It’s not the best time to be in a band called The Coronas
Singer Danny O’Reilly has seen his livelihood hit by Covid-19 but he’s not complaining,
DANNY O’Reilly woke up one morning last week with “serious quarantine blues”.
He thought the band he formed with Graham Know and Conor Egan in Terenure College in 2003 was finished because of its “stupid unfortunate name”.
“I thought there’d never be live gigs again; all sorts of things were going through my head. But I’m more selfaware than I used to be. I’m better at dealing with those moments when they come along. And also I’ve a great support system of friends and family that are always there for me,” he says.
The now three-piece Coronas (lead guitarist Dave McPhillips left the band last November after 12 years) release their new single,
Lost In The Thick Of It this Friday. Danny sings about various degrees of anguish — not much tamed by the small fame he has achieved or the critical acclaim.
The songs offer a glimpse into the psyche of a brilliant, brooding young man. On the Coronas’ previous single, Haunted, he sang that about fighting “the wrong way around … and you tell me I sing things I’m afraid to say”. Asked what he means by those lines, Danny reveals that “just before writing the song, there was someone in my life that I had started to drift away from. There was no falling out at all; we just stopped communicating the way we had done before”.
Danny thought he was fine but whenever he wrote, he found himself singing about the relationship.
“It’s almost an imaginary conversation/argument with myself, criticising myself for writing about my feelings but not being able to talk to the person about it,” he says.
Many of his lyrics are arguments with himself: “Or maybe more like reminders to myself to try to self-improve... to be a better friend, brother, son or whatever.”
I asked Danny does he ever get depressed? “I’ve had my ups and downs. I had one serious low a few years ago but refuse to give it power and say I was depressed. I was low and now and then I get moments of feeling down.”
Last year, his mother, Mary Black, revealed in the RTE documentary, Mary Black — No Frontier, the depression she went through “37, 38 years ago”.
She said: “I haven’t had too many bouts of depression but it has always more or less been there”.
How is his mother? How does he check in on her? Does he deliver food to her doorstep? “Mam is in good form,” Danny says.
“We Zoom all the time. Her and my dad have been getting loads of jobs done around the house. Similar to a lot of people, we miss hanging out with them.
It’s her birthday later this month. I miss going for out for dinner with them and my brother and sister more than anything,” he says, referring to younger sister
Roisin (a singer of note, aka Roisin O) and older brother Conor.
“And I miss sport,” adds the keen Dublin football fan.
“I still play a little bit of Gaelic football when I can, in another life I could have been a contender! But I love watching all sport. And I’ll definitely appreciate it more when it eventually comes back after all this.”
How does he cope at the minute with Covid-19 financially? “We had three tours planned that we had to postpone and a run of gigs and festivals this summer that was really meant to keep us going financially for the whole year.”
The Coronas were due to headline both nights at Killruddery House and Gardens, Bray, on the August bank holiday, as well as the Marquee in Cork on May
29, the Saltwater Festival in Westport on May 30 and the Fever Pitch festival on June 27.
“With us being our own label [So Far So Good] as well, we’ve taken a hit on that side of things, too,” he adds. “But I hate to complain, we’re lucky that we have such an amazing fanbase that I know will come see us whenever we get out the other side of this.”
What have we learned about ourselves from the Covid-19 crisis? How has it changed us as a people? “I do notice less cynicism, more humanity. Hopefully we’ll come out the other side of this with a bit more appreciation for the world.”
How has it affected him philosophically and psychologically?
“Like everybody, I’ve had my ups and downs. I’d like to think it hasn’t affected me psychologically too much. I think if I was in my twenties,” says the 35-yearold, “and the band was just starting out, it would affect me much more, for different reasons. But I suppose we won’t really know the answer until we’ve come out the other side.”
And his love life? Does Danny rustle up romantic lockdown meals for the woman in his life?
“I’d be disappointed if you didn’t inquire,” he roars with laughter. “All is good thanks. I’m happy.”
‘I love sport ... I’ll appreciate it when it’s back’ appreciate