Fontaines D.C. on ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young’, memories of writing ‘Romance’, and touring Australia/NZ

Fontaines D.C. | Image credit: Theo Cottle

Jordan Royal (Sonic Alien 4ZZZ) caught up with Tom Coll of Fontaines D.C. to talk about their new single, ‘It’s Amazing To Be Young,’ memories of writing their latest album Romance, and their NZ / Australia tour.

Interview aired on Sonic Alien 4ZZZ 26 Feb 2025.

Jordan: I'm joined by Tom from Fontaines D.C. Thank you so much for coming on and having a chat.

Tom: Not a bother.

Jordan: Before we get into touring, I want to talk about ‘Romance’ and your recent single, ‘It's Amazing to be Young’. Huge, huge congratulations. I love both of them. Something that I love about Fontaines is how cinematic you guys are and how you draw on visuals and imagery and broad emotional feelings as well. ‘It's Amazing to be Young’ - I was wondering if there was any emotion behind that one or visual as well?

Tom: Yeah, I guess so. So I guess it was written around the same time that we wrote the album. But yeah, I guess it was kind of like written by Grian and Carlos who started that kind of idea, the tune. But yeah, it was written around the time that Carlos had his first kid. So it was kind of like a really heightened emotional time for him. And I guess for us, for like seeing him be a dad for the first time. So yeah, it was a super, super sweet kind of a tune that we kind of had to have in it, you know. 

Jordan: Oh, that's beautiful, especially since someone that you've known for such a long time, you've watched him grow and then to see him have a child as well. That's so nice. That's so beautiful.

Tom: Amazing, yeah.

Jordan: I was also wondering, ‘Romance’ has such striking contrast - the neon colours and the sort of heart on the cover are what you would usually expect from an album called ‘Romance’. And a lot of the more upbeat songs actually have darker undertones and meanings. I was going to ask if ‘Amazing to be Young’, because it's also quite upbeat, if there was a darker undertone, but by the sounds of it, it's just a really beautiful song, a heartfelt song. 

Tom: I feel like that tune is a very sweet and positive tune from the get go, for sure. I feel like a lot of the tunes on the record are quite dark and dirty and kind of feel like they're looking at all the different facets of romance that aren't necessarily very sweet, you know? But yeah, I feel like ‘Amazing to be Young’ is like a really actually uplifting tune. And maybe that's why it didn't make the album, you know? It felt too sugary. But yeah, I'm really glad that it's like seeing its own kind of moment, you know? 

Jordan: Yeah, solely like happy, upbeat, just beautiful. 

Tom: Yeah totally, totally.

Jordan: Romance has been out for a couple months now and I feel like once music is released into the world, you start playing it live, you can perceive it differently. I was wondering if there are any tracks that have sort of resonated with you differently now versus when you wrote them? 

Tom: Yeah, I think so! I feel like it changes from month to month for me.

Fontaines D.C. live in Brisbane | Image credit: Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle)

I feel like just as the record came out, I was really buzzed about ‘Starburster’ for instance, but I feel like a lot of the more album tracks, I'm getting really excited about playing live. And I feel like I'm finally at the level now where I can be like, right, I completely understand this tune. And you know, it's really in me now. So yeah, I feel like ‘Death Kink’ is like a song that I'm really enjoying playing, you know, it's great. There’s such an energy to it, you know, it's just that certain kind of headspace or like attitude that you need to really like give it 110. You know, yeah, it's really fun. I feel like I'm finally like in that zone now. It's nice. 

Jordan: No, absolutely. ‘Death Kink’ is such an awesome song. It must be so much fun to play live as well. 

The concept of romance began when you were on tour with Arctic Monkeys and you've noted that it's sort of moving away from an Irish identity more into exploring romance as like a universal theme. I was wondering if there's any places that you visited while on tour that somehow felt like it belonged in the world of romance? 

