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Fred (band)
Encyclopedia
Fred are a five-piece Irish
alternative
band
from Cork
. They have released four albums, the latest of which, Leaving My Empire, was released in Ireland in 2011.
Fred released their second album, Making Music So You Don't Have To independently to a sold-out Cork Opera House
in 2005. It peaked at #70 in the Irish Albums Chart
, spending one week there. The single "Good One" (which eventually appeared on their third album) was released in June 2007 and gained huge support from both national and international radio stations.
Fred's third album, Go God Go was released in Ireland on R.C.M Music the bands own label and distributed via Faction Records on 30 May 2008 and via United For Opportunity in the U.S. in 2009. The album was recorded in Love Tap Studios in Ireland and mixed by Mark Wallis in London
. It spent a total of two weeks on the Ireland Albums Top 75, climbing as far as #30 in the Irish Albums Chart
. The singles, "Skyscrapers" (released 16 May 2008) and "Running" (released 8 August 2008) received a significant amount of airplay on national radio during the summer of 2008. A third single from the album, "The Lights" was released in Ireland on 14 November 2008. Fred performed at a number of Irish festivals including Electric Picnic 2008
and Hard Working Class Heroes
. They played their debut show in Canada
at NXNE
in June 2008 and played at Pop Montreal
and the Halifax Pop Explosion
to support their Go God Gos album's release in Canada in October. Their cover of the Irene Cara
song "Fame
", recorded on The Ray D'Arcy Show
on Today FM
, featured on Even Better Than the Disco Thing
released in December 2008.
On 20 January 2009, it was reported that thousands of euro
worth of equipment owned by the band had been stolen from their van parked across from Anglesea Garda Station in Cork
, just as the band were to begin a North America
n tour. The missing gear was recovered within 48 hours. The following week, Fred appeared on The Cafe
on 30 January 2009, where reference was made to the incident and it was explained that the "amateur" thieves had attempted to pawn the weapons off only to be foiled by leaving their addresses in the shop. The band played their single "Good One" on Tubridy Tonight
on 21 March 2009.
Fred's product has been used by the BBC
amongst others as theme music
to television show
s. The single "Skyscrapers" was awarded iTunes
Canada
's influential "Single of the Week" accolade in October 2008. In January 2009, the band were nominated in the Hope for 2009 category at the Meteor Music Awards
. They have performed at festivals such as Oxegen
, Electric Picnic
and Hard Working Class Heroes
. They were also the first band to perform at the renovated Thomond Park
, home of Munster Rugby
.
Fred were the first band to perform at the renovated Thomond Park
in Limerick
. They played three singles, "Running", "Skyscrapers" and "Good One" before Munster
played Ospreys in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup
on 12 April 2009. Fred's performance at the Cork Midsummer Festival's spiegeltent on 15 June 2009 was named as "Gig of the Week" by The Irish Times
. Fred's early Saturday performance on the Green Spheres stage in front of a large crowd at Oxegen 2009
was described as "everything that a festival band should be–fun, energetic and visibly having a superb time".
On March 19, 2010, the band were announced as one of the first acts expected to perform at that year's Indie-pendence
.
In November 2010, Fred travelled to Montreal to record their new album with producer Howard Bilerman
(and former Arcade Fire member) at his studio Hotel2tango
(Which he runs the Hotel2Tango recording studio in Montreal along with Efrim Menuck and Thierry Amar of Godspeed You! Black Emperor
and A Silver Mt. Zion, and Radwan Moumneh) . Fred spent 3 weeks recording with Howard and returned to Ireland at the start of December 2010. In January 2011 they travelled to London and mixed the new record with Ben Hiller
.
On April 11, 2011 the band streamed their new album Leaving My Empire on Soundcloud
. The album is released in Ireland on Friday
, April 15, 2011, It went straight into the Irish Album charts at No. 27, and The Indie charts at No. 10.
. They lost to Wallis Bird
at the ceremony on 17 March 2009.
|-
| 2009 || Fred || Meteor Music Award – Hope for 2009 ||
|-
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
from Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
. They have released four albums, the latest of which, Leaving My Empire, was released in Ireland in 2011.
