The Hoosiers biography
The Hoosiers are an English pop/rock band, consisting of members Irwin Sparkes (lead vocals, lead guitar), Martin Skarendahl (bass guitar, rhythm guitar) and Alan Sharland (drums, percussion).
Their first single "Worried About Ray" reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart in July 2007. In October 2007, they released their debut album The Trick to Life, which reached number 1 in the album charts. The band have recently released their second top ten album The Illusion of Safety which was released on 16 August 2010 and was preceded by the lead single "Choices" which was released on 1 August 2010.
Biography
Hailing from Exeter (Sharland), Reading (Sparkes) and Stockholm (Skarendahl), the band claimed to create a sound that they called "odd pop", combining a number of musical genres with their first album
The Trick to Life. They reinvented themselves for the release of
The Illusion of Safety as a more conventional pop band with electro influences.
According to the band's self-penned biographies (found on websites and in album sleeves), 'Alphonso' Raymond Sharland (drummer) and Irwin Nathaniel Sparkes (lead singer and guitarist) spent some time in the United States, encouraged by their chemistry teacher (Grant Serpell who was part of the band Sailor during their fame in the 1970s), in an attempt to broaden their horizons. The pair won themselves a football (soccer) scholarship at the University of Indianapolis, despite a reputed claim to be "allergic to running" (a claim which is backed up by lead singer Sparkes' asthma).
thumbTheir time spent in Indiana inspired the band's name: a citizen of Indiana is colloquially called a Hoosier. Having gathered enough material to compile an album, Al and Irwin returned to London where they met Swiss keyboard player and sound engineer Duri Darms and Martin Skarendahl, a Swedish ex-fireman who was then working with Darms as a recording studio engineer and studying at The London Music School. The original group included two band members (Tony Byrne and Tom Easey) who had by this point left, leaving Sparkes and Sharland to replace them with Skarendahl.
This newly-revamped trio of Sparkes, Skarendahl and Sharland subsequently signed to RCA and released their first album The Trick to Life on 22 October 2007. The band have spoken of their desire to write songs that are about more than just "boy and girl... finding love on a Friday night on the lash with your mates".
In February 2008 they were named as Worst Band at the annual NME awards. They are produced by ex-member of Jamiroquai, Toby Smith, and managed by Steve Morton.
The band's second single, "Goodbye Mr A", appeared in the football video game FIFA 08, and the game can also be seen in the "Goodbye Mr A" music video. Lead singer Irwin Sparkes, who is from Reading, is playing on the game as Reading against Manchester United. The song also appears in a trailer for the 2007 film Juno. Following the release of "Worst Case Scenario", the next release from The Trick to Life was "Cops and Robbers", as confirmed in a live webchat with The Hoosiers on GMTV. The video was broadcast on Channel 4 at 12:10pm on 22 March 2008.
Biography from 
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