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Graham Hopkins | |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 20 December 1975 Dublin, Ireland |
| Origin | Clane, Ireland |
| Genres | Rock, pop, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Years active | 1993–present |
Graham Hopkins (born 20 December 1975) is an Irish drummer. He was the drummer in The Swell Season, The Frames and rock band Therapy?. [1]
Hopkins was born in Dublin and was brought up in Clane, County Kildare in a musical family (his father, Des being a jazz drummer). He was surrounded by music from an early age and began playing the drums at approximately four or five years old. In 1993, he left school to join My Little Funhouse, a band from County Kilkenny. The band had already released their debut album Standunder on Geffen Records, when Graham joined. The band toured for about a year in support of the album, mainly in the United States. Tours included support to Guns N' Roses and the Ramones amongst others. The band then lived in Los Angeles and recorded a second album for Geffen before imploding.
Hopkins moved on, joining the popular Northern Irish band Therapy? in 1996, recording three studio albums – Semi-Detached, Suicide Pact – You First, Shameless – and also recorded new songs with the band for So Much for the Ten Year Plan: A Retrospective 1990-2000. His first public appearance with Therapy? was at the IRMA Awards, Dublin on 29 March 1996. Hopkins played his first full gig with Therapy? at a fan-club members only show at The Attic, Dublin on 10 April 1996. His last show was at the Ambassador Theatre, Dublin on 8 December 2001.
After leaving Therapy? in December 2001 Hopkins was asked to tour with Irish singer/songwriter Gemma Hayes. He toured with Hayes for over a year – supporting her Mercury Music Prize-nominated album Night on My Side .
Hopkins then went on to record two albums with his own band Halite. Halite began as a solo project for Graham, who debuted with the critically acclaimed first album "Head On" with Warner Bros. Records in 2003. Head On was an off-kilter melodic pop/rock album. He played most instruments on the record but needed musicians to help out for playing live. He asked his friends Binzer Brennan, Keith Farrell and Derren Dempsey if they would tour with him. Halite then grew into a fully formed band. They soon went on to record and independently release their second album "Courses" in 2004. Halite played numerous shows over the following two years, including opening the Slane Concert in 2003 for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Foo Fighters. In early 2005, due to commitments with others projects from each member, the band was put on hold.
Hopkins was a member of Dublin band Boss Volenti for three years. He drummed on their self-titled debut album released in 2006 but left the band immediately after their appearance at Electric Picnic 2008.
Hopkins appeared as part of the band on the 2006 Oxfam charity album, The Cake Sale .
Hopkins spent the early part of 2007 stepping in as drummer for Snow Patrol on their European, Australian, New Zealand and American tours.
He drummed on Dolores O'Riordan's debut solo album, Are You Listening? in 2007 before embarking on a worldwide tour with her.
Hopkins also played on the soundtrack to the Irish Oscar-winning musical film Once which was written and directed by John Carney. He drummed on a few of the songs with Glen Hansard of The Frames and Markéta Irglová.
Hopkins toured with The Swell Season, which features Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová and members of The Frames. The Swell Season released their second album, Strict Joy, in September 2009.
Hopkins has played drums on numerous albums, both Irish and internationally, including with The Frames, The Swell Season, David Kitt, Mundy, The Reindeer Section, Josh Ritter, Jape, The Pale and Pugwash amongst many others.
Hopkins plays Zildjian cymbals, [2] Aquarian drumheads, [3] uses Vic Firth sticks [4] and Drum Workshop drums, drum hardware and pedals.
Therapy? are a Northern Irish rock band from Larne, formed in 1989 by guitarist-vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing. Therapy? recorded their first demo with Cairns filling in on bass guitar. To complete the lineup, the band recruited Larne bassist Michael McKeegan. The band signed with major label A&M Records in 1992, for which they released four albums, most notably Troublegum in 1994 and Infernal Love in 1995. Ewing's departure in early 1996 preceded the arrivals of his replacement Graham Hopkins and Martin McCarrick on cello and guitar. Neil Cooper replaced Hopkins on drums in 2002. The band have remained a three-piece since the departure of McCarrick in 2004.
The Frames are an Irish rock band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six studio albums. In addition to Hansard, the band's current line-up includes original member Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Dave Hingerty, Joe Doyle, and Rob Bochnik.
Boss Volenti are an Irish rock quartet from Dublin, formed in 2003. Rob Daly, Martin Murphy and Dan O'Connor first met while playing in bands around Dublin. Then followed Laura Mackey, who O'Connor met while both were studying guitar at college. Following Murphy's departure, drummer Graham Hopkins met the band in 2005 when they were demoing recordings for their first album and asked if he could join. The band's influences include Thin Lizzy, Al Green, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Hall & Oates.
Glen James Hansard is an Irish singer-songwriter and musician. Since 1990, he has been the frontman of the Irish rock band The Frames, with whom he has released six studio albums, four of which have charted in the top ten of the Irish Album Charts. In the 2000s, he was one half of folk rock duo The Swell Season before releasing his debut solo album, Rhythm and Repose, in 2012. His 2015 second album Didn't He Ramble was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.