Tom: I think a lot of the imageries and soundscapes of the record were kind of inspired by going to Tokyo for the first time. So I feel like heading back there was such a nice kind of full circle moment for us to kind of see all the like neon futuristic, really like beautiful scapes of a city, you know. I feel like that was super inspiring for the kind of the start of the record. But I feel like we toured an awful lot around Eastern Europe last year and that was it was just so, so beautiful and like pretty and yeah, it was amazing. We were in a place called Ljubljana, which was sick. It was so good. I think it's in Slovenia. But yeah, it was amazing. Loved it.

Jordan: That must have been a really full cycle moment going back to Tokyo, because I remember like you guys said, sort of the aesthetics of like birds taking off at like 6am or something in Tokyo in the morning. So that must have been a really beautiful full cycle moment once it came out as well.

Tom: Yeah, exactly. It was amazing. I absolutely love it over there. I think we're heading there in like a week and a half again. So I'm super excited. 

Jordan:That's awesome! And I mean, that sort of leads on to my next question about touring. ‘Romance’ is such a shift from your previous work, there's like strings and synths and like more expensive production, and you guys have brought on Chilli as a touring member as well. I was wondering how it is translating it live and how you guys have had to adapt in a lot of live setting to be able to perform such a complex record

Fontaines D.C. live in Brisbane | Image credit: Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle)

Tom: I think Chilli has been amazing, honestly, he's like a beacon of joy on the road. So I feel like his power comes with being an amazing player on stage and adding so much, but also just bringing such good vibes and energy every single day. Yeah, it's amazing. So I think adding him and kind of adding a lot of like strings and keys and kind of like sub-synthy kind of stuff has really kind of, it's been nice to add that because of the new record, but we've also like added to some of the older tunes as well. And that's given it like a fresh kind of fresh life for all of us, I think. So yeah, it's been great. He's been an absolute legend. So it's been amazing.

Jordan: Yeah, because I was like, oh, that one, that record would be so hard to replicate live that it makes sense having to bring someone else in to sort of try and expand it as well. 

Romance feels like a world of its own. It has a neon aesthetic, your fashion, your stage design as well. What's been your favourite part of bringing this world to life on tour?

Tom: I think honestly, getting to wear clothes that I'm kind of uncomfortable with wearing a little bit, I'm like, oh, I don't think that'd suit me. And then you actually get into it and you're like, oh, this is sick. I feel like I'm viewing fashion much more as an art form than I ever did.

And I'm really, really enjoying it. So I think that's been something for me that has been sick. Yeah, but I guess at the shows, it's kind of like, I don't know, seeing a lot more kind of younger people and like a much more diverse fan base has been amazing. Honestly, it's been really cool. You know, I feel like that album has finally opened up to so many different people. It's been amazing.

Jordan: Yeah, awesome. I mean, we love you guys in Australia and Brisbane. You guys have been playing romance all over the world, but your upcoming Australia and New Zealand tour is massive. Melbourne sold out so fast. You had to add another show, which is also insane. Huge congratulations. But how does it feel to have this record resonate with so many people in so many different places across the world? 

Fontaines D.C. live in Brisbane | Image credit: Kelsey Doyle (@kjdoyle)

Tom: I mean, it's just exciting. It feels like it kind of, you know, obviously we did like three records before this and each one has been like, you know, it's all its own amazing kind of world and amazing step up. But I feel like this record has really, I don't know, it's kind of changed the way that we work now.

It's kind of on a different scale and we get to go to so many more places and see the world through that kind of prism, I guess, of that album. So it's been yeah, it's been really, really exciting. Yeah.

And I guess yeah, I guess so. We're going to like Asia and then we're going to Australia and New Zealand and then we're going to like South America for a bit straight after that. So I feel like they're all my favorite places in the world. It's going to be amazing and I haven't been to a lot of them. So, yeah, I guess just trying to be trying to be excited and grateful about seeing a lot of the world. That's going to be really fun.

Jordan: Yeah, that's so exciting. Well, thank you so much for your time and coming on the call as well. It was great to be able to chat with you and we love you at the station. So thank you so much for coming on. 

Tom: My absolute pleasure. Thanks a million for having me.