The Blizzards | |
|---|---|
 The Blizzards performing on the NME Stage at Oxegen 2006 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Mullingar, Westmeath, Ireland |
| Genres | Ska-pop, Post-punk revival |
| Years active | 2003–present (hiatus: 2009–2016) |
| Labels | Universal Music Ireland, Island[1] |
| Members | Niall Breslin Justin Ryan Dec Murphy Aidan Lynch Anthony Doran Louize Carroll |
The Blizzards are an Irish band from Mullingar in County Westmeath. They were formed by Niall Breslin in late 2004, and also feature Dec Murphy (drums), Justin Ryan, Anthony Doran, Louize Carroll (bass) and Aidan Lynch (keyboards). They have achieved multiple platinum record sales[2] and have won numerous awards.
Their debut single, the self-released "First Girl to Leave Town", entered the Irish Singles Chart at number 11 in 2005. The band were then signed to Universal Music Ireland, and soon had two top ten singles in Ireland with "Trouble" and "Fantasy". Their debut album, A Public Display of Affection, was released in October 2006. The album achieved platinum status in Ireland, with sales of 15,000.
The band's second album Domino Effect was released in 2008. The band entered the Irish Singles Chart at number two and spawned four singles, the top three track "Trust Me, I'm A Doctor" plus "The Reason", "Postcards" and "Buy It Sell It". In 2009, they signed a UK record deal with Island Records which would see the release of Domino Effect there.
The band performed annually at Oxegen, have headlined Indiependence and also supported Oasis at Slane Concert in June 2009. Other bands they have supported include Kaiser Chiefs, The Prodigy and AC/DC during their Black Ice World Tour. A headline show at Dublin's Olympia Theatre on 12 December 2009 was their last before they went on hiatus.
In May 2010 as frontman Niall Breslin (Bressie) was away in London pursuing his career as a music producer, the other four members formed an 80's cover band entitled "House Party" playing shows in Dublin's Crawdaddy venue and Sligo's Garavogue Bar. Bass player Anto Doran and Drummer Dec Murphy can now be seen behind the bar of John Daly's Bar in their hometown of Mullingar which they now manage together.
2016 saw the band return from hiatus with their single "Drop Down The Anchor" and its follow-up, "Perfect on Paper". In 2019, they released their third album, The Last Great Algorithm.
In 2022 the band released their 4th album 'Sometimes We See More In The Dark' on Warner Music. They album was produced and mixed by Aidan Cunningham and went to No.1 on the Irish Independent album charts.