It's late afternoon and Danny O'Donoghue is in a thoughtful mood, reflecting on the passing of his beloved guitarist Mark Sheehan last year.
“The Script is the story of two best friends who had a dream come true. It’s a rags to riches story — we worked our asses off as kids to get where we are today.
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“And now I'm living our dream and he's not here, so I'm trying my best to forge some kind of future “We've had it after the most difficult years.”
O'Donoghue, 43, reflects on the difficult year he has endured without his childhood friend, and how he came to make the new album Satellites and go on tour again without Sheehan.
“It's only been a little while and it's only been a little over a year. I don't even think I'm in the grieving stage yet,” he admits.
“But I don't want to remember him and be sad, because he wasn't a sad person. If he saw everyone sulking like that, he would be the first to say, 'I'm leaving there.'”
Sheehan, who co-founded the band with O'Donoghue, died last April age 46 after a short illness. “His death affected me emotionally and physically, it affected everything. After Mark passed, I was up and down and left and right,” O'Donoghue recalls.
“I just feel like I needed to be grounded. Because I felt like a fucking balloon in a storm. And I just blow it away.”
Grounding himself involved stopping drinking and religion to help him through his dark days.
O'Donoghue, who lost both parents, said: “Going back to Dublin is Christmas was really a trigger and a huge shock. Back to my childhood home, there are all the memories of my mother, me, father and also Mark. I had a whiskey, then two, then it all started to come back to me. And so I spent most of Christmas drunk.
“And everyone wants to pay their respects and show you how much they're thinking of you and praying for you.
I went back to London and said, 'That's it. That's it. I'm done with drinking and smoking,' and started exercising again and started going to church again.
“But they remind you every time. You don't get any respite.
“So I went back to London and said, 'That's it. That's it. I'm done with drinking and smoking,' and started exercising again and going to church again.
“It was a real overhaul of my life. And I feel great, given the circumstances. I feel better than I have in a long time.
“And the album is the most meaningful thing that came out of what happened last year.”
Stunning ballad about loss
O'Donoghue says he and his bandmate, drummer Glen Currentwent from thinking they would never make music again to creating one of the most important albums of The Script's career.
“I put my heart and soul into music when my mom and dad passed away. It's my religion, my therapy, my everything, and it's my way of dealing with people.
“I normally write every day, regardless of whether I have an album or not, but I had writer's block for a while and after about six months I still hadn't written anything. But then this song, Gone, came along.”
Gone is at the heart of Satellites, a beautiful ballad about losing their friend. O'Donoghue says writing it was a healing experience.
Everyone sees me as the figurehead of The Script, but he was the leader of the band and I still hear him
“It was after I finished that song that I really opened up,” he reveals. “I listened to it once and started crying on the way home. It was pretty close to where we were going to funeral.
“That song was the first time I asked, ‘Why are all the best people gone? Why are some people here for a little while, a good while?’ That was the first time I could put into words what Mark meant to me.
“He was like a shooting star across the air — not just for me, but for a lot of people's lives. The amount of lives that guy touched was unbelievable. He was the leader of the band and he had the drive.
“Everyone sees me as the figurehead of The scriptbut he was the leader of the band and I can still hear him. When I have a song I still have him in my head and I'm like, 'That's not f***ing good enough.'
“So I have big shoes to fill and I need people around me. Glen stepped up when we made the decision to move on.
“For The Script we wrote and produced for other people. We wrote for Picture This, Calum Scott, Britney, DLC Time And Justin Timberlake. And I want to keep doing that. It was a huge passion of Mark and me.”
The same book, but a new chapter
With their return, The Script have gained two new members: Ben Weaver on lead guitar and Ben Sargeant, who has been a touring member of the band since 2007, on bass, as they felt that being a trio “would never be the same again”.
“We never try to replace Mark. We wanted to show respect and never try to replicate what we had before. That was a moment in time,” O'Donoghue says.
“It's The Script, the same book, but with a new chapter. Ben had been in the band for a while, so we officially made him a member. And then we got a new guitarist who's an incredible guy, a great guitarist, and a great songwriter and producer.
Even though this album is very focused on sadness, because we are sad and have those devastated feelings, we are celebrating someone
“He had a number 1 with Take that — he co-wrote These Days and Giants — so there's a new energy there is something that was not there before.
“And it's important that people know that even though this album is very focused on sadness because we're sad and we have those devastated feelings, we're honoring someone and we're continuing Mark's legacy.
“There are also uptempo, feel-good songs about his life.
“There's an ebb and flow to the album. It's a journey, like life is.
“Yes, I want him here and I, his wife and his family all miss him.
“But let's celebrate what a f***ing life he had. He was a great man, husband, father and friend. To be able to put into words what he meant, it took an emotional thorn out of my heart.”
O'Donoghue explains that when he wrote the song Gone, “the tap turned on”. He says: “Satellites was another song that I thought was lyrically important.
“I worked on it with a friend, Benjamin Francis Leftwich, and we called it Satellites, because at the end of the day we're all just bits of dust floating through space.
“It became the perfect name for the album. Satellites give you an overview of what's happening above the world.
“And the album cover is made up of silhouettes of me, Glen and Ben Sargeant — there's a hooded silhouette on it that represents Markas he will always be with us. It is a bit of the past not forgotten, but looking forward to the future.”
The Script had not previously worked with outside writers, but O'Donoghue decided to give it a try on this seventh studio album.
Olly Murs And One direction Collaborator Wayne Hector worked with O'Donoghue on an idea that evolved into the standout track Both Ways.
He says, “All those people I've gone into the rooms with know that you're short a man because they're big fans of The Script. And they hold me to the same standards that they hold Mark to. Because they know the level and the quality of the songs. I'm not going to let them down in any way.”
At Your Feet, Falling Flying, Inside Out and One Thing I Got Right are all highlights of the album, as is Home Is Where The Hurt Is, an autobiographical song.
Hard times
O'Donoghue adds: “I just love the song. It's about growing up, having a past and the good and the bad that you take with you from that.
“The most important text is: the things that break us, but that shape us.
“It's about accepting that I want to change some things from the past, but that one small change will lead to a different path.”
I don't give a damn if people don't like us
The script has supported Pink in her Summer Carnival procession, and O'Donoghue says playing live has helped the band move forward. He reveals: “Pink came down and was so good. She said, 'I know how incredibly hard this is for you guys and I appreciate you guys going on tour.'
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“It was really important to us to sing the 2012 song If You Can See Me Now and dedicate that song to Mark.
“We played everywhere, from the Olympic Stadium, in Berlin, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Hyde Park, and I thought: 'Mark, you can't have a better farewell than having all those people sing the lyrics you wrote.'
“It was difficult at times, but we will always pay tribute to him.
“Because Mark's funeral was private for family and close friends, it was important that fans and the public were also given the opportunity to grieve.
“And now we just want the music to be there for Mark. We can't be pigeonholed, we're a mix of different styles. Sometimes it's rock, sometimes it's pop, so we've carved out a nice path for ourselves.
“In the past I have taken bad reviews or criticism to heart, but now I just want to play because I know there is a great love for us.
“I don't give a damn about people who don't like us. What are you going to say to me or in a judgement that will make me feel worse than I did last year? Nothing.
“Since this album came out, it's been completely up to date.”
- The album Satellites is out today.
The script
Satellites
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