The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue on U2 and Paul McCartney

The Script’s Danny O’Donoghue on U2 and Paul McCartney
By Cameron Adams
The Daily Telegraph
September 22, 2010 7:27PM

THE Script?s lead singer Danny O?Donoghue loves downloaders, not being cool and Paul McCartney.
You’ve released your second album Science& Faith. You spent two years promoting your debut, are you ready for round two?
Irish people are always ready for a challenge. This time around we’re a little more prepared for it. First time we got our heads blown off by the amount of promotion you do and the amount of countries you see. This time around I’ve actually started boxing because I’ve started going to the gym. Physically, I need to be in a good shape to deal mentally with the onslaught of the next two years.
Have you learned to say no to more things now?
Actually, I’ll say no to a lot less things. You realise how precious you are with your music first time around doesn’t really matter. You want the most people to hear your music as possible. You might not want to go on certain shows or be in certain magazines because it’s deemed uncool. This time around, f– cool. We love the fact our music is heartfelt and emotional. If you want to be heartfelt and emotional, you can’t be cool at the same time.
The first album sold two million copies … that’s a big deal in the illegal downloading age.
We’ve heard the statistics that it’s five to one, for every person who buys it five people download it illegally. You can’t combat that. I think they’re quite important people, the illegal downloaders. They’re like the tastemakers. They want everything first but they’ll also tell five people, and those people go out and buy it – we’re more reliant on them. And we’ve sold out shows. Music is so readily available online, but you can’t download the live experience, living and breathing these songs live.
When you were making the second album, Break Even from the first became a belated hit in America. That must have been a confidence boost.
Totally. We’d finished working the album in the UK and Australia, there’d been five singles. Then we got word Break Even had got some traction on the American charts. We’ve beaten Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars for the slowest burn to get from the bottom to the top – 36 weeks. This song three little young fellas from Dublin wrote in their darkest moment is in the American Top 20. Last time around we were knocking on people’s doors, now people are knocking on ours.

Is it true James Blunt and Beyonce asked you to write them songs?
Being a songwriter you get the “Who’s looking for songs” list, and James Blunt was on it. We never got asked personally by him. Beyonce heard a verse and chorus of a song we wrote, she liked the subject matter, she is apparently working on it. But we were songwriters before we were artists and you learn you never know if that stuff will work out.

The American Idol winner Kris Allen recorded one of your songs Live Like We’re Dying. That must have been a nice earner?
It was great. Many radio stations had to decide if they were going to add Break Even or Live Like We’re Dying to their playlist that week. But both were our songs so we won. That song is up to two million in the US, so we’ve sold four million songs there.
You supported U2 in Ireland. Discuss.
It was amazing; 80,000 people, our own backyard. We went on stage thinking U2’s crowd might not accept us. We started The Man Who Can’t Be Moved and the whole crowd took over the song and every hair on the back of my neck stood up. In my mind I’m thinking, “U2 are watching this …”
Did you play under The Claw on their stage?
It wasn’t a claw that night, it was a sweaty palm. We were f–ing s–ting it! We thought we did a great gig, then 20 minutes later U2 come on and wipe the floor with us. Watching them is like a religious experience.
You Won’t Feel a Thing on the new Script album sounds a bit like U2.
Yeah. You can’t tour with U2 and not pick up something on how to whip people into a frenzy. We were like sponges with U2 and (Paul) McCartney. We got in the studio trying to mix (the Beatles’) Paperback Writer with (U2’s) Beautiful Day and even Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition or the Killers, trying to come up with a song that would get people going. I think it’s going to be an anthem on stage.
You mentioned McCartney, another act you opened for . . .
Our last two years are full of Match of the Day highlights. Here am I having a conversation about meeting and supporting Paul McCartney. He was so personable and approachable, no security guards. He said, “I know you’ve come from a very small stage and you’re on a big stage in a short amount of time, how does that feel?” We were trying to tell him how much we appreciate it without sounding like a total knob-end.
So we asked him about how he did it and he said, “When we did it it was weird because we were separate from each other on stage for the first time”. You think, “This ‘we’ he’s talking about are the f–ing Beatles!” We sat there in awe as he was willing to tell us about how the Beatles used to record, how to tell stories to the crowd. Here’s this little Irish chancer who’s tried to get his foot in the door all me life and I’m on stage saying, “Ladies and gentleman up next, U2″ and “Up next, Paul McCartney”. Seriously, it’s f–ing crazy.
The Script’s gig at the Big Top, Luna Park, on October 6 is sold out.