had a lovely Paddys weekend in Dingle, county Kerry, the weather was lovely.

When you’re in the studio, what does the day look like? Do you start early? Are there lots of tea breaks? How do you work together with others?

We usually start around 11am and work until we’re not productive anymore, which is usually by around 6pm! Yes, lots of tea breaks. We’re lucky that we still get on really well, we’re best mates so we can be honest about songs and our opinions without hurting anyone’s feelings. We love writing together.

What comes first when you write, lyrics or melody? What’s easier?

It’s different for every song but most of the time we’d start with a chord progression or a mood/vibe of a song, I’d start messing around with some melodies and the lyrics will come last. That’s the way we wrote a song like Just Like That or How this Goes for example, but a song like My Fault was almost finished on the acoustic guitar before we all worked on it.

Who do you work with at the moment, any new partners we should get excited about?

So far we’ve just been in the rehearsal room, the 4 of us, with our sound engineer Darren Clarke, who’s recording some demos for us, he’s great.

You’ve done collab before, would you be open to do it again? Would you ever write with The Script? (Its not actually as random a question as it looks, a lot of the blog’s readers, including myself are big fans of them 🙂 I actually first heard you guys play when you were on tour with them. Are you still in touch?)

I’d love to write with the script lads, they’re amazing writers and lovely guys. Still in touch with them a bit but we’re both quite busy. I caught up with Glen and Danny at Christmas in Dublin and it was great to see them.

You live in London for a while now. Do you live in an “Irish bubble” in London like so many expats or do you mix with “the locals”?

We mix with the locals, we’ve loads of English friends but we’re inevitably drawn to the Irish charm as well.

If there’s a common success factor for bands it seems to me it’s about staying friends no matter what. You guys have known each other forever, was there any period when any of you seriously considered to go on a different project and put The Coronas aside?

Not really, after each album cycle (all releases/promo and tours are done for a certain album) we sit down and make a plan for the next one, what our goals are and what the plans are with it. The Coronas is still the most important thing in our lives and we’re still on that journey, and we still love it!

And if we’re at it staying friends: being on tour on such close quarters must make it tougher. Any snorers in the camp?

Jim, our manager snores a bit! So he usually gets the single room to himself, but also because he works a lot in the room when we’re on tour while the rest of us sleep! But we’re lucky we all still get on great and love touring still.

The sweet deal about touring is meeting your fans of course. What’s the best fangirl moment that ever happened to you? What’s the worst fangirling YOU have ever done?

Someone came up behind Knoxy during a signing and cut a piece of his hair off! That was a funny one.

I fangirl Glen Hansard every time I meet him, I’m such a big fan of The Frames and he’s a very lovely guy. I got to join them on stage last year, it was a dream come true!

Back to more serious water, I think every artist, writer, musician has doubts sometimes, and sadly some of them become so crippled with those fears that they give up. Have you ever (often?) felt any of that trepidation? What made you overcome those negative feelings if you encountered any?

Sometimes we have douts and have had certain setbacks, but we’ve always had a fundamental belief in ourselves and what we do. I think that stood to us. We make music that we like and try to stay true to ourselves. That has worked for us so far so we won’t be changing that.

Heroes or Ghosts was written 10 years ago and is still a fan favourite. How does that make you feel? Why do you think it still resonates so much?

It’s an honest song, about overcoming doubt and I think it just connected to a lot of people. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what makes a song connect with people, it just does or it doesn’t.

Wearing your heart on your sleeve as a songwriter must be difficult sometimes. What song pushed you most out of your comfort zone, either with its meaning or with its music?

Possibly If I Gave Myself To Someone Else. It’s very honest and was written when I was feeling very down and very raw. But I’ve always been honest and worn my heart on my sleeve and usually those songs are the ones people relate to most. People can sense insincerity so I always try to be sincere.

What makes you excited about music after all these years?

Everything about it!

 

What’s coming next?

The Coronas are on tour in Europe in May and have a few more gigs in Ireland in the summer. Join them if you get a chance.

Website: thecoronas.net

Twitter/facebook: TheCoronas / thecoronasofficial

Soundcloud

YouTube

I find not only the music but the entire story of The Coronas inspirational: believe in yourself and march on in the direction you feel right. What are your favourite reminders not to give up?

Hop over to The Windy Days of an English Teacher to check out today’s post! It’s still music-related and it’s fun 🙂

Today’s featured blogger is Guilie Castillo, my fabulous teammate in Damyanti’s D Company. This month she blogs about how to rescue dogs with the best results. Click here for a useful and entertaining read!

About Miss Andi

Learning to be unapologetically me but healthier. Shamelessly personifying my dog, Mia, who is my soulmate, though doesn't let me read as much as I used to. One day I'll finish a novel that will not save the world - but might make it smile.

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