Wild Youth

Having spent the last four months traveling around Europe for the warm-up of Eurovision 2023, you could say Wild Youth have been in the thick of it. But it seems there's no rest for Conor O'Donohoe as we get comfy in the foyer of Universal Music Group. What appears to be a relentlessly busy day in London's Kings Cross, we decide after a short walk to find a quiet spot to get candid following back-to-back meetings. I've been aware of Wild Youth for several years, following the success they've been riding the past couple of years. Since their formation in 2016, the band has succeeded in countless endeavours, including a debut mini-album charting at number five in the Irish album charts and numerous support slots opening for names like Niall Horan, Lewis Capaldi, and Westlife. With colourful sets, embellished looks, and screaming fans, Wild Youth has found a home in a fan base that thrives as a community. Fighting what he says others may describe as a cliché, with me, Conor is vocal on the meaning behind their Eurovision bop "We are One" with their intentions ever the same, hoping to create a community and safe spaces. Before the band has a little downtime writing and enjoying a well-deserved break from being on the road, I'm curious to hear about their Eurovision experience, putting rumors to bed, and what's truly important to a band so dedicated to their fans' experience. A: So, let's start at the beginning. Tell me about the formation of Wild Youth. C: The formation started with Dave and me being friends hanging out together and playing music on weekends. We've been friends since 12. So a long time. I was playing football, and then we moved away and started playing music together. We got noticed by someone and offered a couple of gigs, then off the back of those, we got approached by someone who wanted to manage us. We weren't ready to be manage. We were just friends playing songs. It wasn't like a thing. And then, the more it went on, another person approached us to manage us from seeing us play, so we sat down and chatted about it, thinking we should try something. We knew if we wanted to try something, we wanted to make it a band. So we reached out to Cal because he was a drummer that I knew in Ireland, and basically, we set up a band. I wasn't sure the direction I wanted to go. So we tried out change and eventually set up Wild Youth. A: It's pretty hard to keep in touch with people. So 12 years is a long time. We always get told by people it's almost like a brotherhood, especially when you're on tour. It can sometimes be quite isolating, but being brotherhood seems like the right match. C: We have a very close bond, a very close relationship. Even when we're not touring, we're still hanging out together. It's important because sometimes, bands can be very fresh when you've just met people. It takes a long time to get to a place where you're very comfortable with people, where you can be open and turn around and say, I didn't really love the way you said that or I didn't like it. People argue, and I'm like, we do too. But I grew up with my brothers, who are, without a doubt, the closest people to me in the entire world. We're able to argue and hold a very open and honest conversation after we've had an argument. Still, we can solve our problem because we have such a strong bond over a long time. It's like a brotherhood, like you said, which is funny that you say that because that was actually going to be the name of the band before. A: What changed your mind? C: Not having anyone respond to me in the group chat. A: Ahh, we all know that feeling regarding our bright ideas. C: It was okay, a change the direction. But they're always very supportive of me. I think you have to be with someone that has those crazy spays. You know, you need people to be behind it. It's how those crazy ideas come to life. A: The beauty to each of our quirks is they can bring moments of pure genius, something beautiful and enjoyable, and speaking of enjoyable, you've just finished touring for quite some time! C: Four months from February from being chosen. I think I've gotten 40 flights traveling all over Europe. We played everywhere, from Tel Aviv, Barcelona, and Stockholm to London. Eurovision was just crazy. With all these trips, you would go to a city for two or three days, do like 200 interviews, and then perform one song. A: I imagine they were long days, in the best way! C: So, like, that was the craziest fact. Usually, if you're doing a tour, you do an hour-and-a-half-long set and three to five interviews. So it was exciting and an excellent way to get to know all the other contestants by traveling around. But when we tour as a band, that's where we're happiest. It's never strenuous. It's easygoing. I've seen, like, little things here and there. You might be tired or, whatever it is, but we generally try and go and have the best time. We always try to ensure that the show is never affected by having the best time and delivering the best possible shows we can. We always like to walk around wherever we are and spend a whole day together, do the show, have the next day off, or go out for beers wherever we are, pure laughter and trying to make it an incredibly fun time. A: That's pretty normal. And as you say, it's healthy. You must be in a good, comfortable, secure place to be honest with people. I know you've spoken about the idea of escapism. Is that something you've focused on within your music? C: Yes, and it's one thing that is always very important for me. I know I go through my own struggles, so I always try to connect groups of people who go through the same struggles by allowing them a safe space to talk about it, go to shows, and meet up. The reason is that when we were doing one of our first shows, I think a girl tweeted she was so nervous. I retweeted it for others to connect, and now those groups have become best friends. And years later, they still go to all of our shows together. That, for me, is everything to me and means the world because, for me it is also escapism. I think that's why I say sometimes touring is when you're happiest because you're busy. You're on the road, surrounded by people, and it can keep your mind off things. I have suffered from ADHD, although I don't really want to say that I suffer from depression. But I suffer in a way where I overthink, and sometimes it gets on top of me and drives me down these really dark holes. So having been constantly almost distracted by being on tours, that's when I'm happiest, being on stage. Hearing people sing songs you've written from sometimes being in dark places, especially as writing songs, can be an escapism. It can be an incredible feeling. Tapping into the emotion of the darkest point in your life can be difficult, whereas having the release of being on tour and doing shows is escapism for me. A: Sometimes stopping can feel daunting as there's time to think.