The art of reaching orbit: An interview with Cork's Diveboy
Damien Joyce (aka The Human Recommendation) chats with Tony O'Donovan from Cork indie-rockers Diveboy who have released their third album In Orbit
Cork indie-rockers Diveboy released their third album In Orbit on October 2 : a deeply heartfelt and nostalgic meditation on growing older without growing apart. The band is made up of members Tony O’Donovan (vocals), Peter Piggott (lead guitar) and Cian Doherty (drums).
I’ve been listening to the preview of the album for the last few weeks, and I was very familiar with at least half of the album, from playing the lead singles on my college radio show The Human Recommendation on Flirt FM. But I caught up with Tony and Peter on a phone call as they drove to Dublin. I started our conversation talking about the extended digital release cycle for the album.
Damien: Some of these songs have been out about a year or more Tony?
Tony: Yes, we released Suntrap last July, that was a conscious thing we did this time. This is our third album, and the previous two, we had only released two singles, maybe a maximum of three before the album. This time, we wanted to give it just a longer lifespan and get people more acquainted with the album before we put it out. With the last couple of albums, you drop a couple of singles and then the album’s out, and all of a sudden you’re kind of running out of road with it and there’s not much to do with it. I think we’ve put out seven singles now off the album so far!
Damien: Each band is different nowadays with their digital release cycle, sometimes it feels very short, sometimes very long. For a radio show host, it’s great to have singles coming out on a regular cadence from a band because it helps build up familiarity.
Tony: Yes, I think it’s the way to go for bands like us anyway, that are trying to get our music out to more people, we wouldn’t have a huge audience. We were constantly putting stuff out there for a year because as you said I guess people are familiar with it, before it comes out.
Damien: I know you’re probably fed up already doing the promotion for the new album In Orbit, but part of it I guess also, is that you need to get people familiar with your new band name as well. I’m sure you’ve answered many questions about it already but to retire the old band name must have been a daunting decision?
Tony: Yes, it wasn’t something we took lightly. We were a good year debating this because although we might be a household name in Ireland, there’s still people that know us as The Burma. Once you change the name, what’s possible is that those fans will get lost because they haven’t caught up with the new name, and they don’t know what’s happened. So, it was a big decision, I think we spoke about it at length over a year, and it made sense for us to change it in the end. We're happy we did now and with the way it went.
Damien: Well, not just fans but I guess there is the practicality of running a modern band, between the streaming, the merchandise, previous press articles, tours with other bands, even promoters getting to know your new name that have booked shows with you. I have interviewed two bands this year who’ve done the same thing, one is a Canadian band from Montreal (Ribbon Skirt) and another is a New York based band (Myra Lee). They had the same uncertain feelings that you’ve gone through, but it turned out positive for both. Actually, they mentioned it felt like a bit of a metamorphosis for the band, a chance for them to reset as well and change a little bit of their sound.
Tony: I think that was a thing for us too, a bit like a rebirth. We took a different approach to this album with the release. We really found our feet with our sound and what we wanted to say. As opposed to the first two albums, we were still definitely finding our feet. I felt like it was a good time to change before this album because it feels like we’re finally getting to a point where we’re comfortable with who we are.
Damien: I always remind especially younger bands as well; there’s a great band called Sleater-Kinney who formed in 1994 and whose discography consists of 11 studio albums. They’ve been on the go for more than thirty years, but they mentioned it took them three albums before they’ve felt like a band.
Tony: Yes, I think that’s definitely the case with us too. We’re not one of those bands that’s come out of the blocks knowing exactly what we were about. It definitely took time. We’ve been putting out a lot of music over the years from one song to the next, totally different genres, totally different styles. But I think that was good too as through all that; we eventually landed on what worked for us and what we like best.
Damien: Going through the album, song by song, there’s lots of sentimentality and nostalgia in there even though you’re a young band. Are you aware of that when you’re writing it, or is it a theme that comes together looking back once complete?
Tony: Might be a bit of an old soul or something; it all seems to be nostalgic. I try to stay away from it too much because I don’t want to get bogged down in it either. That was definitely something that I was conscious of with these tunes. I think if you listen to our first two albums, it is absolutely soaked in our songs, it’s like there’s nothing else in this. But I was definitely conscious of this album that I wanted to look forward a bit to it, keep it in the now. When I was writing the album lyrics, I was at that funny point in your life where you’re seeing friends a lot less than you would have, all of a sudden. Just because people are moving on with their lives and starting young families. That’s probably where some of the nostalgia comes from, just ruminating on importance of thefriendships.
Damien: Well, we’re all busy and modern life just seems to be getting faster, I can totally understand the sentiment as everything changes. When you’re writing, are you someone who has their antenna up listening?
Tony: Yes, definitely! There’s around six months before we go in to record the album where I’m locked into it. That’s where the “Built-in Heartbreak” phrase came from, listening to the Bob Dylan radio show. He just mentioned it when describing some non-singing voice, and he said it has got a little built in heartbreak. I just wrote it in my notes one day and came back to it then and thought, oh, that would be a good name for a song title.
Damien: That journaling helps trigger the mind when it comes to actually sitting down then and writing the lyrics?
