THE CORONAS, DANNY O'REILLY, DAVE MC PHILLIPS, GRAHAM KNOX & CONOR EGAN

Cool. talented, but still very much grounded, that’s just a few ways you can describe our very own Irish, rock-indie band, The Coronas who are now about to kick off their European tour this month. Fashion.ie caught up with The Coronas, front man, Danny O’Reilly who talks about the band and their musical influences and there's even a few things you may not already know about The Coronas. If you don’t have a Coronas album as part of your CD or music download collection then you are definitely missing out on great music.

When did The Coronas get together as a band?

We started in school but properly started gigging and releasing music when we were studying in college in 2007

How did you come up with the name The Coronas?

Our favorite film at the time was "Almost Famous" and the main character writes his article on an old school typewriter called a "Corona-Smyth" deluxe. We used to be called Corona but then changed to The Coronas

How did you all meet?

Knoxy (Bass) and myself have been lifelong friends. We met when we were babies as our parents are friends. Conor (drummer) we met in school, Dave in college

What type of artists / music influence The Coronas?

The Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, The Kinks, Radiohead, The Frames, too many more to mention

THE CORONAS SET TO PLAY THE DUBLIN O2 IN DECEMBER 2012

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs?

We all write songs together. Themes can vary from love and friendships to songs about critics. A lot of our songs are about us as a band trying to be the best we can be

How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?

I think we've gotten more confident, more accomplished as musicians and we understand how the process of song-writing works better now than when we started out

Was it financially tough for The Coronas when starting out, How does that compare to now with you being a successful, international Indie / Rock group?

Ha-ha, it's still tough financially! There isn't much money in the music industry these days but we're lucky we have a job that we love. When we started out we still had part time jobs!

What is the weirdest thing The Coronas have been asked to do, did you do it?

We were asked to support Paul Mc Cartney which was weird because he's our hero but amazing and of course we did it!.

What is the fashion image for The Coronas or is it just simply, wear whatever is clean or available that day?

Ha ha, it used to be a bit more like that but these days we've tried to put a little more effort into what we wear. If you dress like a band you'll feel more confident and perform better.

THE CORONAS MUSIC IS INFLUENCED BY THE BEATLES, FLEETWOOD MAC TO NAME A FEW

 Who in the band cares about his dress image the most or simply, who is the most-vain about their appearance, the truth now?

Ha-ha probably me, even though my girlfriend dresses me!

Where do The Coronas buy their clothes, are you ever given any freebies because you are The Coronas?

Yes a cool shop in the UK called "Religion" who gave us some clothes recently which were much appreciated! We also like All Saints.

What type of music do you listen to on your iPods at moment?

Mumford and Sons, Roisin O, Hudson Taylor, Muse.

Is there anything The Coronas would not do for money, explain?

Lots of things! Thankfully money is down our list of priorities.

What as a band is The Coronas biggest achievement to date?

We're playing in the O2 in Dublin on December 14th

THE CORONAS START THEIR EUROPEAN TOUR NEXT MONTH

Name one thing people may be surprised to know about you?

I can turn my eyelids inside out.

What is The Corona’s best memory as a band to date and why?

Playing 6 sold out nights in the Olympia last Christmas.

Do you have any favorite venues that you like playing?

The Olympia!

What is your most memorable gig ever and why?

We headlined Marlay Park last summer and it was our biggest show to date, amazing crowd, amazing night!

Do you think manufactured bands like The Wanted or One Direction are good for the music industry, explain?

Yeah why not,, they' are selling records and gigs all over the world. Fair play to them!.

What is on the future horizon for The Coronas?

We've a European tour next month, then UK tour in October then O2 in December! Gonna be a good couple of months!

As we said at the start of the interview, these guys are really grounded and have not let fame go to their heads which is great. to see when you are that talented. Don’t forget to check out The Corona’s website for more details about band news and gigs, www.thecoronas.net