HAL are a band from

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, composed of brothers Dave Allen (

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

) and Paul Allen (vocals/

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

) and Stephen O'Brien ( keyboards, occasional guitars and

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

) ( drums), who formed in 2003.

Biography

Hal were signed to

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pu ...

in 2004 following competition between several

record labels A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

. Their first single, "Worry About the Wind" was released in 2004. Their self-titled debut album followed and "Don't Come Running" / "I Sat Down" were released as a double

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single. The band also released "Keep Love As Your Golden Rule" on a split 7-inch single with (The Magic Numbers) They also contributed their cover of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's " Mind Games" to a ''

Q magazine ''Q'' was a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q ...

CD in October 2005. The band toured worldwide in 2004 and 2005 supporting shows for

Doves Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

and Grandaddy. the band went back into the

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large en ...

at the end of 2005. In August 2010, the band announced that they were working on their next album on their website and Facebook page. In February 2012 the band released the 4 track 'Down In The Valley' EP digitally. Their second album 'The Time The Hour' was released in April 2012.

Awards

*''The Irish Post Best Newcomer Award 2005'' *''European Border Breakers Award 2006'', awarded by the European Commission in Cannes in January 2006 *''Best Irish Album of 2005'' in the Irish Independent *''Nr.1 album van 2005'' in French music magazine MAGIC *''One of the albums of 2005'' in Mojo and Uncut

Nominations

*''Choice Award 2005'' in

. Hal played live at the award show in

*''Best Irish Band of 2005'' at the Irish Music Awards

Discography

Albums

*''

Hal HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fight ...

'' (2005) – UK No. 31 *''The Time, the Hour'' (2012)

EPs

*''Down in the Valley'' (2012)

Singles

*"Worry About the Wind" (26 April 2004) – UK No. 53 *"What a Lovely Dance" (24 January 2005) – IRE No. 19, UK No. 36 *"Play the Hits" (11 April 2005) – UK No. 38 *"Don't Come Running" / "I Sat Down" (15 August 2005)

References

External links

*https://www.facebook.com/Halmusic *https://twitter.com/halmusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Hal (Band) Musical groups established in 2003 Rough Trade Records artists Musical groups from Dublin (city) Irish indie rock groups 2003 establishments in Ireland