There’s Snow much want we still to do
Snow Patrol
WHAT happens when you are a member of one of the biggest bands in the world, but your lead singer and main lyricist develops a bad case of writer’s block? Well, if you are the drummer with Snow Patrol as Jonny Quinn is, you focus on your own music publishing company or as the 46-year-old from Co. Down puts it: ‘I went to work in the office.’ More of which later, but back to Quinn’s other job.
Albums such as Final Straw and Eyes Open had made Snow Patrol one of Ireland’s most successful bands. After the platinum success of their 2011 release, Fallen Empires, frontman Gary Lightbody engaged in extra-curricular activities such as reconvening the supergroup Tired Pony with Jacknife Lee, occasional Snow Patrol contributor Iain Archer and Peter Buck formerly of REM.
However, when it came to writing the lyrics for the Snow Patrol follow-up, Quinn says that although ‘Gary could write for other people and he did, he just couldn’t write even a word for Snow Patrol’.
And it was almost the end of the road for the chart-toppers. ‘It got to the stage with Gary that we thought Snow Patrol might never play together again. It was six years until we actually got down to writing and recording. Many bands can release two albums in that time. Others form and split up in a time period as long as that.’
Snow Patrol were, perhaps, victims of their own high standards. Songs such as Run and Chasing Cars are among the most loved of the past 15 years. The irony is that guitarist Johnny McDaid has cowritten songs with a host of artists such as Ed Sheeran, Harry Styles and Kodaline.
‘Gary is the voice of Snow Patrol and he is the main lyric-writer and thankfully the songs came eventually. But even after we finished the album, we feared that because we’d left it so long, we might not get played on radio again.’
Luckily, that has not proven to be the case with tracks from Wildness, Snow Patrol’s seventh album in 20 years, such as Don’t Give In, Life On Earth and What If This Is All The Love You Ever Get? being very well received.
‘We knew that if we tried some radical new approach or tried to be too current it would be the equivalent of dad-dancing,’ Quinn admits. ‘You’ve got to do things in an authentic way. We’ve found that people are just happy we’re back.’
In the enforced lay-off from Snow Patrol, Quinn focused on his company Polar Patrol Publishing. ‘We also have a small label. We’ve signed some great new artists such as Callum Stewart from Portrush. Johnny McDaid signed up for his solo work as well and we release Tired Pony stuff too,’ he says.
‘It essentially meant me taking up an office job. It was fascinating to see the other side of the business. It was also that period when things were changing so rapidly in terms of how music is released and heard by the public. I’ve been able to bring that knowledge to the band.’
Snow Patrol have recently completed a short series of Irish concerts that found them playing theatres again when arenas and stadiums have long since been their domain. Larger shows are planned before the end of the year and they’re very hopeful that six-and-a-half years won’t have elapsed before their next release.
‘We normally take two years touring with an album and then take some time off, but I think this time we will start thinking about new songs in as soon as six months,’ he says.
‘We still have so many goals. I’d love for us to headline Wembley Stadium. We could have done a few years back and we’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t. We’d love to headline Madison Square Garden and Slane. There is so much we still want to do.’
Snow Patrol’s new album ‘Wildness’ is out now.
I’D LOVE TO HEADLINE WEMBLEY. WE COULD HAVE DONE A FEW YEARS BACK