The Coronas on backing up Bruce Springsteen in London en route to big gig at Belfast's Custom House Square

HI DANNY, did you enjoy The Coronas' big show at Fairview Park in Dublin last Saturday night?

It really was amazing, just the best night we've had in a while now. It was a great venue and full to the rafters.

It was one of those nights where everything worked and the crowd were really with us from the first note. I think because the album came out in October and we had our big tour in November and December, we sort of had our setlist sorted and were confident enough about the songs and roughly what we were going to do.

We worked a lot on the production for the show, just because it was our biggest headliner for a while. We decided to think a bit 'bigger' and try a few new things, and I think they really worked.

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Sounds interesting, what kind of new stuff did you try?

Well, just little things. We found out the venue had big screens, IMAX, and we said, 'Alright, well let's use them', and we had another video wall at the back of the stage. So we did a live intro where we had a cameraman with us backstage and then he filmed us as we walked all the way to the stage with a live feed on the screens.

I also had a selfie camera and was running around on the stage, putting the shots up on the screen, then I went down into the crowd so they could see themselves on the screen. Things like that help to give the show little 'moments' that can maybe just make a difference to setting it on the right course and really getting the atmosphere going.

Also, our fans are very loyal and they've been coming to see us a long time. So we always try and look at how we can change things up like that. And one of the things that we're blessed with is that we've played a lot of different size rooms, so we know what works in terms of that stuff and similarly with song choices.

Often times, there's a song that works really well in a big tent or with the big crowds, but it doesn't really work so well in a smaller gig, say when we're playing in America in a room that only holds 200 or 300 people. So we've taken pride in trying to make shows in different size rooms and, if I may say so myself, I think we got it right on Saturday.

Have you been enjoying playing the songs from the current album, Time Stopped?

It's been amazing. Especially because the tour we did before Christmas, which was a few UK dates and then six weeks on the road in Europe, America and Australia all in one go, that was something that we haven't done before.

So we got a good long run to see which new ones worked and and heard them get a great reaction – and that goes for the songs for the last two albums, really, because we never got to properly tour True Love Waits [2020's Irish chart-topper] because of Covid. Seeing the crowds sing those songs back as if they were old hits was like, oh my god, amazing.

Usually we'd just go out for a couple of weeks at a time, but with dates having already been postponed due to Covid and then the album coming out we just thought it would make sense to do it all in one go – and it was actually amazing.

It's something that we've all agreed is better for us and that we should look at doing more in the future. The other guys in the band have kids, and initially that would have been far too long to be away from their families, but now Knoxy [Graham Knox, bass] and Conor's [Conor Egan, drums] take on it is that by going out for just a couple of weeks at a time, you're actually travelling more on each side.

There's also just something cool about being away together for one whole stint: so long as we know that's our one big stint a year of touring, it works really well. So I think when we're looking at our next proper world tour we'll probably do the same thing again.

On the subject of new songs, you've just added a couple of new tunes to Time Stopped to create a 'deluxe' version. What's the story behind The Lakes And Sometimes Heroes and I'll Regain Composure?

They were recorded at the same time as the rest of the album and we always knew that we wanted to release them at some stage. Especially with The Lakes And Sometimes Heroes, we all really liked that song: if we had to pick our favourite 12 songs [from the album sessions] it would definitely have made the cut.

But we also take pride in the old-school thing of having an album that you can put on and listen to all the way through and have it flow. Knoxy especially does a lot of work on that stuff, and we all agreed with him when he was like, "it just doesn't fit".

That sort of made the decision, especially as it meant we knew that we'd still have something new to release when we were pushing these summer shows. So those two songs are definitely not an afterthought or 'leftovers'. We're proud of them, and especially The Lakes And Sometimes Heroes.

You've just been added to the bill for the first of Bruce Springsteen's two Hyde Park shows in London next month, how did it feel to book that one?

We were like, "What?!". Earlier in the year we'd been talking with management about what festivals we could get during the summer, and when it was added to our diary it just came in as 'Hyde Park' – so initially we were just like, "Oh, OK – that sounds good". It was only later on we realised it was actually Bruce's gig!

So we're delighted, we're buzzing. I think we get off stage at 7.30pm or something just in time to see him come on. We're looking forward to going over and, if it's playing to a few hundred people or we get a big crowd, it doesn't make any difference. We're going to have a good night.

It should be a good warm-up for Custom House Square in August anyway. You're pretty much CHSq veterans at this point – are you looking forward to headlining again?

Yeah, absolutely, we're buzzing to be back. We've always felt welcomed in the north, and we've always had a lot of radio support up there as well. In fact, it's funny, we actually have certain songs which get a bigger reaction in Belfast than anywhere else just because they got a lot of airplay on Cool FM and the like, to the point where we would always be looking at that when it comes to deciding the setlist.

So we always love playing Belfast: whether it's at The Ulster Hall or Custom House Square, it's always a special gig.

:: The Coronas play Belfast's Custom House Square on August 25, tickets via customhousesquare.com. Time Stopped (Deluxe) is available on Spotify and other streaming services now.