Snow Patrol is an indie rock band from Northern Ireland, currently on Polydor Records. It was formed in Scotland by vocalist/guitarist Gary Lightbody and bassist/keyboardist Mark McClelland, two students from Northern Ireland who were, at the time, pursuing an education in Dundee.Originally known as "Polarbear", they released a three-track EP, ''"Starfighter Pilot"'', on the Electric Honey label. Richard Colburn, from Glaswegian indie band Belle & Sebastian, played drums on this record. Due to legal threats from an American band with the same name (led by the former bassist of Jane's Addiction), they became "Snow Patrol".At this point, Jonny Quinn, also from Northern Ireland, joined as permanent drummer. With him rounding out the lineup, the band released "Songs For Polarbears" in 1997 and "When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up" in 2001.However, it wasn't until after being dropped by Jeepster that guitarist Nathan Connolly joined, and the band signed to the mainstream Polydor label. They gained mainstream success with the song "Run" (which debuted at #5 in the UK singles chart), as well as the album it was from, the 2003 release, "Final Straw." The record peaked at #3 in the UK albums chart. They followed the success of "Run" up with 3 more singles from the album, "Chocolate", and a re-release of "Spitting Games", both reaching the top 30, and "How to Be Dead" reaching number 39.Gary Lightbody's side project is The Reindeer Section, a supergroup comprising members of famous Scottish bands including Belle & Sebastian, Idlewild, Teenage Fanclub and Mogwai. They have released two albums to date on the Belfast label Bright Star - Y'all Get Scared Now, Ya Hear! and Return of Evil Reindeer.On March 16, 2005, Mark McClelland left the band, with Gary Lightbody stating 'a whole new set of new and unexpected pressures... have unfortunately taken their toll on working relationships within the band, and it was felt the band could not move forward with Mark as a member.' Former Terra Diablo member Paul Wilson replaced him on bass. In April 2005, Snow Patrol declared longtime touring keyboardist Tom Simpson an official member of the band.In the midst of touring on ''U2'''s Vertigo Tour in Europe in the summer of ''2005'' as an opening act, the band played in London at ''Live 8''. After finishing their opening act duties and extensive 2 year touring of Final Straw in late July, the band took a few weeks off and began writing and recording songs for a new album. The band completed recording the upcoming release, "Eyes Open" in December 2005, and it is set to be released in April ''2006''.
Trivia
- In the early days, the band used to pretend to be members of Belle & Sebastian in order to gain free entry to the Student Union club at the Glasgow School of Art.
- Songs For Polarbears (1998)
- When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up (2001)
- Final Straw (2003)
DVDs
- Live At Somerset House (2004)
Side-Projects
- Cut la Roc - La Roc Rocs (collaborated on two tracks)
- Mogwai - Rock Action (Gary Lightbody collaborates on one track)
- The Reindeer Section - Y'All Get Scared Now, Ya Hear! (2001)
- The Reindeer Section - You Are My Joy
- The Reindeer Section - Son of Evil Reindeer
Compilations
- It's A Cool Cool Christmas (2003)