The Coronas may be a new name to many ears in the UK, however having a platinum album that reached number 2 in their home charts in Ireland and having played to sold-out arenas, and even opening for a Beatle, it’s safe to say they have already learnt their trade. Having recently moved from Ireland to London to tackle the music scene on our shores, I had a chat with Danny O’Reilly on how things are going.

Hi Danny, how are you and what have you been up to this week?

I’m great thanks, had a nice bit of family time over Christmas in Dublin but back to London now getting organised for the busy year ahead.

Your latest album ‘The Long Way’ reached number two in Ireland and went platinum, what were your initial reactions to the success of the album?

We were really delighted. Even though we knew we were extremely proud of the album and excited to get it out, there’s always that little nervous feeling of “will it connect with people?”. Thankfully it’s done incredibly well and the radio stations are really getting behind the single too so it’s all moving in the right direction.

It’s due out over here in May, are you expecting a similar reaction?

Danny: We’re very lucky that we already have a huge fan base in Ireland, and although things are going great here in the UK too (with us signing to Island and our upcoming tour selling really well) I would be surprised if it goes straight into number 2 here. Then again stranger things have happened. We’re starting to get radio play here now, we have a great team behind us, which we’ve never had before as an independent band, and we really believe in this album and in ourselves as a band so why not.

‘Just Like That’ is set to be released as the first single from the album on February 16th, and it’s currently Xfm’s record of the week, what led you to write the song?

‘Just Like That’ was written in a rehearsal room in Hoxton about a year ago. It was one of those songs that came together really quickly. It was probably written in a half a day and I went home and finished the lyrics that night. Its about the uncertainty of that time after you break up with someone, when you’re both finding it hard to move on.

You’ve recently joined forces with producer Eliot James, who has worked with the likes of Kaiser Chiefs and Two Door Cinema Club, are you looking forward to this ‘new chapter’ for the Coronas?

Yeah Eliot is amazing, he’s really brought out the best in us. He understood us early on, what album we wanted to make and he’s a lovely dude as well so very easy to work with.

You also supported Sir Paul McCartney, what can you tell us about that experience?

It was incredible. Before meeting him, people used to say to me, “Who’s the most famous person you’ve met?” and up until then it was Jim Corr from the Corrs so we really took a step up the ladder that day! Getting to see him soundcheck was amazing. He’d just turn to the band and say “Penny Lane” and they’d just bang into it, even though it wasn’t on their actual gig setlist. He came down and made an effort and said hello to us. Definitely something to tell the grandkids, it doesn’t really get bigger than meeting Macca!

Now that you’ve moved over to London from Ireland, how are you finding living there?

We love it here. As I said things have been going really well for us in Ireland in the last couple of years, but we took the decision to move here and put ourselves back at the bottom of a much bigger ladder and thankfully we can already see things starting to happen, with us signing to Big Life publishing and Island records. We could have stayed in our comfort zone in Ireland as a big independent band but as I said we really believe in what we’re doing and it felt right to come here and try to make it happen. It’s a great place to live too and we have lots of friends here so it feels right.

Are there any current bands you’re enjoying at the moment?

Love Hozier, his album is really great. My favourite band at the moment is The National, all their records are so strong. If anyone sees me on the tube with my headphones in, theres a good chance I’d be listening to them or Phoenix or maybe Ben Howard’s new record. I love Foals, Little Green Cars and I’m not ashamed to say I’m a big Coldplay fan.

You’re commencing on a full UK tour starting in March, but it’s safe to say the venues are somewhat smaller to those you played in Ireland, what are you looking forward to about playing these venues?

We love touring, playing gigs, big or small. There is something really lovely about playing in smaller rock venues/clubs where you can see the faces of the people in front of you. For our arena show in Dublin we’ll have a big production, a massive lights show, pyro, all the bells and whistles, but we love the stripped back sweaty gigs where the energy in the room and the crowd reaction are the things that make it. They’re the type of gigs we played in Ireland only a couple of years ago and hopefully we’ll move up through the venues here too, like we did in Ireland and be playing the o2 here in no time!

Apart from the album and tour, have you got any more plans for the year ahead?

Yeah loads! There is a couple of European gigs planned before the Summer, a full Australian tour in April which we’re excited about, and then we’re in to festival season. Hoping to do another UK and European tour in the Autumn and also plans to do some shows in the US then too. We’re very lucky to have such a cool job, but we’re on a mission and we’re ready to work.

James Cummins

@CummyBear