Picturehouse are a band from
Dublin
Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. The band are most famous for their song "Sunburst" from the album ''Karmarama'' in Ireland.
History
PictureHouse is the brainchild of Dave Browne. Originally signed to London Records in 1994, a rather tumultuous time resulted in the band returning to their native Dublin. They self-financed the release of their debut album "Shine Box". The album produced a number of popular singles such as "Somebody Somewhere", "The World and His Dog" and the smash hit "Heavenly Day". With success in their native Ireland the band toured with fellow Irish band
The Saw Doctors
The Saw Doctors are an Irish rock band. Formed in 1986 in Tuam, County Galway, they have achieved eighteen Top 30 singles in the Republic of Ireland including three number ones. Their first number one, " I Useta Lover," topped the Irish charts ...
on their UK tour in 1996. They later supported
Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...
in Dublin in the following year. Following this the band released 'Shine Box' across Europe following a distribution KOCH. The band toured the Nordic countries extensively in 1997.
Their second album 'Karmarama'
was released in 1998 through the East-West label in Ireland. This release strengthened their presence in their native Ireland. "Sunburst" was the most played song on Irish radio in 1998, a multinational retail group put in the song in their TV campaign and the band played countless sold out shows including the legendary
Olympia Theatre and the
Point Depot
The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people. It was located on the North Wall ...
. An award followed with Dave receiving "The Phil Lynott songwriting award" which was presented by Phil's mother in London.
More touring commenced, the band shared stages with the likes of Mel C, Texas,
Meatloaf
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients, formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. It is ...
,
Marillion
Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...
and then an eventful arena tour with
The Corrs
The Corrs are an Irish family band consisting of siblings Andrea (lead vocals, tin whistle, mandolin, ukulele), Sharon (violin, keyboards, vocals), Caroline (drums, percussion, piano, bodhrán, vocals) and Jim (guitar, piano, keyboards, v ...
. 2000 saw the band release the live album "Bring The House Down", again, self-released and in 2001 they set about making "Madness Sadness Gladness" with Adam Kviman in Sweden. Madness Sadness Gladness featured the massive single "Everybody Loves My Girl" -another summer smash in 2002. The pressure of constantly being self funded finally caved in and after the release of the tongue-in-cheekily titled singles collection "Get Yer Hits Out", the band went into hiatus.
Following 10-year hiatus the band were given the opportunity to begin songwriting with Lasse Anderson (Son of ABBA's
Stig Anderson
Stig Erik Leopold "Stikkan" Anderson (25 January 1931 – 12 September 1997) was a Swedish music manager, lyricist and music publisher. He was the co-founder of Polar Music and is best known for managing the Swedish pop band ABBA.
Early l ...
) produced a number of songs which Browne said "Sounded like PictureHouse". The result was "Evolution", which was released in Ireland in June 2013. Evolution features a new look PictureHouse, cowrites with Lasse Anderson and Graham Lyle, as well as appearances from Frankie Gavin of De Dannan and vocalist Ingrid Madsen.
They reformed with a brand new album "evolution" in June 2013. In February 2013 they asked fans to vote on the title of their new album. They voted to call it "Evolution". Following the success of the single Rules of Science which got considerable airplay in Ireland, The UK, Romania, Latvia, Cyprus and Indonesia,
Cherry Red Records
Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as w ...
released a remastered, repackaged version of Evolution in 2014.
In 2017, they celebrated the 21st anniversary of Shine Box with a compilation album entitled "How Can I Explain How This Came To Be?" and a show in Dublin's National Concert Hall. as part of the celebrations, the band received plaudits from all round Ireland including Bono, Michael D Higgins, Ian Dempsey, Dustin The Turkey, Ray d'Arcy, Dermot and Dave, Keith Barry, Ken Doherty, Pat Shortt and The Coronas.
Discography
Studio albums
Irish charts
Compilations
Picturehouse performed a cover version of "
Sweet Dreams My LA Ex
"Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex" is the debut single of English singer-songwriter Rachel Stevens. It was released on 15 September 2003 as the lead single from her debut solo album, ''Funky Dory''. Originally written for Britney Spears, the song was produ ...
" and a hidden track of "
Papa Don't Preach
"Papa Don't Preach" is a song by American singer Madonna from her third studio album, '' True Blue'' (1986). Written by Brian Elliot, it was produced by the singer and her collaborator Stephen Bray. In the United States, the song was released as ...
" on ''
Even Better than the Real Thing Vol. 1
''Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 1'' is an Irish charity album featuring a variety of artists performing acoustic cover versions of popular songs. It was released in November 2003, by RMG Chart Entertainment Ltd. The songs on the album we ...
'' and "
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the fifth track on their 1991 album ''Achtung Baby'', and was released as its fifth and final single in November 1992.
Writing and recording
"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild ...
" on ''
Even Better Than the Real Thing Vol. 3''.
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Musical groups from Dublin (city)
Musical groups established in 1994
Power pop groups
Musical groups reestablished in 2013
1990s in Irish music
2000s in Irish music
2010s in Irish music