Long Way To The Top - Hot Press meets The Coronas

It's been a busy day for The Coronas. So busy, in fact, that they're bloody knackered. As singer Danny O'Reilly and guitarist Dave McPhilips sit down at a table in the basement of the International Bar, they let out an audible, mutual sigh of relief. That they are in need of a pint is obvious...
“We’ve had a really big day of promo,” Dave says and sighs again. “Seven or eight interviews and a couple of photo shoots. All sorted out for us. It makes a change. We’d normally be ringing people, trying to sort out an interview or a radio show to play on.”

Danny raises his pint and takes a satisfied sip. He's feeling better already.
“It’s a big change,” he grins. “Even with the last album when we were sorting out the promo, it’d be a bit staggered — you know, a phoner this day and then another one maybe two days later. It’s nice to have people who are experienced organising it. Everything is in place.”
First formed in their native Terenure more than a decade ago, The Coronas named themselves after the brand of typewriter used by the young music journalist in Cameron Crowe’s Oscar-winning movie Almost Famous. Having released three double-platinum albums in Ireland [2007’s Heroes Or Ghosts, 2009’s Tony Was An Ex-Con and 2011’s Closer To You], they eventually decided the time had come to spread their wings and take their chances further afield.
Based in the UK for the last 18 months, they signed an international deal with the iconic Island Records earlier this year (home to fellow Irish artists U2, Hozier and Little Green Cars). With the release of their eagerly awaited fourth album The Long Way, the hotly tipped Dublin act are well past the ‘almost’ phase of their gestation.
In Ireland, The Coronas are already bona fide stars. Twenty minutes earlier the full band — bassist Graham Knox and percussionist Conor Egan complete the line-up — had been perched on a Trinity Street window ledge, mugging for Hot Press photographer Kathrin Baumbach’s camera. Several passers-by stopped to take their own snaps with their mobiles. One guy even rushed off to fetch his wife (“She’s a huge fan!”) and get some shots of her with the band.
Danny and Dave modestly put this level of interest down to the fact that they’re no longer living here. “Because we’re in London, we’re not as accessible, so people are coming to see us,” Dave observes. “It’s great!”
Danny points out that, although they’re genuinely doing well in the UK, appearances can sometimes be deceptive. “I'd say it’s the same in every industry,” he smiles. “As soon as you move away, you have that illusion of success. Even if you’re living out of a box in London, it’s cool. But we consider ourselves like a new band trying to make a breakthrough overseas, so we’re very lucky, really, that we have that sort of fan base here to come back to, and do the promo, and play the O2, and to pay our rent in London.”
Truth be told, luck has very little to do with the band’s ongoing success. In his book The Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell maintained that it takes at least 10,000 hours of practice to get any good at anything. The Coronas have probably put in a multiple of that number, grafting long and hard over the last decade, and paying their rock ‘n’ roll dues in just about every sweatbox in the country.
When they sold out a six-night run in The Olympia a few years back, and then stuffed the O2 – now 3Arena – in 2013, they realised that they’d probably hit their Irish glass ceiling.
“The O2 gig last year was definitely a career highlight,” Dave recalls. “Even though we were nervous going through it, we really enjoyed it. Then the day after, in The Stag’s Head, we just got all our mates together. It was really, like, no matter what anyone thinks, no one can take that from us. We sold out the O2, so if you kind of ended it there... it wouldn’t be a bad way to go out.”

Of course, things are really only beginning for The Coronas. Selling out Ireland’s largest concert hall prompted the blinding realisation that they needed to seriously upscale their international ambitions.
“Well, I suppose when we first moved to London, it was because we realised we needed a change,” muses Danny. “We’d come to a certain level here in Ireland, and it was all going great, but we were doing less gigs. You know, the bigger you get, the smaller the amount of shows you do. You just do your big O2 and Marquee – and then you’ve a lot of time off in between.