Fyfe Alexander Ewing, is best known as the original drummer and founding member of rock band Therapy?.
The Swell Season is a folk rock duo formed by Irish musician Glen Hansard and Czech singer and pianist Markéta Irglová. "The Swell Season" name is derived from Hansard's favourite novel by Josef Škvorecký from 1975 bearing the same title. Their debut album, released in 2006, carried the same name.
The Cost is the sixth studio album by The Frames, released in Ireland on Plateau Records on 20 September 2006. The album was released worldwide on ANTI- on 20 February 2007. The album exhibits a sound more like that of For the Birds than their more recent album Burn the Maps. The Frames' line-up for The Cost features Glen Hansard on guitar and vocals, Colm Mac Con Iomaire on violin and keyboards, Joseph Doyle on bass guitar and backing vocals, Rob Bochnik on lead guitar and Graham Hopkins who played drums in place of the Frames' regular drummer Johnny Boyle. It was recorded in Black Box, France by Stephen Fitzmaurice and David Odlum with assistance from Fabian Lesure. The front and back covers feature photography by frontman Hansard of oak leaves, accompanied by a handwritten inscription reading: "Ni identitat permanent, ni idea de persona, ni d'ésser vivent, ni d'un temps d'existència". The album is enigmatically dedicated to "Multi ".
The Cake Sale was a collective of mostly Irish musical artists, with Swedish singer-songwriter Nina Persson of the Cardigans and Australian musician Nick Seymour of Crowded House.
Jonathan Graham Quinn is a Northern Irish musician, best known as the former drummer for alternative rock band Snow Patrol, and was previously a member of bands like The Mighty Fall, The New Brontes and Disraeli Gears. As drummer for Snow Patrol, he has played on all releases up until he left the band in 2023. He is married to industrial designer Mariane Quinn.
Paul Anthony Noonan is a songwriter, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist from Lucan, County Dublin. He is best known as the frontman of the Irish group Bell X1 and as a solo artist and collaborator on various musical projects.
Once is a 2007 Irish romantic musical drama film written and directed by John Carney. The film stars Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová as two struggling musicians in Dublin, Ireland. Hansard and Irglová had previously performed music as the Swell Season, and composed and performed the film's original songs.
Markéta Irglová is a Czech-Icelandic singer-songwriter, musician and actress, who starred in the film Once, which earned her a number of major awards, including the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly", with co-writer and co-star Glen Hansard.
Joe Doyle is the bassist and backing singer for Irish rock band The Frames and The Swell Season. He has been a member of The Frames since 1996, appearing on six albums to date. In addition to appearing on Frames albums, he has also plays bass and contributes backing vocals to two Swell Season albums: the soundtrack to "Once" and "Strict Joy." He is currently touring as a member of the Swell Season, which also includes Glen Hansard (vocals/guitar), Marketa Irglova (vocals/piano), Graham Hopkins, Rob Botchnik and Colm Mac Con Iomaire. Doyle originates from Allenwood, County Kildare, Ireland.
A summary of the year 2003 in the Irish music industry.
"Falling Slowly" is a song in the indie folk and indie rock genres that was written, composed and performed by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová. The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 2007 Irish musical romance film Once, which starred Hansard and Irglová, and for which it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards. The song was also recorded by Hansard's band The Frames.
Johnny Boyle is the former drummer of Irish band The Frames. He first came to the attention of the Irish music scene when he joined Picture House before the release of their second album, Karmarama. He left the band shortly after the third studio album, Madness, Sadness, Gladness to join Marianne Faithfull on tour.
Jape are an Irish electronic–rock band from Dublin. Formed as a side project by Richie Egan whilst part of The Redneck Manifesto, they have released five albums to date; Cosmosphere (2003), The Monkeys in the Zoo Have More Fun Than Me (2004), Ritual (2008), Ocean of Frequency (2011), and This Chemical Sea (2015). Jape's wider discography includes the EP, Jape is Grape (2007), as well as a number of singles, including "Floating" and "Phil Lynott". The band have performed at festivals and events such as Glastonbury, Electric Picnic, Lovebox and Hard Working Class Heroes and provided support for The Flaming Lips at Belsonic in Belfast in August 2008.
Rob Bochnik is an American musician, audio engineer, singer and songwriter. He is guitarist with The Frames, has worked with The Swell Season, The Butcher Shop Quartet and records as a solo artist. He has worked on several projects as an audio engineer including the Grammy-nominated Once soundtrack and Set List, The Frames' 2003 live album.
Pugwash are an Irish pop band fronted by Drimnagh-born musician Thomas Walsh. Pugwash has released six albums since its debut LP Almond Tea in 1999. Influences on the band's sound are regularly cited as including XTC, Electric Light Orchestra and Jeff Lynne, the Beach Boys, the Kinks, Honeybus and the Beatles, though Walsh dismisses the Beatles comparisons as "lazy".
Dave Hingerty is an Irish drummer and photographer. He is the drummer of The Frames, after a break of almost 10 years, and has played with and recorded with a number of other acts including Josh Ritter, who he performed with on several albums.
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