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A Conversation with The Script’s Danny O'Donaghue
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If your idea of Irish music is U2, well, you’re in good company. But Irish trio The Script are looking to add another wrinkle to your gray matter. Sporting a fresh brand of pop-rock that artfully follows the twists and turns of heartbreak, tragedy, love, exhilaration and all the other emotions that make us human, The Script nourishes a whole new brand of Celtic Soul. The band has already sold a gajillion albums in Europe and is getting ready to take the United States by storm. I recently had the chance the chat with Danny O’Donaghue, The Script’s lead singer, about the sweet scent of success.
Mike Parker – You’ve already had some amazing success in Europe and your debut album has just released in the US. Any predictions regarding your acceptance here in the states?
Danny O'Donaghue – To be honest we have no predictions at all. You can’t dream dreams like this. But if our first shows in America are any indication we’ve got a long and healthy career ahead. We are supporting double Grammy winner, Adele, and people who come to these shows are just music lovers and they are really accepting us with open arms. It’s been great.
Parker – How coincidental was it that your cd released in the states on St. Patrick’s Day?
O'Donaghue – God bless the marketing people. They thought of marrying the two on one day and it was brilliant. They focused the attention on St. Patrick’s Day because news outlets are looking for an angle and since we are supposed to be the next big thing coming out of Ireland it made it a logical thing to include us in their stories. It’s easy to get swallowed up by how vast America is, so when you get to play a segment on the Today Show simply because you come out of Ireland, that is pretty sweet.
Parker – You’ve just started your United States tour with Adele. How is that going?
O'Donaghue – I’m having a ball. It is a thing that bands back home talk about – how to make it work in America. It is a different market here. People look at you in a different light. You don’t have the same road crew. You don’t have the same fan support. You have to downsize and you don’t play to the kind of crowds you played with. I love that challenge. It makes you start fresh and hustle again.
Parker – You have all been involved in the music industry for quite a while in previous bands, so even though you are new to us, you are not new to business. I understand you actually formed as a band while working in the United States but returned to Ireland to launch your music. Why was that?
O'Donaghue – Mark (Sheehan) and I lived in Orlando for a couple of years and then moved to LA. We thought we were the hottest production team around, that every song we wrote was going to the top of the charts, and we were going to save American music. We discovered pretty quickly that we were the low man on the totem pole. America is really immense and you have to step up your game to make it here. There are so many great producers. That time was a training ground for what we are doing today. Listening to great producers was really like going to school for us.
Parker – You’ve been getting a lot of comparisons to the Police, and of course there are going to be the inevitable U2 references. Were those bands an influence on your music?
O'Donaghue – For me, not at all. I only got into the Police after people started making the comparisons. I went back and started listening to old Police CD’s and even now I don’t really get it. But Glen (Power), our drummer, grew up on the Police and he loves Sting, so the drum beats might come out that way. I grew up listening to anything that was soul and had meaning to it. I was really drawn to vocal groups with great harmonies. What ever influences you are listening to at the time, you’ll find some of it in our music. There is not one driving force that moves us as a band.
Parker – At the end of the day, what makes a great song?
O'Donaghue – When you’ve gotten down to the bone and you realize it is so honest you don’t know if you could or should say it out loud. When you can marry words to a melody and sing it to someone else, and replicates in them the feeling that is in the pit of your stomach, that’s when you know you have a great song. Rhythm, melody and lyrics. Those are the three elements of a great song. The more honest you can be, the more sincere, the better the song is going to be.
Parker – Last words?
O'Donaghue – Come to the live show. Listening to the album is like listening to the past, but seeing us live is experiencing the songs in the present.
The Seven Questions
1. What’s your favorite sound?
O'Donaghue – Harmonies. Voices singing together.
2. What makes you happy?
O'Donaghue – being on stage. It is where I find peace.
3. What makes you angry?
O'Donaghue – Doing a bad performance. People pay money to see us and I don’t want to feel like I’ve let them down.
4. What is the secret of success?
O'Donaghue – Patience. Loving what you do.
5. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?
O'Donaghue – Jesus Christ. Because you’d never run out of wine.
6. What is the epitaph that is written on your tombstone?
O'Donaghue – “He was late for his own funeral.”
7. When you get to heaven, what is the first thing you want to hear God say to you?
O'Donaghue – “You gave it your best shot.”
For more info: Visit The Scripts official website
Recent Conversations we’ve had:
Obsessed Producer Will Packer
Sleepless in Seattle - the Musical Producer David Shor
Broadway Star Megan Hilty
Kings Creator Michael Green
Watchmen's Apollonia Vanova
Indie Filmmaker Scoot McNairy
Glee's Naya Rivera
World Music Artist Mary-Kathryn
Author Barbara Hall
Director Michael Landon, Jr.
Actor Timothy Hutton
Entertainer/Entrepreneur John o'Hurley
Stage Actress Amanda Card-McCoy
Recording Artist Leah Renee
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