Snow Patrol is an Irish alternative band, with members from Northern Ireland and Scotland.  Three friends from the University of Dundee, Gary Lightbody, Michael Morrison, and Mark McClelland formed a band they called Shrug.  They played small venues around the college and began to develop a local following.

Snow Patrol

I'm a crazy music consumer. I read the magazines, I like to know what's going on, but I just can't read anything about us anymore. But what can you do? You make your peace with it and move on, or you just get so furious every time something happens you can't actually function as a human being.

Getting Started

Snow Patrol is an Irish alternative band, with members from Northern Ireland and Scotland.  Three friends from the University of Dundee, Gary Lightbody, Michael Morrison, and Mark McClelland formed a band they called Shrug.  They played small venues around the college and began to develop a local following.  Due to potential conflicts with an Amercan band by the same name, they changed their moniker to Polar Bear.  

As Polar Bear, they released several extended play recordings, which were wildly popular on and around their campus.  Drummer Morrison left the band and the campus, and was ultimately replaced by Jonny Quinn.  Ex-bassist from Jane's Addiction contacted them to let them know that he was now in a band called Polar Bear, and the guys changed their band name to Snow Patrol

Broadening their Horizons

Snow Patrol released their first album, Songs for Polarbears, in 1998, on the independent Jeepster label.  The album peaked at #143 on the UK charts, but sales were disappointing.  The album would later be re-released and certify gold.  In 1999, the band earned the Phil Lynott Award for Best New Band from Irish music magazine, Hot Press.  

Disappointed with the lack of promotion, Snow Patrol dropped Jeepster in 2001.  After some rough times and shake-ups in the band's roster, they signed a contract with Fiction Records, which was a part of Interscope.  Their first album on the Fiction label, Final Straw, was released in the United Kingdom in 2003 and in the US in 2004.  Only 20,000 copies were produced, but after a re-release, the album certified multi-platinum in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and gold in the US.

Keeping Up the Pace

With a successful album and a solid fan base following their every move, their next album, Eyes Open, was eagerly awaited and warmly received.  The album certified platinum in the United States, and multi-platinum in Ireland.  The US single, Hands Open, peaked at #21 on the Billboard Top Modern Rock Hits.   hey had to postpone the tour due to terrorist threats to flights from the UK to the US.

Two more albums in two years saw commercial success and critical acclaim.  They continued to tour throughout 2008 and 2009, promoting their music.  Their albums have been made available on physical CD and on line for mp3 download.  The band has been nominated for twenty-five awards in Ireland and England over the past eleven years, winning ten, including Best Irish Band and Most Downloaded Irish Song.

Did you know . . .

1. During tours in 2000, the band's budget was so tight, they depended on fans to put them up in each city.

2. Snow Patrol was forced to postpone their 2007 American tour when they found polyps on Lightbody's vocal cords.  He was later given a free bill of health.

3. Snow Patrol contributed the single, Signal Fire, to the soundtrack for the film, Spider-Man 2.

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