Career
The Fred EP was released in 2000. A debut album, Can't Stop, I'm Being Timed was released in 2002. The single "October", released in 2004, was taken from their second album. Two follow-up singles taken from the album were released in 2005: "Summer's Coming" and "Four Chords and the Truth".Fred released their second album, Making Music So You Don't Have To independently to a sold-out Cork Opera House
Cork Opera House
Cork Opera House is a theatre and opera house in Cork in the Republic of Ireland. It was originally built in 1855, although its existence has not been continuous; having survived the burning of much of Cork by British forces in reprisal for an ambush of a military convoy in 1920 by Irish rebels,...
in 2005. It peaked at #70 in the Irish Albums Chart
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...
, spending one week there. The single "Good One" (which eventually appeared on their third album) was released in June 2007 and gained huge support from both national and international radio stations.
Fred's third album, Go God Go was released in Ireland on R.C.M Music the bands own label and distributed via Faction Records on 30 May 2008 and via United For Opportunity in the U.S. in 2009. The album was recorded in Love Tap Studios in Ireland and mixed by Mark Wallis in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It spent a total of two weeks on the Ireland Albums Top 75, climbing as far as #30 in the Irish Albums Chart
Irish Albums Chart
The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically...
. The singles, "Skyscrapers" (released 16 May 2008) and "Running" (released 8 August 2008) received a significant amount of airplay on national radio during the summer of 2008. A third single from the album, "The Lights" was released in Ireland on 14 November 2008. Fred performed at a number of Irish festivals including Electric Picnic 2008
Electric Picnic 2008
Electric Picnic 2008 was the fifth Electric Picnic festival to take place. The three-day event took place on the weekend of Friday–Sunday, 29–31 August at Stradbally in County Laois, Ireland...
and Hard Working Class Heroes
Hard Working Class Heroes
Hard Working Class Heroes is an Irish music festival for emerging bands. It has taken place in Dublin on an annual basis in and around September of each year since 2003...
. They played their debut show in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
at NXNE
North by Northeast
North by Northeast is an annual five-day live music and film festival and music conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, held each June....
in June 2008 and played at Pop Montreal
Pop Montreal
Pop Montreal is an annual music festival occurring in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in the early fall, usually at the end of September or the beginning of October. More than 400 acts are scheduled to play in more than 50 venues across the city, mostly located in the Mile End area...
and the Halifax Pop Explosion
Halifax Pop Explosion
The Halifax Pop Explosion is a music festival that takes place every fall, two weeks after Thanksgiving, in Halifax Nova Scotia, Canada.-History:...
to support their Go God Gos album's release in Canada in October. Their cover of the Irene Cara
Irene Cara
Irene Cara is an American singer and actress. Cara won an Academy Award in 1984 in the category of Best Original Song for co-writing "Flashdance... What a Feeling." She is also known for her recording of the song "Fame", and she also starred in the 1980 film Fame.She married Hollywood stuntman...
song "Fame
Fame (Irene Cara song)
"Fame" is a pop song, written by Michael Gore and Dean Pitchford that was released in 1980, and achieved chart success as the theme song to the Fame film and TV series. The song was performed by Irene Cara, who played the role of Coco Hernandez in the original movie...
", recorded on The Ray D'Arcy Show
The Ray D'Arcy Show
The Ray D'Arcy Show is Today FM's weekday mid-morning radio show presented by Ray D'Arcy. It is on air from 09:00–12:00 midday, competing with RTÉ 2fm's Ryan Tubridy, RTÉ Radio 1's Pat Kenny and Newstalk's Tom Dunne .The production team of Jenny Kelly, Will Hanafin and Mairead Farrell and...
on Today FM
Today FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...
, featured on Even Better Than the Disco Thing
Even Better Than the Disco Thing
Even Better Than the Disco Thing is an Irish charity album released by the commercial FM radio station, Today FM, for the Christmas market on 21 November 2008. The album features covers of well-known disco songs by a selection of Irish musicians. Disc one features sixteen tracks, whilst disc two is...
released in December 2008.
