What’s better than being tied down to a major label and being told what to do? Creating your own independent label and having the freedom to do things the way you want.
That’s exactly what Irish band The Coronas have done with their fifth album Trust The Wire, released in June. Looking back, the band’s frontman Danny O’Reilly thinks he and The Coronas made the right decision.
“It felt like the timing was right for us,” he says. “We’ve had four successful albums in Ireland and we’re still lucky enough that we have a big following here. We enjoy a lot of radio play and we knew interest was still there from the press, so we felt like we could promote it ourselves. It was the right time to take control and steer the ship and then license the album outside Ireland.”
Obviously doing everything in-house took a lot more work and effort, but O’Reilly says that having a good team around the band is essential. He also advises aspiring musicians who may be considering doing the same thing, that they have to work hard. “We definitely realised the workload increased as we took on our own release. It’s non-stop, organising interviews, releases, gigs and promo. But it’s worth it in the end.”
When it actually came down to it – and the hours of hard work were piling up – it came to a point where The Coronas began to question what they were actually doing. They had to make sure they were all on the same page, and remind themselves why they love creating music in the first place. “After we left our label in the UK and moved back home to Ireland, we were at a bit of a crossroads. We didn’t want to just go through the motions and do another album for the sake of it,” he says.
What they did put out is something that The Coronas are most proud of – believing it’s their best creative work yet. “Another thing that seems to happen as you get older, from a writing perspective, is you tend to overthink things,” O’Reilly says. “You constantly try to analyse what you’re saying and producing and although that can be a bit of a hindrance at times, I’d like to think it makes for a better piece of work in the long run.”
Luckily, it all came around in the end and The Coronas have even been able to make this independent business model work internationally. They even got called a “cleverer Coldplay” by the Sunday Times in Ireland. However, they try not to take notice of the good or bad things said about them, and with their Sydney show already sold out on their upcoming Australian tour, that actually means more to them than being compared to Coldplay.
“To know that we’re playing a sold-out show in Manning Bar is an awesome feeling. We love playing live, it’s our favourite thing in the world, so a sold-out show in Sydney is something we’re definitely proud of and we can’t wait to put on our best show.”
After The Coronas Australian tour, they’ll head back home to Ireland to catch up with family and friends. But they aren’t keen to rest on their laurels for too long – there’s a whole wide world to see.
“We’re heading back to the US in February, hopefully we’ll have some more Australian dates too, we’ll be back to the UK and Europe too and we’ll have some festivals next summer,” says O’Reilly. “It’s non-stop but we love what we do. We’ll have one big show in Dublin next summer and after that we might take a little break and recharge the batteries. It’s been a busy year and the next few months don’t appear to be slowing down.”