Tony: I’m constantly writing my notes on my phone for months with just little bits, and stuff, that I can work on. With that phrase “Built-in Heartbreak” that could have come to nothing. There’s plenty more of that, that were just written into the notes. I suppose with that one, it was the title that came first before the lyrics, which is the first time that ever really happened for me, which is kind of a fun thing to do as well. What would a song called Built-in Heartbreak be about? That’s kind of fun to do then, work from there.
Damien: Does that normally work as a band when you come together, that someone brings one piece, whether it’s a loose structure or a melody or a title, and you all work on it collaboratively then?
Tony: Yes. So the case usually would be either of lyrics and ideas and stuff would send on ideas for tunes then. Pete might send me a demo, and there’d be no lyrics or melody or anything, or I’d have lyrics, a few verses written out that I’d just try to fit it over that. Sometimes it just might come from me with an acoustic guitar just playing a few chords and just having the bare bones of a song and then Pete would take it up. We spent a lot of time up in Cian’s garage at Doolin and then songwriting, before we went into record. That’s where we’d put the finish and touches to everything, and Cian would have his input there then as well.
Damien: It was produced by renowned producer Ruadhrí Cushnan who has worked with Shawn Mendes, Ed Sheeran, Mumford. I’m actually very familiar with him from an EP he worked on earlier this year for a young talented Dublin band called Martina and the Moons; their EP Starfish Social Club sounds great. How was that experience working in Camden studio with Ruadhrí?
Tony: It was amazing, I really loved it. We did our first two albums in Cork, not far from where we’re living in East Cork in Middleton with Christian Best. We made an EP with him as well before the album. We loved recording them with Christian. He was amazing, but we wanted a change of scenery, kind of producer wise, and location wise.
So, we spent the course of a year, a few different sessions where we’d stay up for maybe a week or so at a time, and we loved it. Just being around Dublin, just being able to go into the studio and pop out for a pint after and just hang around. When we were recording in Cork, you’d go back home to your normal life again, and it was just kind of a nice change. Ruadhrí was brilliant to work with, especially for me, I found with the vocals he really helped me out. We both locked in big time on the vocals, and he’d send everyone else out of the studio. That was Peter and Cian’s favourite time of recording because they could go over to Devitt’s Pub and have a few pints, and I’d be stuck in the studio already doing vocals for hours, and they’d come back happier.
Damien: I bet, happier... “oh, take your time there, Tony, that might need one more go.”
Tony: Exactly, Ha ha ha
Damien: The album sounds great; I like the way there’s an arc on the album between the two bookends with Suntrap and then the slow finish with acoustic based In Orbit. You must have thought about the emotional sequencing as well?
Tony: 100%, we always thought that In Orbit would be a good closer. It’s a totally different feel to the rest of the album, much softer, more reflective kind of thing. We were always going to finish with that, and it was just kind of about building up to that then at the end. Hopefully, we did a good job with it.
Damien: Yes! Even though I haven’t seen you live, I have a feeling that these songs pack a bigger punch live as well and have a big sound?
Tony: That’s thanks to the fella on my right there, Pete, driving the car. He’s a bit of a guru when it comes to sounds. The live sound is amazing from him. You’re looking at one man with a guitar, and the sound that’s coming out is crazy. We try to create as big a sound because there’s a lot of sounds on the tracks, we have to try to do them as much justice as we can.
Damien: At this stage of your music careers, how do those last few minutes feel before hopping on the stage feel?
Tony: I think more relaxed as we get older, because I think you need to be relaxed when you’re playing. From my point of view, I was getting too amped up before gigs for the last few years. It’s only recently, really, I’ve learned to relax a bit more going on stage and kind of almost playing like being in a practice session. I think for me, if I get too worked up it can affect my performance vocally and I just kind of lose myself a bit. So, I think it’s about chilling out and you’ve practiced these songs and just getting up there and performing them the best you can.
Damien: I guess that’s another advantage of the long lead in with the digital release cycle, you have more time to practice as a band yourself, you’re all very familiar by the time you get to perform these live.
Tony: Absolutely, we’ve had a good few festivals there last summer and we’ve been playing all these songs. So, when we go up now to Whelan’s, it’s not going to be anything new to us except for one or two that we haven’t played yet, but they’ll be exciting too.
Damien: You’ve played Other Voices a few years ago, played All Together and the acoustic stage in Glastonbury. Any of those venues stick out in your mind?
Tony: Possibly Glastonbury? It could be a once in a lifetime thing, hopefully not, but if it was …it was amazing. We were the first slot in the morning of the acoustic station. It’s a really big stage, quite a big tent. Just before we were going to go on, there was still no one in the tent because they were doing a security briefing outside the tent to people, and it was still all cordoned off. So just as we were walking up onto the stage, they cut the cordon and as we were walking on stage, the tent started filling up, and we couldn’t believe so many people that came in. Because we were the first slot in the morning, not well known we thought we might be playing to a man and his dog but so many people came in; and people in the band T shirts, we were delighted. It was great and then we stuck around. It was just the best weekend ever, it’s going to be hard to top that one now, to be fair.
In Orbit is available across all streaming platforms and the band have tour dates in support of it in London, Brighton and two dates in Cork in November.
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