The Academic are an Irish

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band, formed in

Rochfortbridge Rochfortbridge () is a village in County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The village is located at the intersection of the R400 road (Ireland), R400 and the R446 road, R446 (formerly the N6 road (Ireland), N6) roads. As of the 2016 cen ...

County Westmeath "Noble above nobility" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg , subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country , subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...

in 2013. The band consists of Craig Fitzgerald, Dean Gavin, and brothers Matthew and Stephen Murtagh. Their debut studio album, '' Tales from the Backseat'', was released in January 2018, entering the

Irish Albums Chart The Irish Albums Chart is the Irish music industry standard albums popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA). The charts were previously compiled on behalf of IRMA by Chart-Track, and have been compiled by the ...

at number one. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the

Choice Music Prize The Choice Music Prize (), known for sponsorship reasons as the RTÉ Choice Music Prize is an annual music prize awarded to the best album from a band or solo musician who is born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland or holds an Irish pa ...

in January 2019.

History

Formation and early years (2013–2016)

The Academic were formed in 2013, when Fitzgerald, Gavin and the Murtagh brothers were attending St Joseph's Secondary School,

. Such was the reaction to the release of their debut EP, ''Loose Friends'', in October 2015, that the band sold out their first show at Dublin venue

Vicar Street Vicar Street is a concert, performing arts centre and events venue in Dublin, Ireland. Located on Thomas Street, Dublin 8, Vicar Street has capacity for 1,050 people for seated performances and 1,500 people for standing gigs. The venue is owne ...

. In January 2016, the band were selected by

RTÉ 2FM (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while ...

to represent Ireland at

Eurosonic Noorderslag Eurosonic Noorderslag is an annual four-day music showcase festival and conference held in January in Groningen, Netherlands. The first three days of the festival (Eurosonic) feature artists from all over Europe, the last day of the festival (N ...

Groningen Groningen (; gos, Grunn or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen province in the Netherlands. The ''capital of the north'', Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of the northern part of t ...

, which resulted in numerous festival bookings and extensive radio airplay across Europe that year.

''Tales from the Backseat'' (2017–2019)

The band garnered further media interest in July 2017 with the release of "Bear Claws", an anthemic track which was likened in style to

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

. The track received further attention after the premiere of their first-of-a-kind live looper music video. The video, which was performed live on a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

video stream, utilized the delay in the stream to create a musical loop, to which they gradually added vocals and instruments. It was a viral hit and reached over 1 million views on YouTube in 48 hours. The band announced on 26 October 2017 that their debut LP, '' Tales from the Backseat'', would be released on 12 January 2018. The album was released to critical acclaim, entering the

at number one. Their biggest headline show to date took place at the

Iveagh Gardens The Iveagh Gardens (; ga, Gairdíní Uí Eachach) is a public park located between Clonmel Street and Upper Hatch Street, near the National Concert Hall in Dublin, Ireland. It is a national, as opposed to a municipal park, and designated as a ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, on 20 July 2018, before they embarked upon a US, European, UK and Ireland tour for the autumn of 2018. The album was nominated for Album of the Year at the

in January 2019.

Present day (2020–present)

The band signed to

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

in May 2020.

Members

* Craig Fitzgerald - lead vocals, guitar * Matthew Murtagh - guitar, backing vocals * Stephen Murtagh - bass, backing vocals * Dean Gavin -drums, backing vocals

Discography

Albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Academic, The Mullingar Irish indie rock groups 2013 establishments in Ireland Musical groups established in 2013 Musical groups from County Westmeath Downtown Records artists