10 minute read
Kodaline
Kodaline is one of those bands that channels the crowd’s energy and makes the fans sing like one. You didn’t resist either to the emotions contained in «All I Want» or «High Hopes» in 2013. The four-piece Irish band composed of Steve Garrigan, Mark Prendergast, Vinny May and Jason Boland quickly made a name for themselves all over the world with their pop-folk infused tracks. After « In a Perfect World » (2013) and the rock N Roll « Coming Up for Air » (2015), the band is coming back with « Politics Of Living ». Not a real change when it comes to the topics covered but a noticeable and undeniably musical and visual evolution. We sat with guitarist Mark Prendergast and bassist Jason Boland to discuss Kodaline’s third chapter.
Advertisement
On The Move: Your new album « Politics of Living » went out a few days ago. What can we find in it?
Mark Prendergast: Well, it is a bit of a departure again, in the same way our second album was a departure from our first. There are still songs in it that are kind of familiar to our roots and our original sound and there is also a lot of songs where we’re pushing ourselves into directions we wouldn’t normally take.
Jason Boland: Yeah, I think, it is kind of a mix bag of everything. A mix bag of emotions. There is no running theme, there is no style that runs through it. It is pretty schizophrenic but it is just how it happened. We spent a long time on it.
On The Move: The making of this album took you more time than the previous ones, which you released one after another. What was different in terms of the process of making it?
Jason Boland: I think this is the standards we held ourselves to this time. When you make your first record, you don’t know what your standard is and as we went straight into the second, we pushed ourselves a bit. But for this album, we had a bit of time off, and by the time we were back to make music together, we just wanted it to be the best it could be. That is what made us go for a longer process. I think the songs happened as quick as they did on the other albums but we spent longer in search for more songs and for the perfect production.
On The Move: Your new album is heading towards a bit of a different sound. What did influence it? Is it a challenge? A natural evolution? Or did certain collabs bring you towards it?
Mark Prendergast: I think the collaborations influenced a few songs. I think our whole lives are always the influences. The constant discovery of new music, our live shows and even our personal lives… It all comes together to shape our sound. You are constantly being influenced, like everyday. Even today, walking around in Paris… I’m sure there is something that is going to stick and will manifest its way into our music. We don’t sit down and try to sound like anything. Everything happens very naturally. Even though in this album, it may not sound like that because we worked with so many people. But they all come from the same place!
On The Move: Which track on this upcoming album are you particularly proud of?
Mark Prendergast: Tricky question! It really depends on which mood you’re in so I’d say it changes all the time. But maybe, «Angel» could be the one, this is a special song for us, very close to our heart.
On The Move: Despite this evolution and these new sonorities, you always come back to the core of music with acoustic sessions. Why is it so important to you?
Jason Boland: I think that’s where the songs start, you know. This is really where the songs live and breathe... So if they don’t work in acoustic, no matter how much production you put in it, nothing will fix it. So for us, it is just always very easy and fun to do the stripped back versions because this is what the sound really is, the heart of it.
On The Move: You always record in quite extraordinary places or « riskier » ones, literally on the streets. Is it hard to perform that way ? Do you have any fun, weird memory about the recording of these sessions in Paris or Warsaw more recently ?
Jason Boland: When we were in… Was it Madrid? Well, we haven’t released that one yet. We did one session for our song called « Head Held High » and I think that was the first time in Spain where they would see this kind of rain, it wasn’t even raining, it was like icestones the size of a fist, it was crazy… And it began just as we finished! We did this very laid back, quiet version of the song and suddenly it started crashing into cars with people fleeing! But it is always lovely times… We did a series of those around the world over the years with our good friends! It is always such fun to try and see what we can make happen in a day.
On The Move: Is it difficult for you to do that, as performers?
Mark Prendergast: You know, we are kind of rolling it together! We did a few, we kind of filmed like three or four and we try not to recreate the same thing. We filmed a few more on different places that actually didn’t make it through. Everyone can kind of see you with a guitar and all the cameras and everyone start looking… As soon as you start playing the song, you almost block out the world and you do your thing. People are very into it because people with guitars don’t usually walk by you on the streets singing. And it’s great to just completely ignore the world and just focus on performance. I like making people just kind of stop on the streets… it’s cool (laughs).
On The Move: Lyrically, you said your « new album is about reminiscing, about family, friends and being kids. It’s stories about us really and growing up. ». Is it what music is about to you ? expressing very universal but also very personal matters ?
Mark Prendergast: Not all music… We are hugely into hip-hop and most of the time they are just talking about how many cars they have and all that you know (laughs) but the music we make, we try not to overthink it too much. It just comes out as universal but it’s ours, it’s always personal. It probably comes across as universal by accident. We don’t set out to try and write a song that will speak to a lot of people… We write songs that feel to us and some songs really connect globally and some other don’t.
Jason Boland: It’s a happy accident that it does work!
On The Move: Have you ever considered music as a tool to express political or societal matters?
