The script on the Voice star hitting the headlines... and what about Bo?
A funny thing happens whenever Danny O'Donoghue steps out of a cab. Or, you know, when the guy opens his front door. "There used to be girls outside the house," says the 31-year-old singer, "now it's like, old men in trench coats. I'm like, 'Is that a super long lens in your pocket, or ... oh, it is ... it's the paparazzi!'"
But then, poor Danny had it coming. He's the "sacrificial lamb". The good-looking one. Actually, he's a celebrity judge on a reality singing competition who also happens to front a million-selling pop outfit from Dublin. And though The Script hardly needed a boost in the sales department (their last album topped both the Irish and UK charts, as well as cracking the US top three), they were, unfortunately, the anonymous trio with the catchy songs. And then The Voice UK came along.
Danny, Mark and Glen had always shied away from the celebrity lifestyle, but here was a platform for the band that even they couldn't ignore. The lads made a decision -- Danny had a new job. Series one has come and gone and whaddaya know? It was a bumpy ride, but Danny is now a superstar. Sounds like fun.
"I went out with Dan in London recently," says drummer Glen Power, "and I was like, 'Dude, how do you handle this?' I mean, we literally got out of the cab and about 17 photographers just appeared -- like they climbed out of bins. I don't know where they came from! That's the price that goes with that, but again, it's great now that there's a face to it."
Guitarist and co-vocalist Mark Sheehan is a little less amused. "I'm a real pub-going lad," he explains. "I enjoy going down to the pub, having a few beers on a Sunday and no-one ever bothers me. Until he's f***ing with me! The second they see Danny and a bald guy, we're f***ed."
Amiable
But it's all good. Besides, they're still the same guys that they've always been; three amiable blokes with a love for music, whiskey and good conversation. Album number three (the imaginatively titled #3) follows in the footsteps of its chart-topping predecessors, blending heart-on-sleeve lyricism (broken relationships and death are big issues here), with soaring melody and pristine production.
Still, as Danny points out, #3 is a more "optimistic" offering. Oh, and there's a Black Eyed Pea in there, too (will.i.am -- Danny's fellow coach on The Voice UK --features on lead single Hall of Fame.)
Today, we're in Windmill Lane Recording Studios so that the boys can play their new album and answer some questions. It's a nice way to kick-start what will no doubt be a relentless promo campaign.
It's also a couple of years since we last spoke, so they can't blame me for asking if all this success has, in any way, gone to their heads.
"You tell me!" answers Danny. "None of it has gone to our heads. Believe me, you'd probably be the first person to point it out," he laughs. "In fairness, I will thank the lads because anybody who is in a band -- especially if you're in a band with Dubliners, your head's not gonna grow too big. It really isn't, because they'll always hold a mirror up to you and burst that bubble before it gets too big."
Good to know. Of course, these guys are still getting used to watching their lives unfold in the papers. Not least O'Donoghue, whose recent split with model girlfriend Irma Mali continues to make headlines. "I think it's unfortunate that we have to do everything in the press," says Danny, "and there's no choice. I think everybody who goes through something that we go through, gets at least the respect of silence, or you don't see that person again. But like, I'm walking down the street and people are saying it to me. I pick up a newspaper -- it's in the newspaper. It's on the radio, it's this and it's that, so I think, for me, it's really strange because, as hard as it was to deal with, the fact that it did go so big, I just relinquished everything. I was like, 'I've nothing to hide now -- it's all out'."
Frustrating
"At the same time", he continues, "it's obviously incredibly frustrating, but it's liberating. I've always been an open book -- people come to me for that. If you don't like it, jog on. But if you do, then you'll get it and what you'll get is nothing but honesty the whole way through."
The big question that's been on every showbiz reporter's lips is whether Danny cheated. He didn't. He performed a song with a contestant (Bo Bruce) on a TV show (The Voice UK) that was well choreographed (he put his hand on her hip). And everyone freaked out.
"I have to say, I thank the BBC choreographer for doing that," laughs Danny. "I mean, after The Voice, it's really hard to try and keep somebody relevant and in marketplace and on people's lips for a long time, and there was a point where we were like, I could just squash this right now and just say, 'no, we're not dating'."
Instead, they decided to say nothing at all. And it paid off. Now, Bo is -- according to her mentor -- a household name. Cheeky swine. "It's really helped us keep her in the marketplace as well as us," he smiles, "so it was hard at first but, you know, we had the last laugh."
As for the next year, well, as Danny himself puts it, "it's gonna be balls to the wall". But one thing is certain -- they really are enjoying themselves.
>Chris Wasser
#3 is released September 7
Source: Herald Ireland / By: Chris Wasser
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