Ambitious Delorentos make Seapoint debut

Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell

Kieran McGuinness and Rónán Yourell from Delorentos are in ebullient spirits as they sit down with the Groove Tube, hot on the heels of an interview with Galway Bay FM.

Delorentos’ fourth album Night Becomes Light was released last October and their stellar singles Show Me Love and Forget The Numbers have been getting loads of airplay. This has led to an increase in their already loyal fanbase, which is good news as the quartet will play Seapoint on Saturday, April 25.

“If an album is a life cycle, you’re getting into teenage years now,” says co-lead singer Kieran McGuinness about where the group is at present. “You know a bit about the music world, but you’re still full of naivety, but excited to go and do new stuff.”

This gig in Galway and one Cork’s Savoy mark their biggest shows outside of Dublin to date.

“We’ve expanded the sound from the stage,” says Kieran. “Underneath Níal [Conlon’s] bass he’s replicated this keyboard sound. So he’s got this 1970s deep noise under what he’s playing. And we’ve replicated guitar parts with piano parts that play alongside them.”

But if the band are not actually playing these instruments live, is that not kind of cheating?

“No, not at all,” says Kieran. “It doesn’t exist if we don’t play. It’s using effects and technology, we’re learning new stuff.  And we want to play around with the venues we’re playing.”

A better sounding Delorentos? That’s going to make for a hell of a live show. This is an ambitious band who deserve the success they’re having, and won’t shy away from more.

“We’ve always wanted to play to as many people as we can; it’s not something that we were ever afraid of or we didn’t want,” says Rónán. “We’ve had time to focus on these gigs, and produce something that’s challenging for ourselves and hopefully great craic for the audience.”

Delorentos are determined to aim high while staying true to their up-tempo melodic sound and not writing anodyne music for the masses.

“We’ll take as many [fans] as you like, as long as we don’t have to sacrifice our depth and hopefully the things that make us good,” says Kieran.

“We wouldn’t be doing this just to make soundtracks for people’s afternoon barbecues,” says Rónán. “It’s got to expressive of what’s going on around us. That’s why I do it.”

All four members of Delorentos are songwriters – even the drummer! Joking aside, the band’s sticks-man Ross McCormick did write Valleys Where The Rivers Run, one of the albums most stirring moments.

“For a song to go on an album, the four of us have to like it and connect with it,” says Kieran. “There’s one song that didn’t go on that I thought was amazing. It wasn’t one of mine, but the four of us didn’t agree on it.”

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.