Jason Boland: I think art has always gone this way but I don’t think all art needs to be engaged… I think for us it’s more escapism than any other things.
Mark Prendergast: We never ever had a conversation about politics. I think, for me especially, I try to avoid that because it gets me really down, it’s always bad news you know. I don’t really want to draw more attention to that. Like Jason said, it’s escapism. Some bands are political like U2 and they are amazing when they get it right. For us, when our fans come to our shows, we kind of want them to leave all that shit outside and just bring the room together.
On The Move: And you do that very well!
On The Move: You have collaborated with Johnny McDaid, from Snow Patrol (which has written for the likes of Ed Sheeran, James Blunt, Pink, Alicia Keys and Weezer). What did he bring you guys, that you couldn’t find in your own interaction as a band ? Do you have any dream collaboration?
Jason Boland: I think, with any collaboration, it is just that we haven’t that fifth member you know. We’ve been doing this as four people for a long time so anytime you bring someone else in that mix and that works, it is just gonna be another angle, just another opinion. And Johnny is a very very talented lyric writer as well.
On The Move: Do you have dream collaborations?
Mark Prendergast: Yes, so many! The list is endless, and it gets even longer as soon as you discover new artists. There are artists though I think I’d be afraid to work with because you look up to them so much. But at the moment, I’d say Sigrid, I really like Sigrid. But I think I’d really like to work with someone who is on a completely different page, someone like… We played with Justice in Romania about a month ago. The light show, the way I felt watching it, it was just incredible. It would be amazing to be in the studio and see how they come up with those tracks and settings. Because when you watch them on stage, it is “wow”, the way the music feels! You just have a lot of fun the whole time.
On The Move: For this album, you’re proposing something different also visually, with this collection of very bright, colorful and graphic artwork. Who is the artist you’re collaborating with and whose idea was it?
Mark Prendergast: That’s a very good question!
Jason Boland: Whenever we come to choose the artwork, our label propose us different artists. The work they sent us originally from this artist, Steve Stacey [Nothing But Thieves, George Ezra, Beck etc.] was just really striking. It was already very similar from what we ended up with : this guy falling, without the umbrella maybe. And there was something about that simple, simple image that really caught our attention. And with a few more, we really got the best of him.
On The Move: That’s something you carried on with “Head Held High”, his very cinematographic video with a squared format…
Mark Prendergast: Actually, we get asked the question a lot but it’s a shame we’re not more involved into our videos! Because there are such amazing ideas in it. We rarely have much of an input. And I was kind of fearful for that song because it is so pop, but the video eventually brings a little darkness to it and I really like that! It’s an amazing piece.
Jason Boland: And James Fitzgerald, the director we’re working with, he did the “Shed A Tear” video before that, and he was just very excited by this idea of a very narrative piece for “Head Held High”. He has had this in mind for a year now, but it just never happened and when he heard “Head Held High”, just the excitement he had -also during the videoshoot, we couldn’t resist and said “Please, just do it, go for it!”
On The Move: These past few days, you’ve been doing listening parties in Europe (Zurich, Madrid, Munich and Paris) in order to share your album with the fans. Is their any reaction coming from fans that surprise you during these sessions ?
Mark Prendergast: We’ve been playing the album for fans for a week and it’s been amazing. The response has been really good. We started this pretty nervous but it went alright yeah! We haven’t got any bad reviews but then again, if we play the album to fans, I don’t know if they would speak and say in person that they don’t like it (laughs) but we got some amazing reactions in Switzerland for example, in Madrid also, they were clapping out to every song and they were really into it. It’s just nice because it’s been so long since our last album and for us, it is just the best way to bring it to the world. Meet our fans, hang with them, ask them what they think… It’s been really nice! But to be honest, it could be nerve-wracking if we didn’t leave the room while they listen to it because it is a pretty uncomfortable situation (laughs). You see everything, every reaction and they stare at you… and it’s fair enough because they wanna see your reaction too while they listen to your music. Also, you know, when
you hear your voice back on recording, you’re like « what the fuck ? It’s not me, it’s an imposter!» it all seems so strange because you’ve spent so long in those songs. But really, it’s been great, a really good week!
On The Move: What can we expect from your tour?
Jason Boland: It will be really fun going into it because we’ve got so many songs to choose from, now. For the past years, we always kind of had a pretty similar set and now, there will be way more options and every night could be a little bit different!
Mark Prendergast: Yeah, that’s amazing for us to play new songs. We’ve kinda been teasing new songs over the last years by doing them on festivals and it’s always a way to make the set stronger!
Jason Boland: Yeah, we can’t wait!
Kodaline’s third album «Politics Of Living» is out!
artwork by Steve Stacey
What Kodaline is listening to at the moment :
All Tvvins, James Vincent Mc Morrow, Anderson. Paak, Brockhampton.
INTERVIEW BY CORALINE BLAISE | PHOTOS BY DAVID FITT EXCLUSIVELY FOR ON THE MOVE
