Kodaline are set to play Stylus on 13th November. Here’s a chat we had with them recently:
You’ve had a busy summer, with plenty of festivals under your belt now. What was your highlight of the festival season?
Glastonbury was one of those special moments for us, as a young Irish band it’s been at the top of our list for a long time and the crowd and reaction we got were incredible. Reading and Leeds were a whole different experience though and took us completely by surprise!
It’s not long since you’re last gig in Leeds at the legendary Brudenell Social Club. How was that?
The Brudenell social club was one of the best gigs on that whole tour. There aren’t many rooms like that anymore and the guys looking after it are all about the music which makes all the difference. We’re really lookin forward to our gig in The Stylus on the next tour, we’ve only heard great things about it!
Leeds is a city heaving with students and you’re set to play here in the Union in November. How do student crowds differ from others?
Students are just ready to have a great time, it makes our job a little easier and the gigs usually get wild. We’ve played at university balls in the past and you always struggle to hear yourself over the students which is amazing.
Your debut album, In a Perfect World, was released in June. How have things changed for the band since then?
We’ve been so fortunate to be on the road constantly for the past year or so and the main difference for us has been that people are singing along to most of the set now. The support online has also been great with people telling us their favourite songs and what different tracks mean to them which shows us that the album is taking on a life of its own.
Describe your perfect world.
A nice Nandos followed by a few Guinness with our mates, so pretty much every day on tour.
How do you respond to comparisons to the likes of Coldplay? Is theirs the kind of success you’d like to emulate?
Comparisons are a big part of the word of mouth tradition that has been spreading music for years, with bands like that it’s the music we grew up on so it’s always going to affect how you write in a subconscious way. As long as we can keep making music and touring that’s success for us.
Who do Kodaline think should win the Mercury Prize?
We’re big Jon Hopkins fans and the new album is really special so he gets our vote, although it’s hard for anyone to vote against David Bowie.