IRISH rockers Kodaline will be one of the first bands crossing the Solent to play the famous main stage at the Isle of Wight Festival.

Lead guitarist Mark Prendergast spoke exclusively to The Southern Daily Echo about what’s been going on and to recall some happy memories of earlier visits to the South.

“Isle of Wight 2013 was our first major festival anywhere so it’s still a special place for us” he said.

“Until then we’d never had 2,000 people watching and singing our words back to us. You never forget the first time that happens.”

But their 2013 Sunday appearance in the Big Top playing songs from their first album In a Perfect World was only a fleeting visit.

The band had to leave straight away after their set, but, as Mark explained, 2015 is going to be very different.

“We’re staying for the whole weekend this time.

"After playing the main stage on Friday evening we’ll be hanging out and watching the other amazing bands all the way through to Fleetwood Mac on Sunday.”

“We are definitely treating this one like a holiday.

"It’s going to be great!” he chuckled.

And it sounds like Mark, lead singer Steve Garrigan, bassist Jason Boland and drummer Vinny May could do with a break.

The band from Swords near Dublin has had an incredibly busy year so far.

They’ve seen their expansive second album Coming Up for Air go to number one in Ireland and smash the top four in the UK.

Their latest single Ready will be released on Monday June 28 and is certain to be an upbeat favourite at this year’s festivals.

Another new tune called Love Can Set You Free was used as the soundtrack to a brilliant end of season montage for the Premier League on Sky Sports.

Meanwhile, their captivating and mesmerising single The One is already a classic.

Mark said the band was really happy to change some lyrics on one very special occasion.

“We were delighted to sing it live to Fearne Cotton on her last show on Radio One in May.”

“We owe Fearne so much. Our very first interview on radio and the first time we had a song played on radio was with her.”

“It all happened after she saw the video for our song All I Want.

"It made her cry, but she loved it and she has championed us ever since. We started to sell out gigs after that.”

Kodaline continue to cut their teeth in America where they have just returned from an intense 19-date six week coast to coast tour which they all thoroughly enjoyed.

“It’s insane out there. The more we go, the more we love the States” said Mark.

“The shows are getting bigger too. We are building our fan base by playing live. It’s hard work, but terrific fun.”

They did meet a familiar face on their travels when they appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden in Los Angeles.

“James was super with us. We’d never met him before but we had a great chat about music and other things before the show.

"I’ve been a fan of his since Gavin and Stacey and to see him breakthrough in America is amazing.”

But the trip to America was not without incident as Mark described.

“We are all still keen skateboarders - it’s actually how we met as a band.

"But when riding through Houston at about 3am one of our crew, whose job it was to film the tour fell off his board and broke his arm in one of those slow motion comedy falls.

"The taping of our US adventures came to a rather abrupt halt after that!” he laughed.

Kodaline played an outstanding show in Southampton in March this year and the band were big fans of the city.

“Your Guildhall is a beautiful venue with its huge ceiling and great acoustics” said Mark.

“The daytime weather was great too so we spent some time outside in the park throwing a Frisbee around and enjoying a pint of Guinness.”

“There was a good vibe about the place. We really enjoyed our first visit to the South. It was one of our favourite shows so far.”

While their second album is only just out the blocks Mark revealed that the band is already working on tunes for compilation number three.

“The summer is the best time to write new material. We play festivals at the weekend then take that energy into writing sessions during the week.”

And that magic formula seems to be working. Kodaline are a band in demand and are certainly ready for Isle of Wight 2015.

Kodaline play the Isle of Wight Festival main stage on Friday 12 June.

Their next single Ready is out 28 June.

Their latest album Coming up for Air is out now.