Background
One of the most exciting and upcoming young bands to come on the Irish music scene in the last few years, yes its Mullingar’s very own The Academic. The quartet have been building up quite a reputation for their live shows. Their future in the music industry looks very bright.
The Academic, jamming together since their early teens in 2011 formally became the band in 2013. The band, a four piece Indie group are Craig Fitzgerald (Lead Vocals/Guitar),Dean Gavin (Drums), brothers Matt (Lead Guitar) and Stephen (Lead Guitar) Murtagh. They have gained a strong following both in Ireland and the UK, with Radio 1 in England showing the band support. Stephen Murtagh the bands youngest member said, ”The first few times we heard it on the radio it was weird and then we heard it on BBC Radio 1, that was one of the most surreal moments we’ve ever had, that was cool”.
The Academic have a natural ability for song writing and perform with great passion live, so it wasn’t long before this four piece band from Mullingar would make a mark in the music industry at home and abroad. They have been writing songs since the tender ages of thirteen and fourteen. They have played ‘Other Voices’ and many of the festivals like Longitude and Electric Picnic and they have opened and supported major acts like ,Catfish & The Bottlemen, Delorentos, Kodaline, Little Green Cars, Noel Gallagher, The Riptide Movement, The Strypes, Indian rock gods Thermal & a Quarter and The Pixies.
2016
Early 2015 seen the release of their debut single ‘Different’ which appeared on a five track EP called ‘Loose Friends’. ‘Different’ had reached over 200,000 plays on Spotify before its official release. The band say ”songs don’t usually come together that easily but ‘Different’ happened naturally, it didn’t take long”. ‘Different’ is about a relationship that brings two people together who live completely opposite lives together. They have toured extensively in the UK this September and October and will start their Irish tour in Cyprus Avenue, Cork on December 9, Dolans Warehouse, Limerick on December 10, Button Factory, Dublin on December 16 and Roisin Dubh, Galway on December 17.
The band have many influences but when asked by Sasha Brady of ‘The Irish Independent’ what songs meant the most to them in 2015, some surprise ones did show up. The five songs were All Tvvins – Darkest Ocean, Pleasure Beach – Go, Gavin James – Bitter Pill, Otherkin – Feel it and last but not least their own single that they released in 2015 – ‘Different’. Their influence also include Delorentos, Villagers and also U2 had a big influence on them.
July 2016 seen the release of the single ‘Mixtape 2013’ and by October it has 1 million plays on Spotify. We look forward to an album release from the lads.
The Academic can be followed on their Facebook page.
We here at ‘The Rockin’ ‘Gar’ wish the lads all the best for the future and wish them well on the Irish stage of the tour. We wait in anticipation in what can only be a great debut album.
