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The Hoosiers (formerly known as The Hoosier Complex) are an English indie pop band from Reading, Berkshire and Sweden. The band members are Irwin Sparkes (vocals, guitar), Martin Skarendahl (bass and guitar for acoustic performances) and Alfonso (Alan) Sharland (drums). Their first single "Worried About Ray" reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart in July 2007. They released their debut album, The Trick to Life, in October 2007.

History

Hailing from Exeter, Reading and Stockholm, the band claim to create a sound that they call "we want to be indie but we're not cool enough", combining a number of musical genres. The band members cite their influences as The Cure, Jeff Buckley, The Flaming Lips and XTC.

According to their band biography, Sharlando and Sparkes spent some time in the United States, encouraged by their chemistry teacher, in an attempt to broaden their horizons. The pair won themselves a football scholarship at the Indiana University (Where the team is called the Indiana Hoosiers) despite a reputed claim to be "allergic to running". Having gathered enough material to compile an album, Alfonso and Irwin returned to London where they met Martin Skarendahl, a Swedish ex-fireman who was then working as a recording studio engineer.

The trio 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",

They are produced by ex-member of Jamiroquai, Toby Grafty-Smith.

The band's second single, "Goodbye Mr A", appeared in the game FIFA 08, and FIFA 08 can be seen in The Hoosiers video for "Goodbye Mr A" in which Irwin Sparkes (vocals, guitar), who is from Reading, Berkshire is playing on the game as Reading FC against Manchester United. It also appears in a trailer for the 2007 film, 'Juno'.

Following the release of "Worst Case Scenario", the next release from the album The Trick To Life will be "Cops and Robbers", as confirmed in a live webchat with The Hoosiers on GMTV. The band are currently working on the video for the single.

Their song "Worried About Ray" reached the final five in the Single Of The Year category of the Brit Awards 2008, but lost out to Shine by Take That.

Discography

Albums

Singles