Carlos O’Connell has revealed a guitar lent to to Fontaines D.C. by Alex Turner provided the “heavier sounds” on ‘Romance’.
In a recent video by Guitarist, O’Connell played some of Rory Gallagher’s guitars, and whilst playing his 1963 custom-coloured Epiphone Coronet, said he picked it up because the Arctic Monkeys frontman came to mind.
“He had one of these, probably [from] a similar year,” he said. “He gave us a loan of it, of his, for the last album.” On the inside sleeve of ‘Romance’, which NME wrote was the band’s “most considered and intricately crafted release yet”, Turner is thanked “for the lend of the guitar”.
“And it ended up being sort of the guitar we used, me and [Conor] Curley both used it for the heavier sounds, you know, whenever there was like real chuggy sounds,” O’Connell continued. “This was sort of the best for that.”
Asked how he felt about switching from Fender’s, he said he “fell in love with it”, because when they wrote the songs, they didn’t have a guitar like that. “So we were kind of playing it like trying to make that super chuggy sound,” adding that the sound wasn’t “coming through the way you want it to”.
O’Connell went on to say that when Arctic Monkeys’ producer James Ford came to the studio, “he bought Al’s guitar down”. Touching on its sound, he said: “It’s just like real punk rock, you know, proper like Stooges. I love it, I wish I had one of these.”
When Fontaines D.C. debuted new songs ‘Romance’ and ‘Favourite’ at an intimate Brooklyn gig in May, Turner was in attendance. As O’Connell and Conor Deegan III shared previously in an interview with NME as part of the In Conversation series, they’d been told two years prior by Beck that he was a fan.
“He told us that he asked Alex what music he was listening to these days and Alex said the only thing he listens to is Fontaines,” O’Connell said. “And Arctic Monkeys are just so iconic obviously – they were so important when they came through.
“The whole thing is bizarre, even talking to Beck I was starstruck! And then he talks about another guy I admire, it’s mental. When we were younger, these were all things you’d just never imagine.”
Fontaines D.C. at Reading Festival 2024. Credit: Andy Ford / NME
The praise has been mutual, with frontman Grian Chatten claiming “if you were ever going to model your career off a band, you’d look to Arctic Monkeys” ahead of the band supporting them on their huge North American stadium tour last year.
Fontaines are currently on an extensive North American tour, which will run up until October 20 in Philadelphia. New York indie rockers and NME Cover alumni Been Stellar are serving as opening act on all dates, and you can visit here to purchase any remaining tickets.
Later in the year, Chatten and co. will embark on their 2024 UK and Ireland headline tour, which is set to take place in November and December, including a two-night stint at Alexandra Palace in the capital.
The group also recently unveiled news of a huge outdoor show at London’s Finsbury Park, due to take place on Saturday July 5, 2025. It will mark the Irish band’s biggest headline performance to date, with support coming from Amyl And The Sniffers as well as Kneecap again. Find remaining tickets to their UK shows here.
English (US) · 