“We went down to Dingle, first of all, to start working on this album. We wrote a bunch of 12 songs down there. When we stepped back from those demos, we listened and we were like, ‘You know what? This isn’t good enough. We need to up our game here'. In the end, only one of those 12 would actually make the album.
“So we decided to move to London mainly because we wanted to get a creative difference. We wanted a new spark, a new challenge, a different mind-set. As soon as we got over there, stuff started to happen.”
All still in their late 20s, the four Coronas relocated to London in March 2013. “We moved over there," Danny adds, "and straightaway we felt like the songs were improving. We got a new love for it. We were living together. We were writing together more.”
Dave nods. “Yeah," he says, "we didn’t specifically go, ‘Let’s go to London because there’s a good scene over there'. We haven’t exactly thrown ourselves into the London music scene or anything like that. It was more just a change of perspective. Just a roll of the dice. We needed to get interested again; and also to realise how competitive it is to make it in music.”
He gestures to some gig posters adorning the International’s walls. “Look around on any wall in a place like this in London and you'll see that even the people at the bottom of the bill are really good. It opened our eyes a little bit. I wouldn’t say we were resting on our laurels in Ireland, but you can get a little comfortable. A little bit kind of, ‘It’ll all work out. We’ll get there'. But when you get to London, you realise you need to get moving.
“Not that we’re feeling like we’re getting old," he adds. "But we’re not 21, going around Ireland in a van, getting locked every day anymore, either. You need to be more professional. I think it just sort of tuned us in and focused us on what we want to do. ”
Are they still living together?
“Yeah, we’re living in Islington in North London, so we really like it,” Danny says. “We’re very lucky that we have a nice house in a nice little area. So it’s the four of us and Jim, and Knox’s girlfriend as well, so six of us. It’s like a really unfunny version of The Monkees. It’s cool that we get on well and we haven’t killed each other.”
“We’ve got our mates and our separate friends as well,” adds Dave. “We feel like part of a bigger group, not just The Coronas in their little house.” He grins. “It’s not like, decadent, or anything.”
Speaking of which, are The Coronas generally abstemious or do they partake of drink or drugs for creative inspiration?
“We drink,” says Danny. “Definitely. Recording this album, we were quite focused. We wouldn’t go tearing into a session when we had to record the next day. But, at the end of a long day in the studio, we’d have a beer. Maybe we’d have a cigarette. But we wouldn’t be drinking at the beginning.”
What about other substances?
Dave shakes his head firmly. “We wouldn’t get into any Class As or anything. It’s not a militant thing, but it would be a bit weird if somebody was coked out. It’s kind of a mate thing.”
“We have a little rule in the band that there’s absolutely no Class As,” Danny adds. “It doesn’t even need to be said. That’s crew, as well. It’s the way we’ve always been. It’s the same with my friends.”
Has any song ever come out of a boozing session?
“Yeah!” Danny laughs. “I think a hangover can sometimes give you a song like ‘My God’ on the last album. Pretty much about a hangover. Sometimes a late night glass of wine can be nice when you’re working on a song and you’re sort of loose and enjoying it. So yeah, I wouldn’t say we use alcohol or weed or anything like that to write, but at the same time it depends on the situation. Sometimes having a glass of wine or whatever can help you.”

The Coronas' relocation to London has certainly done the business career-wise. They signed to Island after less than a year over there.
“The first batch of songs we wrote over there, we could see an improvement," Danny repeats. "Then we signed to Big Life, our publishing company. They got involved. They came down and listened to us rehearse. We went and recorded the first batch of songs for the new album, and a few labels were interested. That’s when we met Island and they seemed like the right home for us.”
“The best thing about it was we got the Island deal when we had 80 per cent of the album done,” Dave interjects. “It wasn’t like they came in and said, ‘Well, if you do this, this and this, it could sound good’. They signed us on the back of what we were doing.
“They also made a point of saying, ‘This isn’t the first time you’ve arrived at our desk. We know who you are. We know what you’re about. But when we heard the new songs, that was the first time we ever got excited about you'. That was a good morale boost.”
