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Name: The Coronas
Members: Danny O'Reilly, Conor Egan, Graham Knox
Interviewee: Danny O'Reilly
Nationality: Irish
Occupation: Songwriter
Current release: The Coronas' Time Stopped is out via So Far So Good.

If you enjoyed this interview with The Coronas, visit the band's official website. They are also on Instagram, Facebook, and twitter.   



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

Lyrically, personal relationships play a huge role in our songs.

I’ve always been an honest songwriter. I’ve found that the more personal I am with my lyrics, the more other people actually relate to them.

Musically and sonically, other influences often come into play. Albums we’re listening to, people we’re writing with or producers and their tastes also help shape the sound, as does the live performance when we try the song out in a room.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

I tend not to plan out songs, I try to let the ideas develop organically. Often times a song or idea won’t get finished and will disappear.

I try to get out of the way of the song as much as possible. To let it be written as opposed to planning it out.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

We definitely do demo a lot, and more recently these demos have been more completed and better quality, with some elements often being used from them in the proper recordings.

There’s still the odd rough voice memo of a semi-completed song, sung live, that still makes the cut for pre-production or even the recording studio itself.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

Exercise is a big one for me, and locking myself away for a couple of days before I even start working tends to draw songs and ideas out of me quicker when I do then start.

After a couple of days of Netflix and nothingness, I get bored, and the piano, guitar or laptop calls to me a bit more naturally.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

It can really vary on each song. Sometimes the first line is the only thing you have for ages, or one tiny little melody turn that you like the sound of.

Most ideas for me will start on the piano or acoustic guitar. If something works in that setting it’s easier to make it work in the band, or with different types of production ideas.

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

Often the best lyrics for us can appear out of thin air - I might try sing along naturally to a chord progression and a line might just appear out of the mumblings. And that mumble can lead the whole lyric.

Other times they might be drunken ramblings in my iPhone notes (although 90% of these are embarrassingly awful). Or other times, the lyrics might be discussed and broken down, depending on who I’m writing with.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

That’s a tough question. I like honest lyrics. Where you feel like you’re in the conversation.

I love The National and Gang of Youths, where you don’t need to follow every single word clearly but you hear the odd line and it hits you like “yeah I know what that’s like, what a cool lyric”.

Seven albums in, it can be hard to write about things that you’ve written about before. Even if you have a slightly different take on things. But I find I have to just be honest and in the moment.

Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

We demo, then flesh out the songs live, we always consider ourselves a live band first and foremost. If the magic isn’t there live, we will be unlikely to develop it in the studio.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

Yes, I referenced this earlier actually, I definitely try not to get in the way of the song.

I’ve heard songwriters say that they’re a vessel for the song appearing and not actually creating it themselves, and although this might be a bit deep, I definitely get a sense of that when I get into a state of flow, which I feel needs to happen at some stage in every song's creation

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

As the band has developed and evolved, we’ve began writing with different musician friends of ours and it’s been really lovely to see ideas being brought in directions that I may not have thought of.

So, we embrace this, for sure

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Yes, the state of flow, there’s an Irish podcaster Blindboy Boatclub that has some fascinating ideas on this. Personally, I don’t connect it to spirituality although sometimes it can feel that way.

For me it’s really just you’re on a roll, creativity is pouring out of you and you don’t need to control or stop it. And then you listen back and you’re almost surprised and wonder where the idea came from.

Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?

You have to sign off on it eventually, I think that’s why being in a democratic band with a manager you trust is key. You can keep tweaking things forever.

But I look back on our first album now, with envy. It’s rough, barely in time, but has an innocence and naivety I wish I could sometimes still have now.



Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

Yes, for me it’s very important to leave it and come back with fresh ears and new perspective.

We’d never force anything; we’d often demo songs a couple of times before we’re happy

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

Huge! Production is a huge piece of the puzzle. And we’ve been lucky enough to work some amazing producers.

Likewise mixing and mastering. I don’t know a lot about that stuff technically, I know a bit, enough to get my point across, and I’m blissful in my level of ignorance. Mixing especially is another massive piece of the puzzle

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

Yes, we’ve released 7 albums and I think at some stage after the completion of each of the last 5, I’ve said “I’m not sure if I’ll ever write another song, the well is empty”.

Eventually though the unwritten songs will call to me, coaxing me back to the piano and guitar, just to see what happens.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Yeah I think it’s very different.

You wouldn’t put your heart and soul into a cup of coffee, although then again a good barista might. Tough one.