In an exclusive chat backstage at Electric Picnic in Dublin, the Kiss Me singer revealed he had befriended fellow Irishman Jamie Dornan in New York and they had indulged in a few late-night sessions.
Dermot said of the actor: “He’s class. He’s the world’s biggest hunk. He’s a great craic. We just chatted about everything and anything.He was in town for a TV chat show. He had to be up for a really early flight the next day. But every time he went to the bathroom he told the bar, ‘Seven more pints, seven more pints’.
It turns out you can get a decent Guinness in New York.They were drinking at The Dead Rabbit, where Jamie had been filming for The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon earlier that day.But that wasn’t Dermot’s only taste of home during his State-side jaunt.The football-mad singer, whose second album Sonder is out on September 23, teamed up with local Irish football team New York Shamrocks while away.
He said: “It’s not as funny and corny and Irish as it seems. They’re a good team. I love it. It gives me clarity of mind like nothing else, including music. It gives me this whole other level.The world does not exist when I’m playing football. It’s something I need.”He received a rapturous welcome at Electric Picnic — with 70,000 fans scrambling for a good view.But he is no stranger to the festival. Recalling his life before fame, he said: “I’ve tried to sneak into this festival twice. It’s funny ’cos Arctic Monkeys play here this weekend and I drove down here with a friend that’s a big fan, years ago.We parked the car and you go into the forest and climb under the fence. But we got caught. The security is hardcore.”
He thrilled the crowd with his 90-minute set.Anthems Outnumbered and Giants earned rousing sing-alongs — and even new single Kiss Me was sung back, less than 12 hours after it dropped online.Dermot collaborated with Bastille frontman Dan Smth and pop wizard Steve Mac on Kiss Me, and said: “It was good. When I get in those rooms it’s important to impress who I am upon the situation. If I go in there super-meek I’ll come out with something that doesn’t have enough of me in it.”
0 Comments