Their new Island handlers quickly dispelled any concern that the label was simply in search of a proven back catalogue.
“We were a little bit, not worried, but it was a niggle: ‘I wonder if these labels just want to release ‘San Diego Song’ or Heroes And Ghosts or something from the back catalogue?’” Danny admits. “They were just like ‘No, the back catalogue is good, but it’s not for us. We want to move forward and we love the new album and we want to start it fresh, as a new band'. That suited us because we were ready to do that.”
More than ready. “Because, at album four, it can seem like you already have a body of work but this gave us a perspective of album one again,” says Dave. “Obviously it’s not, but it’s got that buzz about it again. It’s a new chapter.”
Produced by Eliott James, who has helmed albums by the likes of Kaiser Chiefs, Two Door Cinema Club and Noah And the Whale, and featuring 11 tightly crafted songs of love, loss and regret, The Long Way is easily The Coronas' most impressive offering to date. As radio friendly as indie rock gets, but with genuine emotional depth, it's like a real statement of intent. How was Eliott James to work with?
“Brilliant!” Danny enthuses. “Really, really cool. We had decided we wanted to try a different producer. We worked with a couple of people. Youth was a guy we did a writing session with, just to see how it was, and he was cool as well. As soon as we met Eliott though, we realised he was on the same wavelength as us. He knew what our strengths were.”
Explain the album title The Long Way...
“There’s a few reasons for that title,” Danny replies. “It took us three years to get this album out. Plus, it is, in our opinion, one of the strongest songs on the album.”
Dave nods, self-deprecatingly. “Yeah, absolutely. It was the only one that really lent itself to a possible title, and in general, we’ve been pretty shit at coming up with names.”
Danny laughs. “It’s not as easy as you’d think, coming up with an album title," he says, mock seriously. "In a way, it was an obvious choice. From the early days, everyone was like, ‘Yeah, that has a good ring to it'. It is one of the quintessential break-up songs on the album so it sort of represents what’s going on.”

Ah yes: what's going on? Or not going on anymore, rather. Featuring such heartfelt lyrics as, “I’m not saying I want you back unless you say it first/ Cause I’ve said things just like that/ Only to end up getting hurt” (‘Just Like That’), The Long Way is very much an album about failed relationships. Or perhaps one in particular...
“Well, I went through a break-up in the last few years and that’s sort of been at the forefront of my mind,” Danny confesses, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. “That’s where that came from. It’s funny because Closer To You, the album before, came from a sort of happy place. We were talking about it earlier on. I’m a very honest songwriter and I always write lyrics about things that have affected me at the time. I find it therapeutic. This one is definitely a break-up album.”
Given his highly publicised former relationship with the gorgeous Irish MTV presenter Laura Whitmore, presumably she is the object of his lyrical affections and disaffections.
Danny shrugs and smiles coyly. “You presume...”
When writing songs about intimate personal relationships, does he take his former partner’s feelings into account?
“Sometimes I go, ‘I wonder what she’ll think of the song if she ever hears it?’” he says. “That type of thing. But to be honest, it’s more for ourselves. I don’t really think about the audience or the person it’s about. It’s a selfish thing.
“Whatever’s going on in my life, whether it’s good or bad, writing about it is therapy for me," he reiterates. "It’s natural: it’s what comes out. It’s what I want to sing about. But, as a band, we always just try to write the best songs we can. It doesn’t really matter what the theme is, we’ll work on it together and we’ll keep working on it until we think we have a good song.”
Does Dave assist with the lyrics?
“Yeah, very much so on this album,” the guitarist responds. “It’s quite specifically about what Danny was going through, and there’s songs that certainly lean heavier toward Danny’s specifics rather than mine. But there’s a few where we cross over. I'd have done a lot of the lyrics to ‘All The Others’, for instance. It’s more about the breakdown of relationships. It’s not necessarily romantic, it’s that bit where you’re so pissed off at someone, it’s just so time-consuming. It takes all your energy.
