New on the scene and hoping to make it big, Wild Youth is Ireland’s latest four-piece guy band, which claims that the members’ drive and dedication will set them apart from the rest. Tidy instrumentals soundtracked with electronics give the band a sound somewhat different from their local four-piece counterparts. Enjoying a response which boasts much initial success off of just two single releases, it’s been a fast-paced year and a half for this young band.
“We’re up at 6.30am…straight into the studio and we will stay there all day and write. We literally don’t ever stop because we know this is what we want”, says Wild Youth’s Conor O’ Donohoe. Taking time to have a chat ahead of the band’s performance at Trinity Ball, O’Donohoe fills The University Times in on who Wild Youth are and what we can expect.
A group of friends and accomplished musicians, Wild Youth came together quite organically just under two years ago. “We spent a lot of time together at the start to make sure we clicked, but we kind of all knew each other already and we knew it was gonna work. It was in rehearsals we made sure we could really sound good together.” Since then, it’s been nothing but practice, writing and gigging.
As things go, Trinity Ball might be a final chance to catch Wild Youth before the band gets too big. O’Donohoe explains: “We want to constantly strive for bigger and better things. If we sell out a gig we want to get to a bigger stage and it’s always kind of been that way. That attitude is always gonna help us try and become another big band to come from Ireland.”
The band’s pop-rock sound hints at Imagine Dragons’s percussive electronics with the pace and fullness of Bell X1. Wild Youth sounds comfortably mainstream but nonetheless cultivated. The members work hard at a creative process of mutual input that makes sure their sound is very much their own. “I usually write the songs”, says O’Donohoe, “but it always becomes a Wild Youth song I always say, once everyone adds their bits. I’ll sit in a studio or at home and I’ll come up with some ideas. Then, you know, Ed will come in and he will say ‘oh, this is great’ or ‘this is not so good’, then Dave and Callum. Without everyone it wouldn’t be a Wild Youth song”.
Up and coming, Wild Youth is busy developing a collection of work to really launch them further in the coming year. Moving from home to the UK to bring the group’s work to record, O’Donohoe says: “We’ve spent a lot of time in London in a studio, so we’ve got a batch of new songs that we’re really happy with. So we will be bringing out a new single in the not-so distant future.” O’Donohoe represents an evident determination behind this band that will do them incredible justice. A busy year lies ahead, with the band hoping to book a line of headline shows come autumn. “We then have more shows in April, we have some shows lined up in May. Then we go into festival season so our summer is gonna be jam-packed. Then coming into September, October we want to start doing our own tours.”
They have a comforting familiarity that feels completely new, and with a boldness and self-confidence like theirs, it’s no wonder they have been so well received. A team of perfectionists, O’Donohoe says that Wild Youth work hard to give the crowd a gig to remember.
As for Trinity Ball, Wild Youth seems almost too perfectly suited for the night. “We always say, these are the ones we are built for. When you come and see us live, one thing we are guaranteed to give is 200% energy. It’s really, really high energy, it’s all go. We try to create as big a sound as possible to fill the room or tent. It always works well at festivals or that kind of thing”, says O’Donohoe. With the effortless ability to get a crowd going and an energy-driven sound, the band will likely be performing to a full audience.
