A lot has changed in the music industry since McFly’s breakthrough debut single over 20 years ago, but Danny Jones isn’t convinced it’s all for the better.
5 Colours In Her Hair marked the first of seven number ones and a huge 15 top 10 hits, with the band becoming one of the UK’s most beloved acts.
However, even they haven’t been able to crack the singles chart in over a decade, despite back-to-back number two albums since 2020.
‘It’s all down to silly little algorithms,’ Danny told Metro of the fickle singles chart. ‘Fans buy your album, and that’s why we always end up [at the top].
‘On the last album, we got beaten by ACDC,’ he said, chuckling as he added: ‘But I don’t mind that.’
While the charts might remain elusive, the band is performing live more than ever, an experience Danny wants to share with as many music fans as possible.
The Love Is Easy singer has teamed up with Greene King to support small artists and intimate venues for their Live at Your Local campaign.
Live at Your Local will see 900 grassroots artists perform at free live music events in Greene King pubs across the UK throughout August and September.
‘In local venues, you get to see bands creating the magic on a one-off night; you can’t recreate that,’ Danny said. ‘It’s like until you play that first chord, nothing is filling that room.
‘Those [moments] when you’re first starting out as an artist are really important because you’re constantly chasing that feeling.’
Danny himself started out performing as a teenager at the Ye Olde Man & Scythe in Bolton, knowing from an early age he wanted to be a guitarist.
Performing in that space might have been ‘scary’ at first, but the support of those locals propelled him to pursue music professionally, and the crowd backed him when he returned with his new bandmate Tom Fletcher.
‘We don’t want grassroots to die and fade away. It’s the root of everything,’ he continued. ‘Someone in that pub could be the next me.’
The next Danny is rarer than it might seem as guitar bands appear to be struggling to gain traction in the mainstream, which the I’m A Celeb winner thinks is ‘sad’.
He shared: ‘I don’t know why there are not as many bands these days. I don’t know what I think of the industry right now.
‘It’s like everybody’s chasing a song on TikTok. I know artists who can get a billion streams on a song but can’t sell out a venue.’
Live music has been a sore spot in the UK’s music industry for a while now, with huge, expensive shows becoming the standard as small venues close down at an alarming rate.
When those early-career venues disappear, artists are forced to play algorithm games without getting any real-world on-stage experience.
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Danny said: ‘I gained so much experience, I tried and tested stuff. For me it was like, “Oh my god, everyone’s liking what I’m doing, maybe I’m good at this”, and it gave me that inner belief to think, because I was getting an instant reaction.’
Social media isn’t so forgiving for new artists, with the daunting task of conquering the internet potentially deterring musicians before they’ve even started.
While standing on a stage might feel more exposing than sitting in front of your phone, Greene King revealed one in four people say seeing an artist at a grassroots venue is what makes them a lifelong fan.
Having seen Sam Fender and Olivia Dean before their big breaks, the Star Girl icon is kicking himself he didn’t offer to work with them sooner.
Danny isn’t against social media, but having been under the microscope of public scrutiny recently, he’s got a rule at home where he’ll put his phone on do not disturb to spend time with his family.
He’d happily bring that energy for a phone-free gig, believing fans should ‘give [the artist] your full attention’.
For a man who has spoken about struggling with anxiety in the spotlight, Danny proudly tells us he’s never missed a live show, even going on stage with bronchitis.
‘Sometimes you’re sh**ting yourself to go on stage because you don’t feel mentally right,’ he recalled. ‘I’ve had that many times in my career, suffering from anxiety and not quite feeling myself, but obviously being in a band and having your brothers, that’s where you feel like you’ve got the support.’
He did go solo in 2019, saying he loved the experience without those ‘silly sausages’, also known as Tom, Dougie Poynter, and Harry Judd.
While his self-titled EP didn’t break through commercially, Danny said one day he’d like to do an album that is just ‘the whole of my heart’.
‘Hopefully it’ll do really well. I know that sounds ridiculous, but I’m actually scared of failure. I want it to be understood.’
Across their career, the band has blended solo projects, musical theatre, and still managed to find time to release seven (soon to be eight) studio albums.
Danny keeps fairly tight-lipped on this upcoming album, proudly sharing that he is producing it and ‘the boys have put me in charge’.
He’s not one to shy away from a challenge, having taken on ‘the triple’ and won with I’m A Celebrity, The Masked Singer and also as a mentor on The Voice.
ITV haven’t officially given word on his future as a judge on the competition show, but Danny says he has ‘retired from reality TV now’. Understandable, really.
‘I was riding high, and I don’t know.. I feel like once you’ve had those amazing experiences, it’s like when you try and redo a holiday; it’s never the same,’ he said.
‘[I’d do] something different. It’s got to challenge me, because I’m A Celeb was hard. The Masked Singer was scary, being a singer and going into something like that?
‘It just shows that sometimes you’ve got to dress as a fish to make sure that people know that you’re a good singer.’
Maybe the next challenge could be a return to acting as Metro reminds him it’s been 20 years since McFly starred alongside Chris Pine and Lindsay Lohan in romcom Just My Luck.
Danny laughs recalling the ‘cringe’ film, joking: ‘I was surprised I didn’t get the call for like James Bond or something after that big movie! That great acting I did.’
He is up for a sequel, although reckons Chris has ‘100%’ had a bigger career improvement than McFly, adding he’s ‘absolutely smashed it’.
As for young artists starting out, Danny has one really simple bit of advice: ‘Try and do something s**t’.
Strong words from a guy whose band broke through on their first song and has been heavily involved in the success of another hit group, Busted.
It might seem counterintuitive, but that’s where the Brit Award winner believes the magic is.
He explained: ‘I’ve worked with a lot of artists that want to be The 1975 or want to be Adele [but] it’s already been filled. If you want to be them, you’re late.
‘If you try and do something s**t, you’ll get something original and then you can make it good.’
If all else fails, maybe the answer to saving British music is just being a little less chronically online and going to the local pub.
Danny Jones fronts Greene King Pubs’ Live at Your Local campaign, celebrating grassroots music with 1,000 free gigs and live music events across Greene King pubs throughout August and September, giving music fans the chance to discover emerging talent on their doorstep.