STAND

STAND

+ guests

STAND hail from the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. The band was formed in 1998 by four schoolmates who began gigging at school assemblies and then into the clubs of the city. In 1999 having built a healthy following in Ireland, the song “Questions” from their debut LP went Top 10 on the Irish national charts.

Armed with cash saved from gigs and a box of records, the band went to America to play South By Southwest in Austin, Texas in 2001. Awed by the prospect of limitless venues, they returned to the US that same year on a one-way ticket.With no shortage of gumption to match their talent, the band took an apartment in the Bronx, bought a used van and proceeded to knock on all the stage doors of New York City. Soon thereafter, they hit the endless American highway in all the comfort that a used tradesman’s van offers.

After the better part of a decade using New York as a home base the band released three more studio albums, garnered praise from local and national press, played many festivals, embarked on coast-to-coast tours of the U.S. and were seen by over 250,000 people.

“The bottom line was that we were on our own,” explains Neil, “and we needed to generate money to fund the vehicle we were running – gear, studio time, mixing, mastering and not least important, feeding five people. We were selling everything but the spare tire from the back of the van. The record execs that followed us were all in hiding, watching their business vaporize as ours took steps forward.”The band relocated back to Ireland to re-connect with family and recuperate from the pressures of near constant gigging. ”We knew how to play. Taking some time to recuperate, take stock & plan the next record,” according to singer Alan Doyle, “was as important as anything at that point.”

After 6 months of downtime, the band found themselves in the same room again for all the right reasons. Stand began the writing process for the songs that would become their latest LP “100,000 Ways to Harvest Hope”.

The album was produced by Marc Swersky and mixed by renowned Mix Engineer Mark Needham (Chris Isaak, The Killers, Fleetwood Mac). “Swersky sent me the track from his first day in the studio with them, and I was blown away. No pun intended, these guys stand out to me as a breath of fresh rock and roll air in what is a very crowded field.”

WATCH

TICKETS

€15 available online from WAV Tickets [Lo-Call 1890 200 078] (50c per ticket service charge applies on phone or credit card bookings)

AFTER THE GIG

Whelan’s Indie Club w/ Late Bar from 10:30pm or check out the bands playing The Midnight Hour in the upstairs venue (FREE ENTRY, 12am).