“Four or five songs, we effectively wrote together, but he’d be drawing on his experience. Obviously I’m not going to try and put words in his mouth about what I think he’s going through. I’ll be talking about my own life. We’ll try and meet up on the common theme.”
Danny is grateful for the assistance. “I’ve found, with this album, it’s been much more collaborative and Dave has really come to the fore,” he says. “Not just with musical input, but Dave is really good at getting the best out of me. Not letting me away with it when I’d maybe take the easy way out or repeat something that I’d done before.
“It’s great because we really know each other. We never really have arguments about the direction we’re going. We’re lucky that we pull in the same way anyway.”
When asked if the split from Laura was his first major romantic upheaval, Danny shakes his head and says tracks on previous albums reveal he’s no stranger to heartbreak. “People want to talk about it [his relationship with Laura] because the relationship was a bit more high-profile,” he insists.
Is there a sense sometimes that when shit happens in his life, romantically or otherwise, that there is that thing of ‘Well, at least I’ll get a good song out of it’?
“Yeah, that's said sometimes, half-joking, whenever I’m really upset and people are trying to make me feel better. They’ll say to me, ‘At least you’ll get a good song out of it'. I suppose every cloud has a silver lining. Someone once put it to me that maybe I would sabotage a relationship for the benefit of getting some good songs. I can promise you, it’s definitely not that contrived. It’s just the way it happens.
“When I’m happy, I write songs about being happy,” he continues. “When things are going well, I’ll write songs about that as well. Some of our best songs, I think, are on Closer To You. As I’ve said, I use it for therapy: song writing and singing every night. And sometimes it’s still hard, but when you get out to perform and play in front of people, it gets you through it.
“Actually, when the break-up itself happened we were just about to embark on a European tour and that made it easier for me. Being with the boys and being on the road and playing shows. They were very supportive. It is good to have that, a good support group of mates.”
Danny’s relationship with Laura, and their eventual split, was widely documented in the tabloids. Did that level of intrusion piss him off?
“No. To a certain extent that was my own fault,” he admits, distractedly scratching his beard. “I think when the relationship started, I might have been a bit naive and a bit too open to talking about it and mentioning people’s names and how happy I was. I opened it up, I think, so that when we did break up, the papers felt like they had a right to write about it.”
He doesn’t feel he’s been badly treated. “In fairness, we’ve always been treated very well by the press, so I would never complain or say, ‘Oh, I can’t believe they would write that!’ It definitely makes a tough situation a little bit tougher when it’s in the papers. So I’m not going to lie and say ‘I’ve never read them’ and ‘I don’t care what the tabloids say', because that’s not true.
“It’s nearly more about your family and friends seeing it. As I’ve said, the press have been nice — fair — to us I think over the years, and I suppose it comes with the territory. I think I will learn from this going forward, no matter what relationship I’m in, I won’t talk about it as much. I’ll try to keep it separate.”
For one of the leading rock stars of his generation, Danny comes across as a genuinely humble man.
“I think I’m humble,” he nods, laughing. “Someone once said to my mum, ‘Danny’s very humble’ and her reply was, ‘And why the fuck wouldn’t he be?’ So I think that’s just the way I was brought up. I think we’re all quite down-to-earth. We’ve literally done it in the opposite way to someone like, say, Hozier in that we were gigging for years before we got anywhere and we sort of built it from the ground up. We’ve been through all the terrible gigs and the hard slog of the four of us in a van playing to no one, in crap venues around Ireland.
“It definitely keeps you grounded. If things go well, you appreciate it a bit more. We’re not arriving in London going, ‘We’ve got a massive record deal. It’s all happening. Aren’t we great!’ We’re the opposite. We’re like, ‘Okay, we have a record deal. We better not fucking fuck this up. This is where the work starts'. I think it’s important to have the right attitude these days.”
