Feel Good Festival 2019: The Hoosiers

Date published: 12 August 2019

Pop-rockers The Hoosiers set the stage with a hard act to follow on the Feel Good Festival’s main stage on Saturday (10 August).

Formed in Indianapolis, Indiana, by Irwin Sparkes (lead singer and guitarist) and Alan Sharland (drummer) their debut single 'Worried about Ray' shot to number five in 2007, with their follow-up debut album 'The Trick to Life' hitting the top spot and single 'Goodbye Mr A' making number four.

Speaking on the night, Irwin said: "The Feel Good Festival had a great turnout, very impressive!

"You're never sure what you are going to get with festivals, so Rochdale was a pleasant surprise. It's such a great event to have and we are excited for The Coral - Rochdale Council has made some good choices this year!

"The Feel Good Festival has brought everyone out and there's a real sense of community.

"We really loved playing 'Up to No Good' and 'Rules', a B-side from the first album."

The Hoosiers' follow up album in 2010, 'The Illusion of Safety', made the top 10, preceded by lead single ‘Choices’, which reached the UK top 20.

Two more studio albums followed in 2014 and 2015, respectively entitled ‘The News from Nowhere’ and ‘The Secret Service’.

A ‘Greatest Hit(s)’ album was released just in time for this year’s Feel Good Festival, having been released on 2 August 2019, with a tour in the pipeline for 2020.

Alan added: "We are due a tour; our last one was in 2017. Our Greatest Hit(s) is keeping us busy for now - we re-recorded four of our biggest songs for the album."

The band is also appearing at Edinburgh Fringe Festival as Felix and the Scootermen, a "tongue-in-cheek self help seminar" based on their own experiences.

"We had the idea for a long time, originally a book, a very tongue-in-cheek guide to fame, which changed to become a comedy musical," Alan explained.

Irwin added: "It actually came about from an off-the-cuff conversation with Jo Whiley, and we have released a single from that show, called 'Spacehopper'."

An as-yet untitled collaboration is also in the works, a side-project with a "new young producer with a different style", set to reveal more in late 2019 or early 2020. 

Photos by SKW Events, Joe Jones and Mark Pollitt.