Danny O'Donoghue.net: Andrea Begley, The Message, Danny O'Donoghue, A Book & playing a trick on one of The Script

21 October 2013

Andrea Begley, The Message, Danny O'Donoghue, A Book & playing a trick on one of The Script

Since winning The Voice UK back in June, Andrea has been busy working on the album. Even her coach, Danny O’Donoghue joined her in the studio to give his support and his seal of approval by producing the album’s lead track ‘The Message’.

Andrea says, “Danny has been a fantastic source of support to me both throughout the show and beyond it. He has always believed in me and in my songs and it was a total honour and privilege for him to produce one of my own songs for the album. I couldn’t stop smiling while I stood in the studio with him working on the track. I count myself a very lucky person.”

What's your favourite song on the album and why?

I've got a couple, in terms of original songs 'The Message' itself, the title track, I love it, it's the one that Danny produced on the album.

Have you stayed in contact with Danny, has he helped you out?

We've stayed in contact a lot via email, but he's been out of the country quite a bit over the summer with the band and then we did some work in the studio over 'The Message' song and it was great to be working with him in that environment, it's just a bit different I suppose from all the cameras and stuff. He's very much at home in the studio, he loves working in the studio so he put me through my paces and I am really happy with the track.

I think it sounds fantastic and I am really glad we took as much time over it as we did. So he was really helpful and he's left his door open if I need any advice and he's heard a lot of the other tracks on the album and he's really happy with which is really cool. Do you think you'll work with him again in the future? I'd hope to, I know he's very much tied up with all things Script at the minute, they're working on a new album so he's been mad writing for that. You never know in the future, it would be cool.

With the band?

If they ever wanted to I'd love to.

The Voice is changing next year (Danny is leaving), with Kylie Minogue and Ricky Wilson becoming judges. Who would you have chosen if you were going on next year?

It's a tough one. As you know Tom turned for me in the show and I was very tempted. Danny was my automatic first choice but I was very tempted to go with Tom as well, so I think if I went back possible Tom and maybe Kylie. I'm not sure, obviously it would depend who turned round.

You'll be heading out on a small tour soon...

Yes, I've got two dates one in the Belfast on the third of November in the Ulster Hall and one in Islington in the Union Chapel on the fourth of November so I am really excited about that, they're my first concerts I suppose and it will be with the whole band and my first opportunity to kind of perform live to a whole audience since the show obviously there was an audience but it was a different kind of set and this is purely about my music and about the album. I love singing live anyway so it will be great to do it in such nice places

As if you wasn't busy enough, you're also bringing out a book!

It's about the show and about what happened and how I got on, and background anecdotes. A bit about me and my background and how I got into music. It's mainly focused on The Voice and about working with Danny and some of the silly things that happened. It's coming out on the 24th and I've called it 'I Didn't See That Coming' which is a bit of a tongue in cheek title.

You're releasing the book not long after the start of your career, why have you decided to release it so soon?

From my point of view, I never wanted it to be seen as a this is my life kind of story, I'm 26 and I'd like to think I've got a bit more living to do yet. So it's just to recount what happened on the show and a bit of background for the context. It's not supposed to be seen as any kind of 'this it it now.'

Can you give us any sneak peeks into what's in there?

There's quite a few funny bits about some of my interactions with the contestants and there's also a funny story about me and The Script, I played a bit of a trick on one of the members of the band, they really took it in good humour, it was a blind related joke and they were being sensitive about what I was saying but I was only winding them up, it was quite humorous.