Much of Danny’s pragmatic attitude undoubtedly comes from the fact that his parents are also in the music business. His mother is acclaimed singer Mary Black and his father, Joe O’Reilly, founded Dara Records. Mary has just recently published her autobiography, Down The Crooked Road. Has Danny read it?
“Front to back. It’s brilliant. I really enjoyed it.”
Is he mentioned?
“I get a couple of little mentions, yeah, of course.”
He’d be gutted if he wasn’t namechecked...
“Devastated!” he guffaws. “Obviously I’m biased, but I expected it to be good and then I read it and I was really, really moved by it. Some of the stuff, you would never have a conversation with your parents about, you know? Like how her and my dad first got together and then they broke up for a couple of years and my mum was heartbroken – and then they got back together.
“Even though I was aware that something like that had happened, just reading about it and about my mum’s feelings and the way it happened – it was nice to get an insight into that.”
Just as interesting were his mother’s insights into the music business.
“I found it really intriguing the way it built, because I could relate to that, even though it was a different genre and a different time: ‘Then this album came out and we got this amount of radio play. Then No Frontiers came out and took it to a new level. Then we did The Late Late Show', or whatever. Then they were saying, ‘We got some interest from labels overseas'. And how it built into such a big thing.
"I suppose you could argue that maybe when Declan Sinnott left, that might have been a step back for her. But, she said it invigorated her. Declan had sort of been urging her toward the trad side, and she wanted to do a bit more contemporary stuff. So when he left, she had the freedom to do that and moved on.
“The main point of the book was about her balancing family life and the career. She wanted to be home but she couldn’t be. There’s a few little funny bits where she comes back from being on tour and all of us kids give her a hug and say, ‘Hello, welcome home', and we’re all nice. Then, about a half an hour later we all start being really cruel to her. It’s sort of like a defense mechanism, ‘You can’t just saunter in when you want'. She said she found that really difficult.
“It sort of triggered something in my head,” he continues. “Even as a kid I sort of remember feeling a little bit of resentment. I didn’t know what it was, but it was like, ‘You missed my match last week. Where were you?’ That type of thing. I felt bad because, reading it, it really upset her. It’s a great read. I would highly recommend it as a Christmas present. Quote that on the front of Hot Press!”

Talk about taking it to a new level. Is The Long Way coming out in the US?
“We hope so,” Danny nods. “The Universal deal we have is a worldwide deal. We’re definitely releasing in Australia, definitely all over Europe, and definitely the UK in March 2015. That'll keep us busy. Jim has been over and met a couple of labels in America, so we hope it will be released in the States next year as well. There are publishers over there that are interested. We’ll leave that stuff to the people who know more about it, but fingers crossed we can release everywhere.”
So it’s Ireland first?
“Ireland in November and then all of them in March. That’s the plan. I think the idea is that Island are going to go to radio and press in the UK with the story of, ‘This album is going really well in Ireland. It’s number whatever. They sold out this. It’s getting this amount of radio play. This is happening. Get on board'. They’re gonna try and get a bit of momentum from Ireland and use that.
“We’re very lucky," he adds, "that we can tour the UK now and play pubs and clubs and have them full, but we want to take that to the next level. We don’t mind whether it’s an overnight success or it’s a hard slog. We want to tour: Europe, the UK, America, Australia. We're doing Europe and the UK in February. There’s plans for an Australian tour in March. We’re at our best when we’re a live band and we can win over people and continue to improve at the same time.”
One thing is for sure. Danny O’Reilly and his Coronas bandmates aren’t short of ambition.
“My ambition to be as big as we can possibly be,” the singer declares. “I actually believe this record could do it for us. I believe if we got the right break in radio, we could really take it to the next level. That’s where my mind-set is at. That’s what I’m visualising and seeing in my head because that’s always the way I’ve been. I wanted to be a singer, and I went and it happened. I wanted to play [GAA football] for Dublin and that happened as well. So I’ve always done that. Now I’m looking at The Coronas being a really big band. Simple as that.”

The Long Way is out now on Island Records. The Coronas play 3Arena on February 21, 2015.