As the band manager for the pop/rock band The Coronas, Jim Lawless has watched the Dubliners grow from just lads jamming in their bedrooms in school to one of Ireland's most popular bands. Having been there at every step of their career, Lawless has been instrumental in making The Coronas happen. Like the band themselves, he started out with little or no experience.
“I was active in different clubs at school,” he says. 'I was a prefect involved in organising events, so when we left school, [the band] asked if I could help book some shows, as it looked better to have someone ringing on their behalf rather then just ringing around themselves.”
'We kind of just went from there.”
In college, Lawless studied business with emphasis on finance and economics and had received a practical business experience working during the summer for his father. “Seeing first hand how business works in the real world, how to conduct yourself and take responsibility was invaluable and really what prepared me for what I do now.”
The band gigged as much as possible and it began to pay off with sold-out shows around the country. It suggested a possibility of a future in music, for both the band and the manager.
The simpler a plan, the better
"When we all left college, we agreed to give it a go full time for a year and see how it went," says Lawless. "The initial planwas to get out and play in front of as many people as possible. I always think the simpler a plan is, the better your chance of making it an actual reality."
A year later, and things were getting real enough that stopping just wasn't on the cards. Lawless made contacts in the industry at home and abroad. The band released their first album Heroes or Ghosts on Irish independent label 3Ú Records in 2007. Regional radio, then national radio followed. Lawless credits Joe O'Reilly of 3Ú as a mentor for his career. "I think the main thing I learnt from Joe was to be patient and that in this industry there's not just one route to success," Lawless says.
Lawless points to the Music Managers Forum (MMF), an organisation of managers who meet regularly, as an invaluable resource for budding managers.
“It basically helps connect managers in what traditionally was a very solitary and lonely industry as no one would share information,” says Lawless. “This attitude is very much changing. MMF was a great help to me and helped me make connections outside of Ireland and well worth checking out if you're thinking of getting in to the industry.”
Lawless has more advice. “Don't overthink it! At the end of the day, it's a business. A very tough business, but a business nonetheless. As long as the music is there, and people want to hear it, then your job is to guide it.”
A manager manages relationships
"Ultimately what you do as a manager is manage relationships," he says. "So working with people and being able to excite them about a band is very important. And it's something I really enjoy."
Lawless thinks that coming from a small country like Ireland can be a help not a hindrance.
“It's a great proving ground for bands and it's possible to do yourself and really learn your trade. It can be tough to break out but people are very positive about Irish music abroad so that's something that you can use to your advantage.”
With The Coronas' success, how has Lawless' job changed?
“Nothing has really changed; just things are scaled up. I suppose at the start, it was very much more a hands-on job. I was the one setting up the stage and lugging gear around along with the lads in the band. We roped friends in to help too, as there wasn't really any money for crew. I tour managed and production managed as well as everything else. So it was very much that I had to be a jack of all trades.
“As we grew and got busier, I couldn't do all these jobs so we were able to build a great team around us. We have Johnny, who is a session musician, tech person and does so many little things that help make my job so much easier; Shane, the production manager who take a lot of work off my plate and helps us produce amazing shows like the 3Arena, and Terry, the tour manager who does amazing work on the road and makes our tours run smoothly. They, among others, help insure that I can now fully focus on building and planning for the band's future.”
Under pressure
After playing The Coronas biggest headline show yet - to 13,000 people at the 3Arena - is there a pressure to maintain that level?
“It's like every other milestone you reach. It's great, you take time to acknowledge it, but you're quickly on to the next goal and planning the future, so if there was no plan to move forward, then maybe that's when you'd start to feel the pressure.”
Now signed to Island Records in the UK, four platinum albums deep in their career with tours completed in Europe, the US, Japan and Australia, The Coronas are certainly going according to plan, yet sometimes when a band moves from the independent route to a major, there can be some friction.
“If anything for me, being with Island helps to take some of the pressure off, as it give me a bigger team in support of us and expertise to work with,” says Lawless. “For us now, the focus is on the UK, Europe and beyond.”