On 20 January 2009, it was reported that thousands of euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
worth of equipment owned by the band had been stolen from their van parked across from Anglesea Garda Station in Cork
Cork (city)
Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...
, just as the band were to begin a North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n tour. The missing gear was recovered within 48 hours. The following week, Fred appeared on The Cafe
The Cafe (chat show)
The Cafe was an Irish chat programme aimed at youthful persons. It was broadcast on RTÉ Two as part of the TTV strand each Friday evening at 19:00, having switched from its previous location in the Thursday scheduling from 7 November 2008....
on 30 January 2009, where reference was made to the incident and it was explained that the "amateur" thieves had attempted to pawn the weapons off only to be foiled by leaving their addresses in the shop. The band played their single "Good One" on Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight
Tubridy Tonight is an Irish chat show hosted by Ryan Tubridy that aired for five series on RTÉ One between 2004 and 2009. The programme featured guest interviews , audience participation and live music from both a guest music group and the house band...
on 21 March 2009.
Fred's product has been used by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
amongst others as theme music
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
to television show
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
s. The single "Skyscrapers" was awarded iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's influential "Single of the Week" accolade in October 2008. In January 2009, the band were nominated in the Hope for 2009 category at the Meteor Music Awards
Meteor Music Awards
The Meteor Ireland Music Awards are a group of music awards in Ireland...
. They have performed at festivals such as Oxegen
Oxegen
Oxegen is an annual music festival in Ireland held since 2004, sponsored by Heineken. As of 2007, 2008, 2009, the festival has been cited as Ireland's biggest music festival. And by 2009, the festival is cited as the greenest festival, being a 100% carbon neutral event in Ireland. It was previously...
, Electric Picnic
Electric Picnic
The 2005 festival took place on Saturday 3 September and Sunday 4 September. It is best remembered for Arcade Fire's performance which came before their subsequent mainstream success...
and Hard Working Class Heroes
Hard Working Class Heroes
Hard Working Class Heroes is an Irish music festival for emerging bands. It has taken place in Dublin on an annual basis in and around September of each year since 2003...
. They were also the first band to perform at the renovated Thomond Park
Thomond Park
Thomond Park is a stadium located in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and count Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. The capacity of the stadium is 26,500 following its large scale redevelopment in...
, home of Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
.
Fred were the first band to perform at the renovated Thomond Park
Thomond Park
Thomond Park is a stadium located in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and count Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. The capacity of the stadium is 26,500 following its large scale redevelopment in...
in Limerick
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...
. They played three singles, "Running", "Skyscrapers" and "Good One" before Munster
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
played Ospreys in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
on 12 April 2009. Fred's performance at the Cork Midsummer Festival's spiegeltent on 15 June 2009 was named as "Gig of the Week" by The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
. Fred's early Saturday performance on the Green Spheres stage in front of a large crowd at Oxegen 2009
Oxegen 2009
Oxegen 2009 was the sixth Oxegen festival to take place since 2004. It took place on the weekend of Friday 10 July, Saturday, 11 July and Sunday, 12 July at Punchestown Racecourse near Naas in County Kildare, Ireland...
was described as "everything that a festival band should be–fun, energetic and visibly having a superb time".
On March 19, 2010, the band were announced as one of the first acts expected to perform at that year's Indie-pendence
Indie-pendence
Indiependence is an annual Irish indie-rock music festival, that usually takes place at or near Mitchelstown in County Cork. Indiependence is one of the "little two" music festivals in Ireland, sharing many of its acts with Castlepalooza which is held on the same weekend in Tullamore, County Offaly...
.
In November 2010, Fred travelled to Montreal to record their new album with producer Howard Bilerman
Howard Bilerman
Howard Bilerman is a Canadian recording engineer, producer, and Grammy nominated musician. He is a former member of the band Arcade Fire, having recorded & drummed on their debut album, Funeral, as well as records by Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, Vic Chesnutt, Basia...
