Biography
Since forming in the late nineties Los Stompers have evolved from their Irish pub origins to achieve landmark status on the Barcelona music scene. They have released six albums on the Ventilador Music label, garnering favourable reviews in local and national press and airplay on Spanish Radio and Television networks ( M80,Cadena 100,RAC 105, TV3, La 2 , BTV , La Xarxa and Canal 33…)
Los Stompers have performed throughout Spain and across Scandinavia, France, Germany, Switzerland & Holland. On top of their recording and touring commitments, they have produced an Irish music and dance show with Nuala Irish Dancers and bring Irish culture to Catalan schools with their project Ludotori Folk. They are currently touring their new show, Tribute to The Dubliners ( featuring special guest Toni Ribas on flute, whistle and bodhran), and plan to start work on their seventh album in 2021.
History 1997 – 2005
Following the demise of the Stomping Clawhammers Dara Luskin (bass), Kiko Fergananim (banjo) and Alex Crichton (guitar) formed Los Stompers in 1997. Having toured Scandinavia with Colm Pettit on fiddle, the band released a live album, Mezzy on Stage (1998, Ventilador Music)- a compendium of traditional Irish pub songs such as Follow me up to Carlow , The Star of the County Down and Waxies’ Dargle alongside original material- recorded at Jazzmatazz in Barcelona.
1999 saw the release of their studio debut Pub Friction, a wry portrait of their time spent touring Europe’s Irish bars. Produced by Los Manolos drummer Andreu Hernández, the album featured incursions into Catalan rumba and country music, contributions from seasoned musicians Ricky Araiza, Cece Giannotti and former Stomping Clawhammer John Ward, and instruments atypical in Irish music ( e.g: cajón and darbouka). It was well received by Spanish publications EFE EME, La Vanguardia and El Periódico, among others.
“… a trip through the music and mindset of the Celts. An instrumental and linguistic game including collaborations from guests Cece Giannotti and Los Manolos”. El Periódico
2001 brought Belmondo Café, with David García on drums and Juan Aguiar replacing Colm Pettit. Behind the desk again, Andreu Hernández crafted a more polished sound to bolster their by now trademark quirky humour and further genre-dabbling in ska, ragga and pop. Spanish newspapers Avui and El Pais offered positive reviews, and the single Turn of the Century EU playlisted on Spanish formula Radio M80. A new-look Los Stompers ( Dani Violant on diatonic accordion, Salva Suau on drums and David Holmes on violin) undertook a Spanish tour to promote the album. Over the next twelve months the singles Idiot Boy and Life’s not Fair played on Cadena 100 and RAC55 respectively . In 2003 Salva Suau was replaced by Dave Varriale, and upon his departure, alongside Violant, in 2005, Marcos López became the group’s fourth drummer.
“A flawless, assured and well-informed piece of work… a salutary new dimension, founded on an eclectic approach.” La Vanguardia
History 2006 – Present
After nine years in the group Alex Crichton decided to call it a day and singer-songwriter Brian O’Mahony stepped up as frontman, thereby establishing the group’s current line-up. With this injection of new blood, and following a protracted gestation period, sessions for a fourth album finally began in November 2008, reuniting the band with Andreu Hernández at Ventilator Music’s studio in Sants, Barcelona. The result, Animal, Vegetable, Miserable, was released in November 2009 with the first single, Noah’s Ark, receiving extensive airplay on Spanish radio. A high point of this period was reached when the band shared billing with folk legends Donovan and The Dubliners at Denmark’s prestigious Skagen Festival in 2008.
In 2013 Los Stompers unleashed The Harold Spencers, showcasing a shift towards an Indie-Folk sound: grafting the folk textures of mandolin, banjo and fiddle onto densely layered electric guitar and the rhythmic building-blocks of bass and drums. This approach, coupled with Brian O’ Mahony’s maturing vocal dynamics and Andreu Hernandez’s deft production, aided in forging a new identity for the band, which the assumption of an alias- The Harold Spencers- served to highlight. Their efforts were rewarded with airplay on Spanish radio and praise in La Vanguardia, Mondo Sonoro and LH Magazin.
“A hint of the intensity and narrative grandeur already known to us from several bands is also to be found in the music of Los Stompers” Radio 3 Saltamontes
The band’s evolution continued in more intimate vein on 2017’s Life is Elsewhere– a cold-eyed look into the Celtic Soul, foraging in the notions of self and nationhood through fable, fauna and fantasy. Although released, as ever, on the Ventilador label, production was this time handled by Miguel Vera of El Argonauta. Live shows also saw the addition of keyboardist Stephane Jaïs to the Stomper clan.
“The Moth opens with a dense instrumental passage, heralding a vocal of understated grandiloquence redolent of Bowie or Jarvis Cocker. The soundscape is familiar, but superbly executed. The Fox for example- indeed, in this realm the animals hold sway- has the allure of Belle & Sebastian in 60’s mode”. – Efe Eme
Projects with Irish Dance Groups
In 2006 Los Stompers and Irish tap-dance group Celtic Caos launched their Irish music and dance show An Taisteal, appearing in festivals throughout Catalonia, Aragon, Andorra and France. In the wake of the show’s success, a second outing arranged in 2015, this time joining forces with Nuala Irish Dancers. Dubbed Celtic Rock & Reels, the show vaunts the distinguishing feature of several Irish-language numbers, and has appeared at Manresa’s Summer Festival and twice at both Vitoria’s Fiestas de la Blanca (Basque Country) and Navarra’s Kultur Summer Festival.
Discography
- Mezzy on Stage (Ventilador Music, 1998)
- Pub Friction (Ventilador Music, 1999)
- Belmondo Café (Ventilador Music, 2001)
- Animal, Vegetable, Miserable (Ventilador Music, 2009)
- The Harold Spencers (Ventilador Music, 2013)
- Life is Elsewhere (Ventilador Music, 2017)