Currently supporting U2 in Europe, Snow Patrol's Jonny Quinn talks to Harry Guerin about their next album, 'Arthur's Day' show in Dublin on 23 September and their involvement in the 'Our Thursdays' showcase for up-and-coming acts.
Harry Guerin: You're playing Moscow, Athens and Istanbul with U2, but next month you're playing 'Arthur's Day' in Dublin and you're also involved in judging the bands for the 'Our Thursdays' part of the event which will see up-and-coming acts joining the bill.
Jonny Quinn: We were asked last year to play 'Arthur's Day' but we were too busy. We like the concept of supporting up-and-coming bands and we've always picked our own bands for support. It's important that companies like them [Guinness] put on events like this. We're going to pick some bands from the hundreds of demos that have come in. The prize [for the ultimate winning band] is really good.
HG: That's gold dust now because labels are spending a lot less on bands. These days for bands it's a case of 'It doesn't matter how you do it, just get your music out there'.
JQ: This is it, yeah. They're acting, I suppose, like a record company would do in the marketing and promotion. That's a perfect prize, I think. As you say it's harder to find these deals - they're getting cut back all the time. That's why we're getting involved with Guinness. Also, they put on a couple of stages at our one-day festivals in Bangor and Glasgow so we were able to put on another four bands that wouldn't have been on the bill.
HG: Have you heard any of the bands from the competition yet?
JQ: Yeah, we have. It's been really good - really good stuff out there.
HG: And you're playing the Storehouse yourselves with one of the finalists.
JQ: That's right. I was in the Storehouse years ago and it's a great place for a gig, a great place to have in Dublin. It's a good backdrop and we all like a Guinness!
HG: It says on the 'Arthur's Day' website that there'll be some very special guests. Do you know who they are?
JQ: No, eh, we don't [laughs]. We can't say!
HG: But anyone who has tickets for it is in for a treat?
JQ: Yeah. Like last year there were people walking into the Brazen Head and Tom Jones was playing. I like the way you're putting a big international artist into a pub. I think it's a great concept and it's a lottery - you never know who you're going to get. It'll be good.
HG: What's the latest on your next album?
JQ: We're going into the studio in October. We've only got five or six songs at the moment, but by then we'll probably have about 20. We'll be recording in LA and then the album will be out sometime next year, hopefully around April of next year.
HG: Who are you recording it with?
JQ: Again with Jacknife Lee [produced last three albums] but we're maybe going to work with... There's a few people that we're going to try... Even some people out of bands and things who we're just contacting at the moment [about working with us]. We're even talking about recording out at the Joshua Tree - out in the desert and finding a little studio there. So we'll do something in a different environment and sort of a less studio feel about it - go down to New Orleans and hire a house or something and record in there. [We want to] Take it out of the studio environment, which can be a bit pressured, [and] feel that there aren't the restrictions that you have normally.
HG: In terms of songs, how are they sounding in comparison to the last two albums, 'A Hundred Millions Suns' and 'Eyes Open'?
JQ: I don't know. It's hard to say at the moment because they're all just sort of on acoustic guitars. We're always going to be writing melodic songs - we'll never be Radiohead in terms of being as leftfield as that ever. [But] We can have pop melodies and also make it sound odd. We're thinking that maybe it won't be as layered as we've done before. On 'A Hundred Million Suns' things like 'The Lightning Strike' were just tonnes and tonnes of tracks. I think this time we're thinking more stripped back. We've just been listening to things like The National, Arcade Fire and things like that, liking the way.... It's just the instruments, really - maybe not have any strings on the album or brass.
HG: I saw you at the gig you did to launch 'A Hundred Millions Suns' in the Gate and I thought 'These songs are perfect in a small place like this and they're going to be perfect in a huge place as well'. What was your experience of touring the album? Was it everything you thought it would be?
JQ: Yeah. Our venues just got bigger and bigger every time we went out. Being able to play more countries than we've played before, being able to put together a show with a big production has been great fun and having a budget where people don't go, 'No, we can't do that - too expensive'. Being able to put in a few extra lights and tricks and things like that. We still have things to do. We still want to play Wembley Stadium, so we've a few goals to get yet. We got to play Bangor, our hometown, this year to 40,000, which was incredible. And in Glasgow as well we played a one-day festival.
HG: So you reckon the album is going to be out in April, then?
JQ: Around that time. It's hard to say at this point. We'll have it done hopefully by the end of January and then [we] sort of need three months lead-up for promoting and what not. Roughly around that time.
HG: Will there be any new songs at the show in Dublin?
JQ: We played a new song, 'Big Broken', in Bangor but I don't know if we're going to play it in Dublin, so we'll just have to wait until the album comes out.
HG: It's great you can still go back to playing the smaller gigs. I think it's always good for a big band to remember to do those things.
JQ: Last time we did something like that was King Tut's Wah-Wah Hut [in Glasgow]. It was their 20th birthday or something like that. That was a superb gig for us because we'd been playing arenas and then to go back to where we'd spent years playing was great because you can't hide behind any smoke and mirrors there. It shows you up for what you are. It was great.
