I was sent on a mission for Culch.ie during the week, to interview Ireland’s current hottest musical export; The Script.
With no. 1 albums and top 10 singles in the UK & Ireland and a rapidly growing audience in the US, these boys can do no wrong. Their Arthur’s day visit coincides with the recent release of their follow-up album ‘Science & Faith’ and the announcement of three sold-out dates at the O2 for March 2011. The interview took place in the Morrisson where I also took an elevator with Paolo Nuitini, bumped into Westlife’s Shane Filan and saw Example sitting in the lobby.
The guys (Mark, Danny and Glen) were true gents and a pleasure to interview.
Here’s a copy of the interview from Culch.ie:
Local lads, The Script, return to Dublin to play Arthur’s Day 2010. The lads were very excited to be here and Culch.ie got a chance to sit down with them and talk Guinness, touring and what it is to be Irish. Here’s how things went with Danny, Glen and Mark.
Culch.ie sits down with the Script
So you’re playing Arthur’s day 2010 at Vicar St tonight, what does that mean to you?
It’s our first time. We’re excited and nervous. It means a lot to us to be invited we’ve been a fan of it [Guinness] for a number of years. It really means a lot to us, we’ve been wondering when they were going to ask us and I think finally we built up enough points to get asked to do it. We’re delighted. I was wondering when they were gonna ask, throughout our career all we’ve ever done is talk about Guinness. Around the world, in Australia or the US people ask us about our Irishness and when we see a pint of Guinness with the words “St. James’s St” we are reminded that’s how it all started, we recorded our debut album on St. James’s St.
What did you do for Arthur’s day last year?
We were actually in Australia. We just got to have a pint and then back to work. We did the usual and found an Irish bar, sure what does any paddy do when he’s away? Find an Irish bar!
Was ‘Science & Faith’ the clichéd difficult second album? or was it a pleasure to make?
Our first album was the difficult album. It was tough to come up with a new sound, a sound that you feel comfortable wearing. The second album was just a continuation of that sound , we recorded the first album then went our on tour but were still chomping at the bit to get back into the studio again. I guess we didn’t really re-invent the wheel with the second album we didn’t want to come back as some Indie-Electrco band or re-invent the wheel because it took us so long to invent the wheel in the first placer. But no it wasn’t difficult at all.
I saw in 2008 you dueted with Kelly Rowland for the Stevie Wonder number ‘Part-time Lover’? Any more plans for some more collaborations?
That was a lot of fun but came along on a whim. There was just a knock on the door asking us if we’d like to do a song with her. We only got to rehearse it once but had a lot of fun. We never have plans like that it’s purely spur of the moment. It’s great because all that nervous energy ends up going into the performance and it’ll either hit or miss. But that day we hit.
Anyone else you’d like to work with?
Bob Marley, but we’d have to resurrect him. Elvis, but he’s left the building too. David Bowie he’s still alive, that’d be interesting. It’s a weird one for us because we all write and produce separately when we come back and record it’s like we’re all collaborating with each other at all times. I think that thirst is always quenched with us we never really think about other people at all.
Which is your favourite side of the Atlantic to play?
[Hahaha] a gig’s a gig. You’re asking us on home soil? [haha] you gonna put me on the spot like that? A gig’s a gig, but there’s something about an irish crowd, and only certain parts of the world have this and Ireland’s certainly one of them. Where we buy a ticket and we actually buy the ticket to go and enjoy ourselves. We dont go to judge the band, we dont fold our arms and watch the band. But in this country it generally doesn’t happen. People let their hair down. We see that reflected in our shows in the US, Irish people in the US come out to see us because we’re Irish. It’s a great time to be Irish and be in an irish band it opens so many doors for us in terms of being a non-threatening country to just come and entertain people. and then of course there’s the accent which people seem to love.
You had a record deal as MyTown what made you keep at it?
It was only two of us that were in MyTown at the time myself (Mark) and Danny. Glen was doing other things. What keeps you going is that you have no idea about this industry when you’re a kid and there are so many ways to get into this industry. We were in many different things at the time but that was one thing that got a light shone on it. When it failed because it failed for us you have that blind faith that you will do something else. So, we went into producing and writing and learning our craft a bit more because we lost control over that thing when we were kids, but with the 10 years experience that we’ve built up we can come back and make music that people love. Because we perservered and went out to get a record deal is how things worked. Hitting your head off a wall and walking away because you’re bleeding is the worst thing to do, you figure another way around. Go over the wall, go under the wall, tunnel but there’s always another way.
What makes you appeal to such a wide audience, my little sister (15) all the way up to my mum (44) love you. How do you appeal to such a large demographic?
It’s just the music, we take ourselves out of it. we dont put ourselves on the covers, we just come out as a live band and play songs that we can connect to, and music that we like. Because we like going to bars and listening to chart music or sitting at home and listening to albums by our favourite artists it’s all very much within this genre. From the Police, U2, Coldplay to Kanye West. That’s the stuff we like. We do it in a very honest way and people relate to that, I dont think it’s us that people like it’s more the music.
For a band used to playing Shea stadium, Croker etc What’s it going to be like playing a small bar tonight?
It’s going to be brilliant to be honest we’ve been playing the small bars at longer than the big stadiums. We’re going back to what we know best. Our manager said not to get used to it now, because we prefer those shows. It’s more of a challenge because people are so up close. There’s no barriers its stripped down. It’s a real test. The first gig is acoustic tonight. At the hieght of the first album in the us we were still playing small bars in America. We left croker and played to a gig playing in front of 10 people in the States. So we’re well used to it.
If you were not playing tonight who would you be seeing at Arthur’s Day 2010?
Paolo Nuitini for sure, love what he’s doing with music these days. Oh and the Manic Street Preachers, we’re loving the new album.
Script play Vicar St tonight and a surprise gig elsewhere in the city – Arthur’s day 2010
(As it transpired they also played Burxelle’s just off Grafton St)
