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The Hoosiers

The Hoosiers are an English pop/rock band, consisting of members Irwin Sparkes (lead vocals, lead guitar), Martin Skarendahl (bass guitar, rhythm guitar), and Alphonso Sharland (drums, percussion).

• Their first single "Worried About Ray" reached #5 on the UK Singles Chart in July 2007. In October 2007, they released their debut album The Trick to Life, which reached number 1 in the album charts. The band have recently released their second top ten album The Illusion of Safety which was released on 16 August 2010 and was preceded by the lead single "Choices" which was released on 1 August 2010.

Hailing from Exeter (Sharland), Reading (Sparkes) and Stockholm (Skarendahl), the band claimed to create a sound that they called "Odd pop", combining a number of musical genres with the first album The Trick to Life. They reinvented themselves for the release of The Illusion of Safety as a more conventional pop band with electro influences.
According to their band biography, Alphonso Raymond Sharland and Irwin Nathanael Sparkes the lead singer spent some time in the United States, encouraged by their chemistry teacher (Grant Serpell[1] who was part of the band Sailor during their fame in the 1970s), in an attempt to broaden their horizons. The pair won themselves a football (soccer) scholarship at the University of Indianapolis {fact} despite a reputed claim to be "allergic to running". Their time spent in Indiana inspired the band's name: a citizen of Indiana is colloquially called a Hoosier. Having gathered enough material to compile an album, Alphonso and Irwin returned to London where they met Swiss keyboard player and sound engineer Duri Darms, and Martin Skarendahl, a Swedish ex-fireman who was then working with Darms as a recording studio engineer and studying at The London Music School. But this was not the original group as two band members had left, replacing them with Skarendahl.
Irwin went to school at Waingels College, formally known as Waingels Corpse School.
The trio of Sparkes, Skarendahl and Sharland subsequently signed to RCA and released their first album The Trick to Life on 22 October 2007. The band have spoken of their desire to write songs that are about more than just "boy and girl, finding love on a Friday night on the lash with your mates"
They are produced by ex-member of Jamiroquai, Toby Smith, and managed by Steve Morton.
The band's second single, "Goodbye Mr A", appeared in the football video game FIFA 08, and the game can also be seen in the "Goodbye Mr A" music video. Lead singer Irwin Sparkes, who is from Reading, is playing on the game as Reading against Manchester United. The song also appears in a trailer for the 2007 film, 'Juno'. Following the release of "Worst Case Scenario", the next release from The Trick to Life was "Cops and Robbers", as confirmed in a live webchat with The Hoosiers on GMTV. The video was broadcast on Channel 4 at 12:10pm on 22 March 2008.
The title track "The Trick to Life" is featured as the end credits music on the thriller "From Within" released in 2009 which is ironically about a series of unexplained deaths in a small town.
Their second album, "The Illusion of Safety", includes song 'Unlikely Hero' for which they filmed the video in a quarry in Derbyshire, and was due to be a single, until it was announced via a message posted on Twitter on 14 October 2010. However, in February 2011, the band announced via their official website that 'Bumpy Ride' was to be their new single and will be released at the end of March. Their new deluxe album, also titled 'Bumpy Ride', is due out in April. The music video for 'Bumpy Ride' tells the story of how The Hoosiers travelled around the United States of America by various means of transport,

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