Cast of Cheers form part of packed bill

Date Published: 30-Dec-2010

DUBLIN based quartet The Cast of Cheers play Róisín Dubh this New Year’s Eve, as part of a packed bill at the Dominick St venue. The band have blazed a trail this year, releasing their debut album, Chariots as a free download. That, along with some incendiary live shows, saw them quickly become big news on the indie scene.

So, has 2010 been a good year for The Cast of Cheers?

“It’s actually been the only year for The Cast of Cheers!” laughs guitarist, vocalist and synth player Neil Adams. “We started playing live in January.”

The band is the brainchild of Neil’s brother, Conor, who is The Cast of Cheers’ front man and guitarist.

“He started writing the songs that are on Chariots, up in his bedroom last October,” says Neil. “Myself and Conor were in a band before with the drummer, Kev [Curran], about two years ago.”

The Cast of Cheers line-up is completed by bassist John Higgins. It didn’t take long for Chariots to generate a buzz in Ireland’s online music community. Mick Roe, the drummer from Dublin trio Adebisi Shank, posted a link on his Facebook urging his friends to download the album. This, in turn, led to The Cast of Cheers’ first gig – a support slot with Choice Prize winners Super Extra Bonus Party in Dublin’s Andrew’s Lane theatre. Chariots was hardly a month old when Neil and the lads first stood before a crowd.

“We had only played together in sheds,” he recalls. “We were all freezing, barely able to hold a guitar.

“We were actually quite nervous [before the show]. We’ve all played in bands before so it wouldn’t be new to us but, at the same time, it was kind of nerve-wracking. Because a lot of people had downloaded the album and they probably had high expectations. And we didn’t know if we’d meet them.”

But meet them they did, and The Cast of Cheers soon became the name to drop amongst indie fans. A big moment for the band was when they were championed by Nialler9, Ireland’s most popular and established music blogger.

For the full interview see page 18 of this week’s Tribunes.