(and former Arcade Fire member) at his studio Hotel2tango
Hotel2Tango
The Hotel2Tango is a 24-track analogue recording studio situated in the Mile End district of Montreal, Quebec. The current facility is the second to bear the name, and was preceded by a similar operation in the same neighborhood until 2007 when the studio changed locations...
(Which he runs the Hotel2Tango recording studio in Montreal along with Efrim Menuck and Thierry Amar of Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
and A Silver Mt. Zion, and Radwan Moumneh) . Fred spent 3 weeks recording with Howard and returned to Ireland at the start of December 2010. In January 2011 they travelled to London and mixed the new record with Ben Hiller
Ben Hillier
Ben Hillier is a British songwriter and pop-rock music producer who is part of the creative team 140dB. He has produced such popular and critically acclaimed albums as Playing the Angel and Sounds of the Universe by Depeche Mode, Think Tank by Blur, Some Cities by Doves and Cast of Thousands by...
.
On April 11, 2011 the band streamed their new album Leaving My Empire on Soundcloud
SoundCloud
SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform which allows collaboration, promotion and distribution of audio recordings.-History:SoundCloud was originally started in Stockholm, Sweden, but was established in Berlin, Germany in August, 2007 by sound designer Alex Ljung and artist Eric Wahlforss...
. The album is released in Ireland on Friday
Friday
Friday is the day between Thursday and Saturday. In countries adopting Monday-first conventions as recommended by the international standard ISO 8601, it is the fifth day of the week. It is the sixth day in countries that adopt a Sunday-first convention as in Abrahamic tradition...
, April 15, 2011, It went straight into the Irish Album charts at No. 27, and The Indie charts at No. 10.
Members
- Joseph O'Leary - Vocals
- Jamie Hanrahan - Guitar
- Jamin O'Donovan - Bass
- Carolyn Goodwin - Piano
- Justin O'Mahony - Drums
Studio Albums
| Year | Album details | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| IRL Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on its behalf by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured electronically... |
UK UK Albums Chart The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart... |
||
| 2002 | Can't Stop, I'm Being Timed
|
— | — |
| 2005 | Making Music So You Don't Have To
|
70 | — |
| 2008 | Go God Go Go God Go (album) -Release history:... |
30 | — |
| 2011 | Leaving My Empire Leaving My Empire Leaving My Empire is the fourth studio album from Irish alternative band Fred. The album was recorded in Montreal, Canada by Howard Bilerman . Additional recording for the album was done at Lovetap Studios in the band's native Cork. Mixing was done by Ben Hillier and the album was mastered by Andy... |
TBR | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IRL Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured... |
||||||
| 2004 | "October" | – | Making Music So You Don't Have To | |||
| 2005 | "Four Chords And The Truth" | – | ||||
| "Summer's Coming" | – | |||||
| 2008 | "Skyscraper" | – | Go God Go Go God Go (album) -Release history:... |
|||
| "Running" | – | |||||
| "The Lights" | – | |||||
| 2009 | "Good One" | – | ||||
| 2010 | "Trial By Fire" | – | Leaving My Empire Leaving My Empire Leaving My Empire is the fourth studio album from Irish alternative band Fred. The album was recorded in Montreal, Canada by Howard Bilerman . Additional recording for the album was done at Lovetap Studios in the band's native Cork. Mixing was done by Ben Hillier and the album was mastered by Andy... |
|||
| 2011 | "If Not Now When" | TBR | ||||
| "—" denotes a title that did not chart, or was not released in that territory. | ||||||
Extended plays
| Year | Album details |
|---|---|
| 2000 | FRED
|
Awards
In January 2009, the band were nominated in the Hope for 2009 category at the Meteor Music AwardsMeteor Music Awards
The Meteor Ireland Music Awards are a group of music awards in Ireland...
. They lost to Wallis Bird
Wallis Bird
Wallis Bird is an Irish musician. She lives and works in London.-Biography:The first time Bird came into touch with music, she was six months old and received her first guitar from her father...
at the ceremony on 17 March 2009.
|-
| 2009 || Fred || Meteor Music Award – Hope for 2009 ||
|-
External links
- Official site
- YouTube
- Bebo
- Fred Interview Fazer Magazine, July 2009