The Walls

For the Malayalam film, The walls, see Mathilukal.

The Walls
Origin	Ireland
Genres	Rock
Years active	1998–present
Labels	Dirtbird Records
Associated acts	The Stunning
Website	The Walls Official Website
Members	Joe Wall Steve Wall Jon O'Connell Rory Doyle
Past members	Carl Harms

The Walls are an Irish rock band. They were formed in 1998 by two ex-members of The Stunning - brothers Steve and Joe Wall. Steve is also an actor appearing in Vikings (Einar); Moone Boy (Danny Moone); Silent Witness (Chief Superintendent Robert Drake) amongst others.

Members

• Steve Wall
• Joe Wall
• Carl Harms (Guitar/Keyboards) (left February 2004)
• Rory Doyle (Drums)
• Jon O'Connell (Bass) (joined February 2004)

Biography

1998–2000

Brothers Steve and Joe Wall (previously of The Stunning) returned to Ireland after a two-year failed label stint in London. Their Camden housemate Carl Harms joined the band on guitar and keyboard duties. Drummer Rory Doyle joined soon afterwards. They set up their own label, Earshot Records (later changing it to Dirtbird Records) and recorded and released a string of singles. A remix of one of the album tracks, "Bone Deep", clicked with radio and became a nationwide hit. Many of the songs have featured on a number of TV series and feature films such as Bachelors Walk, Dead Bodies, Goldfish Memory and On the Edge (starring Cillian Murphy).

2001–2004

The Walls heard rumour of a second Slane Castle date for U2 (as the first concert had sold out in hours). They sent four copies of their album to the band. Bono loved it and offered The Walls a support slot. That day the band played to their biggest crowd to date – around 80,000 people. "To the Bright and Shining Sun" was their next single. That June they supported Red Hot Chili Peppers. They spent the next year gigging while building their own studio in Dublin.

In February 2004, original member Carl Harms decided to leave the band to make his own record. They recruited bassist Jon O’Connell, who had just 2 weeks to learn all the songs before a two-week tour of the new EU accession states: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. "To the Bright and Shining Sun" also featured on the EA Sports soundtrack for the UEFA Euro 2004 official licensed game.

2004 - 2006

For the next album, the band went to Studio Black Box in France to record with producer and ex-The Frames guitarist David Odlum. Originally scheduled for a release date in September 2004, The Walls decided to hold their album until the new year. U2 were releasing How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb that autumn and according to Steve "we thought that it would be a fair and gentlemanly gesture to stand back and give them a fair crack of the whip, so to speak".

In October 2004, they released a taster - "Drowning Pool" - a blistering, spleen-venting, blues explosion, 2min 52sec long. It took people by surprise and divided opinion - exactly what the band wanted. They supported Bob Dylan to a capacity crowd in Galway that summer and played a storming set that showed there were changes afoot in The Walls sound. They christened the album New Dawn Breaking after the final track on the record. It went straight into the Irish charts at No. 5 in its first week of release in June 2005 and has produced four hit singles: "To the Bright and Shining Sun", "Passing Through", "Drowning Pool" and "Black and Blue".

2007

The band kicked off 2007 with a gig in Dubai and are presently negotiating gig offers in France, Italy, the Czech Republic and China. They also supported Crowded House on their Australian comeback tour before retreating into their studio to work on album number three.

2010 - 2012

In 2010, the double A-side "Carrying The Fire"/"Phantom Power" was released. Following this, in March 2011, the "Bird In A Cage" EP was released, of which the title track was revealed to also be on the bands forthcoming album "Stop The Lights", which is to be released in 2012. Following this announcement, the band's new single "Stop The Lights" was released in January 2012.

Stop the Lights, The Walls third album, was released on 9 March 2012 going Top 20 in Ireland. The singles "Bird in a Cage" and "Stop the Lights" received strong airplay. Part-funded by the band’s fans, people involved in the making of it include Dubliner Rob Kirwan, who recorded PJ Harvey’s recent Mercury Award-winning album "Let England Shake". For the artwork a five-meter high installation was designed and constructed by ‘Conor & David’. The Making of the Artwork.

2012 - 2014

As well as playing some shows in Ireland the band made their first trip to Russia in March 2013 playing Moscow, Bryansk and Kaluga. They played live on the Ivan Urgant TV show and on Moscow FM radio. They returned in 2014 playing three shows in Moscow.

Steve Wall returned to acting landing strong roles in Moone Boy for Sky TV; Vikings (TV series) (MGM/History Channel); Silent Witness (BBC); Crossing Lines with Donald Sutherland and Rebellion (RTE TV series) due for release in 2016.

Begin Again the 2014 hit movie starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo features The Walls "Drowning Pool" throughout the opening credit sequence. The song is not included on the soundtrack album of the movie.

Discography

Studio albums

• Hi-Lo (released May 2000).
• New Dawn Breaking (released June 2005) (reached No. 5 in Irish charts)
• Stop The Lights (released 2012)
• Folk Muzak (released 2013) (digital exclusive)

Singles and albums

• "The Night I Called It A Day" (Single, released Feb 1999)
• "Broken Boy" (Single, released Sept 1999)
• "Something's Wrong" (Single, released Apr 2000)
• Hi-Lo (Album, released May 2000). A remix of one of the album tracks, Bone Deep, was popular in Ireland. Some songs featured on TV series and feature films: Bachelors Walk, Dead Bodies, Goldfish Memory and On the Edge (starring Cillian Murphy).
• "To the Bright and Shining Sun" (Single, released 2002) reached No. 11 in the Irish charts.
• "Drowning Pool" (single, released 2004)
• New Dawn Breaking (Album, released June 2005) reached No. 5 in Irish charts and has produced four hit singles: "To the Bright and Shining Sun", "Passing Through", "Drowning Pool" and "Black and Blue".
• "Carrying the Fire" / "Phantom Power" (double-A sided single, released Jun 2010)
• "Bird In A Cage EP" (4 Track EP, released Mar 2011)
• "Stop the Lights" (album) released May 2012.

Cover versions & Miscellaneous

• Cover version of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1
• Cover version of Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 2
• Cover version of U2's "With or without you" on Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 3
• Irish language version of "Carrying The Fire" from "Stop The Lights" on "Rí-Rá le Hector" (2012) dubbed "An Tine Bheo Sa Chroí"

Career highlights

• Supported U2 at Slane Castle, 2001
• Supported Red Hot Chili Peppers, 2002
• Supported Bob Dylan, Galway, 2005
• Supported Crowded House, Australia, 2007

External links

• Official band website, contains free MP3s; gig info, photos, Walls shop, press releases etc.
• The Walls Bandcamp page Buy downloads and cc's.
• The Walls iTunes page