Snow Patrol

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Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol, from Left–Right: Paul Wilson, Gary Lightbody, Jonny Quinn, Nathan Connolly, Tom Simpson
Background information
Origin	Dundee, Scotland
Genres	Alternative rock, power pop, post-Britpop, indie rock
Years active	1994–present
Labels	Fiction/Interscope Jeepster Electric Honey
Associated acts	Shrug, Iain Archer, Belle & Sebastian,The Reindeer Section, File Under Easy Listening, Terra Diablo, The Cake Sale,Little Doses, Listen... Tanks!, Tired Pony
Website	snowpatrol.com
Members
Gary Lightbody Jonny Quinn Nathan Connolly Paul Wilson Tom Simpson
Past members
Mark McClelland Michael Morrison

Snow Patrol are a Northern Irish/Scottish alternative rock band formed at theUniversity of Dundee in 1994.^[1] The group comprises Gary Lightbody (vocals, guitar), Jonny Quinn (drums), Nathan Connolly (guitar, backing vocals), Paul Wilson(bass guitar, backing vocals), and Tom Simpson (keyboards). Initially an indie rockband, their first three records, the EP Starfighter Pilot (1997), and the studio albumsSongs for Polarbears (1998) and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up(2001), were commercially unsuccessful and were released by the independent labels Electric Honey and Jeepster respectively. The band then signed on to the major record label Polydor Records in 2002.

Snow Patrol rose to national fame with their major label debut, Final Straw, in 2003. The album was certified 5× platinum in the UK^[2] and eventually sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Their next studio album, Eyes Open, (2006) and its hit single "Chasing Cars," propelled the band to greater international fame. The album topped the UK Album Charts and was the best-selling British album of the year, selling over 6 million copies worldwide. In 2008, the band released their fifth studio album A Hundred Million Suns, then in 2009 their first compilation album, Up to Now and in 2011 they released their sixth studio album Fallen Empires.

During the course of their career, Snow Patrol have won five Meteor Ireland Music Awards and have been nominated for three BRIT Awards. Since the release of Final Straw, the band has sold over ten million albums worldwide.^[3]

Contents   [hide]  1 History 1.1 Early years (1994–2001) 1.2 Final Straw (2001–2005) 1.3 Eyes Open (2006–2007) 1.4 A Hundred Million Suns and Up to Now (2008–2009) 1.5 Fallen Empires (2009–present) 2 Influence and other ventures 3 Philanthropy 4 Band members 5 Discography 6 Awards 7 Tours 8 References 9 External links

[edit]History

[edit]Early years (1994–2001)

Snow Patrol originated from a band called Polar Bear, which formed in 1994 and consisted of Gary Lightbody, Michael Morrison and Mark McClelland.

Originally formed in late 1994 by University of Dundee students Gary Lightbody, Michael Morrison and Mark McClelland as the Shrug,^[4] the band started by performing gigs at the university and surrounding pubs such as Lucifer's Mill. Their first EP was entitled the Yoghurt vs Yoghurt debate. In 1995, they changed their name to Polar Bear (or Polarbear) to avoid issues with any American bands that were also named Shrug. Shortly afterwards, drummer Mike Morrison left the band after suffering a breakdown and returned to Northern Ireland. In mid 1997, Polar Bear released a three-track EP, Starfighter Pilot, on the Electric Honeylabel.^[5] The band again renamed, this time to Snow Patrol,^[1] because of a naming conflict with another band of the same name fronted by Jane's Addiction's ex-bassist Eric Avery.^[6]At this point, Jonny Quinn, from Northern Ireland, joined as permanent drummer.

Jonny Quinn, who joined the band before their first studio release.

Snow Patrol joined Scottish independent labelJeepster in 1997, home of Belle & Sebastian.^[7]Jeepster had the same idea for Snow Patrol as the approach they had with Belle & Sebastian, who had become popular by word-of-mouth, without heavy promotion. The band were happy to be associated with an indie label, because it provided them greater independence than a major label. At that time, they were quoted as saying they expected Jeepster wouldn't expect them to have a strict work ethic or focus too much on promotional efforts.^[8]

Snow Patrol debut album was Songs for Polarbears, released in 1998 after the band had started living in Glasgow.^[9] Lightbody was then working at the Nice n Sleazy's Bar inSauchiehall Street.^[10] The album was a critical success, but did not make any impact commercially.^[8] The same year, the band came close to getting featured in a worldwide advertisement for Philips. Gomez was ultimately signed.^[11][12] In 1999, the band won the "Phil Lynott Award for Best New Band" by Irish music magazine Hot Press.^[13] In 2001, still living in Glasgow, the band followed up withWhen It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up.^[14] Like its predecessor, the album was praised by critics, but did not sell.^[8]

The band began to work harder by touring more, but continued to be in control. They slept on fans' floors after concerts and pretended to be members of Belle & Sebastian to get into nightclubs.^[15] They owed rent to their landlords and used to receive regular visits and letters from them when on tour.^[8] After the failure of the second album, the band began to realise that the label's lax attitude towards management and record promotion, qualities that had initially attracted the band to Jeepster, was likely holding them back. The band's manager at the time was Danny McIntosh. Lightbody has described him as "the angriest man in pop: great, great man". He has said that he loved the band "with every atom in his body", and was never angry towards them. He has credited him with keeping the band together in those years. McIntosh had a gold colored splitter bus in which the band used to travel to play concerts.^[16]