Irish rock band The Script meets Long Island kids

We met drummer Glen Power, vocalist and keyboard player Danny O’Donoghue, and guitarist Mark Sheehan, the three members of the band The Script backstage at Radio City Music Hall before one of their concerts. They recently released their fifth album, “Freedom Child,” and it is great rock and roll music from this Irish band.

What was your inspiration for one of our favorite songs, “Hall of Fame”?

Dan: That is a funny one, actually. We always knew there was a hall of fame for big sports athletes and for rock stars and athletes. But there wasn’t a hall of fame for teachers, preachers, nurses and people of the community. We decided to write a song about them. A lot of people think of hall of fame for rock stars and sports heroes, but it is for regular people in the community who are helping out with others.

How did you three meet?

Mark[whispering to us]: I just met these guys! I never saw them before! It’s weird. Danny and I have been friends since we were very young. I met Glen in Dublin probably 10 years ago. He came out to Los Angeles where me and Danny were living at the time. We actually started the band The Script in Los Angeles. That is kind of where we got the name of the band, too. Los Angeles is where Hollywood is, and you hear the word “script” quite a lot. And people seemed to say, “What’s the script?” and we took that to mean, “What is happening?” And we thought that was a cool name for us because we had just started a band there. We just started writing a bunch of songs together and we really liked those songs, and they were songs we got a record deal on.

Glen: We didn’t meet to be a band, that is the funny part. That accidentally happened. That is a lesson for you — the best things that can happen to you come along accidentally.

Who was your favorite band growing up?

Glen: I suppose the one that was most influential to me was U2. I saw a video, “Where the Streets Have No Name,” where they are on top of a gas station in Los Angeles playing down to the street. I remember seeing that video when I was in school at that time, and I thought, I want to do that one day.

Mark: Mine were more American R&B acts. I liked House of Pain, Missy Elliot and Timbaland and producers like Teddy Riley. I never really followed a lot of bands — it was always producers and R&B singers.

Danny: I quite like the Beatles.

Do you ever plan to have more members, or are you going to keep it to you three?

Danny: Do you want to be in our group? We have room for three girls and a guy to be backup singers. I always kind of fantasized [being] like the Black Eyed Peas when they added Fergie. I think The Script plus a female could be a fun thing to do for one album.

Have you guys ever written a song that you didn’t like and you just threw it away?

Mark: We do that all the time!

Danny: That would be our main title — we are songwriters first, and we are in a band second. We write the songs, and then someone has to go around and sing them, so we thought, why not form the band? We have got loads. For this album [“Freedom Child”] we have 14 songs on it — we probably threw away about 56 songs. They were not bad songs, they just didn’t fit the vibe at that time.

What is it like to be famous?

Glen: It is kind of strange, actually. I remember the time we finished a gig in Liverpool and we walked out of the back to get on the bus, and when I opened the back door there was a barrier and lots of people behind the barrier, and they started screaming. I closed the door and went back inside. I didn’t know how to deal with that. I had to wait for the other lads so I could walk out the door. It took me a long time to get used to that and do it on my own. It is a still a strange thing because we are still three normal guys from Dublin. We don’t think that we have changed, we just travel a lot more. Of course, when we got home, our family didn’t act like that at all.

Mark: Our perspective is totally different than others because we don’t feel famous. But when we are standing in a shop and someone is standing there staring and shaking, we are thinking to ourselves, Is that person OK? Or is there something on my face?

What is the strangest thing a fan has ever done?

Glen: There are so many, but we have to be careful about what we say!

Mark: We were in Japan and this girl, this fan, gave us a goldfish in a bag. Not even in a bowl. I didn’t really know what to do with the goldfish because, you know, goldfish can’t really go on tour and they can’t play instruments. I sometimes feel like a goldfish on stage.

How do you spend your free time?

Danny: I like to go to the studio when I get free time. When we are not performing, I kind of like to go into the recording studio to relax. I like to be in there. There are lots of instruments and all the buttons to push and just have fun. I amuse myself in there. It is kind of like going to your room and getting away without your parents annoying you.

What was the first song you performed on stage as The Script?

Danny: I think it was “Before the Worst.” It was a long time ago now — it might have been “We Cry.” “Before the Worst” was the first time we wrote together, too.

Before shows, do you have special routine?

Mark: We like to warm up. We do a lot of stretching and warming up. Because we feel that when you do your first song in a concert, you want to be ready to go and be in it from the first song. If we didn’t warm up, it might take us three or four songs before to get going. And everybody goes off and does their own thing, too. Danny does a lot of vocal warmups.

Do you guys ever fight?

Danny: Yeah, all the time.

Mark: But if you are really good friends, it is almost like family, you know. You have to learn about compromise and tolerance. We have learned to give each other space when they need space.

What is more fun, performing on stage or making the music videos?

Mark and Glen: We like being on stage best.

Danny: It is a toss-up for me. I do like making the videos. We get to do some really cool things in videos. Normally because I sing the songs, they have me involved in it. So I have done everything from being in high-speed car chases and then coming out on strings and flying out of the car on strings. Crossing on a wire 13 stories in the air with a rope on me. I have gotten to jump off a bridge into water. I want to do more stunts than Tom Cruise.

What was the most nerve-wracking song you had to sing?

Glen: There is a thing called the Live Lounge, and we only get minimum time to rehearse it.

Danny: One time we did it for the most famous woman in the world.

Mark: We had to sing for the queen of England. She personally requested us. That blew our minds . . . We were like, why us? Danny had to sing the lyrics straight to the queen’s face. And the lyric was, “I’ll be king and you’ll be queen.” It was so funny because she is the queen.