Vinny May Jr., drummer of the Irish rock band Kodaline, has opened up about how he and his bandmates have grown closer over the years.

Vinny said he and his bandmates -- Steve Garrigan, Mark Prendergrast and Jason Boland -- struggled to speak out if they had creative differences in the past, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

However, they have since learnt not to let things "build up" and feel comfortable telling one another exactly how they feel.

Vinny said: "We are better friends now than when we were on the first album (2013's ‘In a Perfect World'). We have a lot of the same friends and keep each other grounded. We've learned over the years what people's pressure points are and when to give someone space."

"I think we are definitely closer now than ever. There was a time when we would not talk about our feelings if someone doesn't like something. We would just let it build up. Whereas now, we can sit down and talk about it and clear the air and move on. I think it's something you learn with age as well," he added.

The band have released the deluxe edition of their LP "One Day At A Time", and their first Christmas single "This must be Christmas".

"It's something we've always wanted to do for a while for the past couple of years but we've never really had the time to do it. We started working on it last Christmas and we had a good idea of it and finished it off in February and March," Vinny said in an interview with BANG Showbiz.