Music Interview The Coronas About to eclipse Label kings: Dublin band The Coronas debut album got them noticed abroad look of fleeting horror flashes across Danny OReillys face as The Coronas frontman explains the inspiration behind the bands new album, Tony Was An Ex-Con. We were touring the US last year. We had this dingy little bus and a driver named Tony who was a bit strange and a bit quiet, says the singer, in a tone of voice somewhere between amusement and deep unease. As the tour progressed, it became clear he was actually insane. We found out that he was an ex-convict and really he was just a total psycho. Three weeks into their jaunt across America, matters got a little out of hand. We ended up abandoning the bus on the side of the road, about two hours outside New York. He had been driving with no lights on. It was completely nuts. We had a gig the next day. All we could think was how are we going to get there? Luckily, fellow Dubliners Republic Of Loose were also playing NYC. One phone call later and they had dispatched their own tour bus to pick up their stranded countrymen. It was quite scary at the time, says OReilly. Looking back, it started to seem funny. We decided to write a song called Tony Was An Ex-Con. It was an intriguing title. On-the-road horror stories aside, these are heady days for The Coronas. At home, they have overcome lukewarm reviews to establish themselves as one of the nations most adored bands. Thanks to beyond catchy hits like San Diego Song, they are superstars on the college circuit and have packed big venues such as The Olympia and The Ambassador. In Japan, theyre signed to a major label and recently returned from a successful promotional tour where they ran the familiar gauntlet of baying teenage girls and journalists full of praise. And in the US, theyre making steady progress. We never had much media acclaim. There never was any hype about us, says A OReilly. That kept us quite grounded. We never had anyone telling us we were great. We worked from the ground up, did the college circuit, kept touring. Luckily, San Diego Song took off for us. It brought us to another label. And unlike some Irish bands they arent obsessed with cracking the neighbouring UK. If anything, they are rather wary of the British music scenes obsession with fads and haircuts. In England, especially, you need to have the skinny jeans look and a cool vibe, says OReilly. You need to be going out with models. Here, people dont really mind they like their catchy music, they like songs they can sing along too. They dont really care where you come from. Thats the good thing about the Irish music scene. We wrote a lot of our songs when we were in college and thats why students identify with us, we think. It is precisely this down-to-earth outlook which leaves them ideally placed to do well in the US, OReilly believes. Coming from Ireland, you always have a good chance in America. In the US, they have a real connection with the Irish. Its like, Oh, check out this Irish band. Theres a bit of a buzz. If we could get a song on TV or on an ad things could probably happen there for us. The success of their debut album Heroes Or Ghosts brought them to the attention of a host of major labels. However, The Coronas are happy to stay signed to tiny Dublin indie 3 Records, relishing the freedom this affords. After San Diego Song, a couple of majors came knocking. The thing is, Ireland is the right size if you want to promote yourself. In a bigger territory, you might need a major. Here, you can do most of it on your own. And if things dont happen internationally, theyre perfectly content to remain very big fish in a medium-sized pond. The great Irish bands people like Aslan they are willing to play their music on the Irish circuit and do very well. It can be daunting going somewhere like London and starting afresh, especially if you dont have a record company pushing you. We love touring Ireland and were very proud of all that we have achieved. Tony Was An Ex-Con is out now. The Coronas play the Hot Press Music Show, RDS, on Saturday. www.thecoronas.net Ireland is the right size if you want to promote yourself. In a bigger territory, you might need a major. Here you can do most of it on your own Frontman of the up-and- coming Irish band, Danny Reilly, tells Eamon de Paor about their bid for stardom Me, Me, Me: Inside the minds of celebrities Doug Stanhope In Town Tonight Is this Americas most depraved man? asked British GQ magazine in 2006. Rude, crude and twistedly funny, this Massachusetts-born, Arizona-based comedian combines jack-off jokes with biting cultural commentary Tonight, The Button Factory, Curved Street D2, 8pm, 21.50. Tel: (01) 670 9202. www.buttonfactory.ie Ciarn Carson Flying Dublins flag for All-Ireland Poetry Day is the award-winning author of Shamrock Tea and The Irish For No and director of the Seamus Heaney Centre For Poetry. Introduced by Joe Woods Today, National Library Of Ireland, Kildare Street D2, 1.05pm, free. Tel: (01) 478 9974. www.poetryireland.ie Castlebar Gospel Choir Tonights concert Songs Of Freedom celebrates Americas renouncing of slavery, its civil rights movement and President Obamas inauguration through uplifting vocals and an audio-visual narrative of gospel musics history Tonight, National Concert Hall, Earlsfort Terrace D2, 8pm, 20. Tel: (01) 417 0000. www.nch.ie metro Arts & Entertainment life Book Now RHA After Dark Dust off your best cocktail apparel: a highly collectable work of contemporary art could be yours if you get yourself a ticket to tomorrows RHA After Dark event. An oh-so-glamorous soire combining fine art, cocktails and an Italian buffet, lucky attendees may well walk away with more than a mojito headache, namely a highly covetable artwork in one of the evenings several raffles. Admission includes automatic entry to win a painting by Martin Gale RHA (work pictured), with subsequent raffles at 50 a piece to clinch a work by established artists including Richard Gorman RHA, Stephen McKenna PPRHA, Rachel Joynt RHA plus emerging talents Michelle Considine, Damien Flood and more. Meanwhile, jazz musician Louis Stewart and DJ Aiden Kelly provide a live soundtrack Tomorrow, RHA, Gallagher Gallery, 15 Ely Place D2, 8pm, 100. Tel: (01) 661 2558. www.royalhibernianacademy.com 12 metrolife Thursday, October 1, 2009 Today: Keith Floyd, from his autobiography On discovering how to cook spaghetti: How do we turn this new (to us) but strange ingredient into soft tubes on a plate? Should we soak it in the bath overnight? Should we break it up? Eventually I found out that if you boiled water and slowly pushed the spaghetti into the liquid, then the pasta would soften and curl into the pan and eventually it would cook. What a discovery! [My friend] Bob and I consider ourselves quite clever but establishing how to cook dried pasta was to us a mind-shaking gastronomic event. On running his own restaurants: Dont ever go into the restaurant business. It kills marriages, it kills relationships and it kills life. It kills everything. On Greenland, where he filmed Floyds Fjord Fiesta: Should you find yourself in Greenland, where the mosquitos eat better than you, and once youve seen the icebergs and the humpback whales and the glaciers, you have seen it all. Dont go back. On booze: Even though on television and in my restaurants I was a gregarious, jolly man who had no cares in the world, I was a worrier. When we were travelling around the world and settled in to a hotel, Id sit with a glass of whiskey and think. Deep in Johnnie Walker-induced thought... depression and alcohol are not a good marriage but, still, they can live together. On his four divorces: If I had not had all these marriages I would be a multimillionaire. If I had not had fame I would have long ago found the woman of my dreams. Sharon Lougher Keith Floyd: Stirred But Not Shaken is published by Sidgwick & Jackson, priced 22 The hoTTesT TickeTs in Town We have a pair of tickets to RHA AFTER DARK tomorrow at the RHA, 8pm For a chance to win, e-mail your answer to the question below to life@metroireland.ie by noon today with Hot Tickets in the subject line. With your answer please include your name, address and a number where you can be contacted between 1pm and 3pm. Strictly one entry per person; entrants must be age 18+. Q. After Darks admission price includes a raffle ticket to win a painting by which Irish artist? A. Martin Gale B. 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