Danny’s our boy too

PITCH PERFECT Danny O’Reilly is as comfortable behind the mic as he is on the football field.

The Coronas’ frontman has a soft spot for Mayo

Interview
Ger Flanagan

NOVEMBER 2017 will mark the tenth anniversary of The Coronas’ launch onto the Irish music scene with their beautifully soulful debut album ‘Heroes or Ghosts’.
The band’s stock further extended deep into the hearts of the Irish people when they released the album’s titular song as Gaeilge – ‘Taibhsí nó Laoich’.
Now, on the back of The Coronas’ new release, their fifth studio album, ‘Trust The Wire’, their frontman, Danny O’Reilly, reminisces with The Mayo News about everything that has made this journey possible, including his younger days spent learning our native language in Mayo.
“I used to go to Achill when I was growing up, and I had great fun out there,” the Dublin native said. “I went to Irish college in ColΡiste Acla, so that’s where I learned most of my Irish, and I did all the water sports there.
“We have played a few great shows in the TF in Castlebar, and we played in Belmullet one time, which was absolutely amazing – it was like half way out to the sea,” he laughed. “We have had some great nights in Mayo. It has been good to us over the years, so we hope to get back again.”

Evolution
The Coronas formed during their school days back in 2003 and have since gone on to become one of the most popular Irish bands since U2. The four men in the group are life-long friends who still enjoy each others’ company.
According to O’Reilly, who is the son of Irish legend Mary Black, making music is in their nature, and the band’s ultimate goal is to continue creating great music, staying true to their roots as they continue to evolve.
“I think our albums have evolved over time. Some have probably taken a bigger step than others,” he said. “I think there are a few common streams of Coronas’ music. My annoying whine is over the chorus usually,” he joked. “But we try to write catchy tunes, and we try and get people singing along. I think that is the same with the new album.
“We did a gig in Cork Opera House recently and it was still amazing to hear people singing along to our new single ‘We Couldn’t Fake It’. So I think we have kept some of our strengths over the years.”

Keeping it real
Staying true to themselves as artists is something the band put extra emphasis on when writing the latest album, the 32 year old revealed.
After moving to London after signing with a major UK record label, Island Records, for their 2014 album ‘Closer to You’, Danny feels the band’s focus shifted from making music to trying to make hit records.
After failing to do so, The Coronas were subsequently dropped from Island Records, which prompted them to take time out to discover themselves once again – a process that coloured and shaped ‘Trust The Wire’.
“After the last album we took a little bit of a break as we needed to reignite our ambitions and remind ourselves the reasons as to why we do this,” he said. “We could have played it safe and done an album similar to what we have done in the past, but it felt right to try things differently and not worry too much about hit singles because that was something on our minds from the last album.
“When we signed to the UK label we wanted to try to write a few big radio hits, and to a certain extent, that is what ‘We Couldn’t Fake It’ is about. It is about being true to yourself and not trying to make music for anyone but ourselves, and reminding yourself why you love what you are doing.”

Dingle days
The move back home is reflected beautifully in The Coronas’ excellent new album ‘Trust The Wire’, out in early June. Its empirical blues propel it to the position of top Irish album this year so far.
“We decided to go back down to Dingle, where we had written in the past, to write this one, and lock ourselves away in a house in Ballyferriter,” Danny said. “We took a lot of inspiration from the fact that we have moved home, because the last album was done in London and it was full of big, wide songs and we wanted to be heard.
“We decided with this, and without really talking about it, that it felt more natural to be a little bit more understated and a little bit more atmospheric and maybe even the surrounds of Dingle had a part to play in that.”
The release of The Coronas’ eagerly awaited fifth studio album coincides with a busy summer ahead for the band. They will play in front of over 15,000 people at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham, Dublin, on July 1 and will later embark on tours of America, Australia and Europe before returning home at Christmas, hopefully to play in Dublin again.
Not content with the thrills of the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, O’Reilly is also an avid Gaelic footballer. When we spoke, he was prepping for a championship match for his club in Dublin. Turns out he was a Dublin minor back in 2003 too.
But we promised not to hold that against him.

‘Trust The Wire’ (above) is out on June 2. The Coronas play their biggest headline show ever at IMMA, Royal Hospital Kilmainham, on July 1. They will also be playing at Sea Sessions, Bundoran, June 24; Live at The Marquee, Cork, June 30; Galway Arts Festival, July 29 and the Indiependence Festival, Mitchelstown, in August.