Artist description The music of the Irish Brothers travels through the sounds of 50's rock and roll, country and R&B, while recognizing that punk happened. Fueled by Keith Irish’s unique bass style, drummer David Irish’s screams, and lead singer/guitarist Karl Irish’s guitar work, the band blends influences from Gene Vincent to the Stooges.

Music Style Rock and Roll

Musical Influences Gene Vincent, the Stooges, Ramones, the Cramps

Similar Artists Reverend Horton heat

Artist History Formed in 1998

Group Members Karl Irish: Vocals and guitar Keith Irish: Backing Vocals and Bass Guitar David Irish: Backing Vocals and Drums

Instruments Guitar, Bass, Drums

Albums Bruce Lee Rockabilly (2001) Split 7 Inch Record (2003)

Press Reviews The Irish Brothers A Band of Brothers By Bridget Hall (From Rocknrollpurgatory.com) Our last name’s Irish and we’re all brothers,” explains Keith, bassist and youngest of the Irish Brothers. “But we don’t play Irish music,” adds lead singer Karl, the eldest of the trio. He’s not kidding. With songs like “Psychobilly Pompadour” – it’s a “death metal meets the Cramps” song according to drummer and middle brother David - to “I Will Never Marry” – an excellent showcase for their rockabilly beat, the Irish Brothers are probably as far removed from Irish music as you can get. Instead, their music infuses enough rockabilly/roots rhythm with punk rock speed and energy that they create their own definitive sound – and it makes for a fast-paced, vigorous, and really fun show. Sitting down to chat with the three brothers, I discovered that their shows are so fun not only because their music is awesome, but because they are too. They’re an amiable trio with great senses of humor and who like to feed people cake when it’s Keith’s birthday...In all, they’re probably the most affable band you’ll ever meet. It’s the brotherly blood tie, though, that gives the trio an edge over most other bands. Being related doesn’t guarantee an easier time in the band, but it does help. As Karl points out, “[A good working relationship depends on] how much people are willing to work together…but I know that my brothers are the only ones who can put up with me. I have these, like, diva qualities – they’re the only ones who know how to work with [that].” As the three brothers all live in the same city, they’re able to keep in constant contact with each other – “it makes it a lot easier [to organize anything],” adds Keith. This familial relationship, according to David, even helps the music: “I can tell what [Karl’s] songwriting is going to be like. [When Karl brings in a new song, I] can just tell…where he’s going to go with it before it even happens.” While the brothers have been playing together for about four years, they didn’t always go by The Irish Brothers. “We were called Orange CKD first,” explains Karl. “And had a different drummer,” finishes Keith. The idea was to write “CKD” in an orange pen; hence, Orange CKD. Unfortunately, pronunciation was an ongoing problem. “Everyone called us Orange Chickadee, Orange Soda, Orange Cyanide,” remembers Karl, “Yea, then we got [David] on drums.” The three brothers played their first show together at the Doll Hut in Anaheim – “I had basically played drums for five days…I was pretty bad for like six months,” says David with a chuckle. A month passed and the brothers were still struggling to find a good band name. Finally, while playing a show at the Tropics Lounge in Fullerton, serendipity kicked in. “Our friends just started screaming ‘Alright! The Irish brothers!’ [We thought] ok, we’ll use that name,” laughs Keith, “we couldn’t come up with anything and since our last name sucks so bad, we had to – we couldn’t think of anything else.” This isn’t the only time the brothers have let their friends inadvertently help them along the way. With a first album titled “Bruce Lee Rockabilly”, one would assume the three are kung fu fans. One would, however, be wrong – as Karl explains, “The story is our friend [was playing a show] in San Francisco and…some guy said, ‘You guys sound loosely rockabilly.’ [The friend] didn’t hear right; he’s all, ‘What? Bruce Lee rockabilly?’” With Bruce Lee Rockabilly out now for about a year, the brothers have been hard at work on new material and playing as many shows as their schedules allow. They’re even putting together a split-7 record with the San Diego-based band, the Scotchgreens, on the aptly named independent label, Split Seven Records. “They’re gonna do ‘I Will Never Marry’ [an Irish Brothers song], we’re gonna do ‘Hot as Texas’ [a Scotchgreens song], and we’re each gonna do originals,” David elaborates. Karl adds, “We’re just kinda working on writing the songs and putting [the new album] together.” With eight new songs and more on the way, the brothers are eager to have to new album out in the following year. Playing largely in Orange County, they do travel to other venues in Los Angeles, San Diego, even Las Vegas. Because their music is such a high-energy mix of rockabilly and punk, they’ve been booked with a wide – sometimes surprising – assortment of bands. “A lot of our big shows have been with swing bands,” observes David. “Yea, it’s kinda bizarre,” adds Keith, “but we always seem to go over pretty well. I don’t know what it is; I just think it’s a pretty good mix I guess. We played in between the Rumble Cats and LaVey Smith once. We were definitely the oddballs, [but] people seemed to like the switch.” Even though they often sound different from the other bands on the band list, the brothers are still appreciated and encouraged. Bands like Royal Crown Revue and Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys have not only enjoyed the brothers’ music, but have also offered their support. Through it all, the brothers remain humble and good-natured. As Karl explains, “Anytime an [established] band says ‘You guys are good; keep doing it’…” “…Or they thank us from the stage,” adds David, “they don’t have to so it’s really cool. Eddie Nichols [from Royal Crown Revue], halfway through the set, he’s all ‘How ‘bout those Irish Brothers? Those guys are really cool!’ That meant a lot…you know, they don’t have to say stuff like that.” As with any hard-working band, the Irish Brothers have a realistic perspective on the band’s direction. They hope the band will take off, but they’re willing to start small. While they play primarily in Southern California in venues about the size of 100, they are hoping to expand into travelling up and down the West Coast and possibly linking onto tours like the Warped Tour. “Even if you’re just playing some tent stage or something like that, there is some name recognition on that,” explains David, “I hope good things will happen. We work hard at it.” What will happen to the band once they get huge? Well, they certainly won’t lose their senses of humor. “Our sister does make-up,” says Keith, “so if ever we go into the whole Alice Cooper thing…” “…She’ll do our make-up,” finishes David. “If we got super huge,” grins Karl, “I’d want to really glam it up.” June 13th-June 20th, 2002 OC Weekly By Chris Ziegler Hello Cleveland! IRISH BROTHERS LIQUID DEN FRIDAY, JUNE 7 Of all the bands you’d wanna meet in a dark alley—well, parking lot—the Irish Brothers should be around the top of the list. They’re funny, they’re friendly, and they’ve got a lot of good stories about a lot of weird shit. And so you should be jealous that that’s where we found them, milling around behind the Liquid Den and getting ready to go on. See, the Irish Brothers (real brothers, unlike the Ramones or the White Stripes or the Monkees) do a rough-and-tumble rockabilly thing that comes off even scruffier live—when that drummer starts freaking out and screaming and shrieking through the choruses, you know you’re not quite in Hootenanny land anymore. Which is probably a good thing. Plus, they can stagger from goofy stuff like "Bruce Lee Rockabilly" to sappy sad stuff like "I Will Never Marry" (our favorite song!) to you’re-scaring-me-weirdo stuff like covering the Misfits’ "Teenagers From Mars" like it’s the most regular thing in the world. Best part: Keith Irish (whom you may remember from Punk As a Doornail, who by now are even HUGER than the Offspring, if only among European experimental-music fetishists who rarely see the sunlight because they’re obsessively cataloguing their live Faust tapes! Right on!) looks like a monster when he snarls out backups to "Psycho Pompadour"—bug those eyes OUT!—and plays that bass like a monster the rest of the time. Worst part: the suspiciously shaven-headed dude who kept mad-dogging people and his girlfriend with the "California Uber Alles" T-shirt (which had nothing to do with the Dead Kennedys, if you know what we mean) and finally disappeared—probably to the Shack, where every day is Hitler’s birthday! Last part: we wandered home after wishing we could hear more electric banjo from the ScotchGreens and wishing we had more space to write about it. The night was still young, but we’re too old.

Location Orange, Ca - USA

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