UNSIGNED IRISH BANDS are ten a penny these days but one act have been making waves on both sides of the Atlantic.

You may never have heard of Friends of Emmet before but if you watch Jersey Shore, Hollyoaks or EastEnders then you’ve most definitely been listening to their music.

Mark Leddy, Brian Lynam, Keith Geraghty, Tim Boland and Gary Sullivan are based between Dublin and Los Angeles, but four years ago they began writing songs together over the internet.

One track, Coming Apart – which was inspired by the story of a young man who attempted suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge – caught the eye of a TV producer in the USA, and the rest is history.

“We got a message through the band’s website one night” bass player Keith Geraghty told DailyEdge.ie

MTV America contacted us asking would we licence our music to them and we did. They used Coming Apart as they loved the story behind the track.Eventually they ended up using it in the first episode of the fifth season of Jersey Shore, during the bit where Pauly D is up on the roof talking about leaving the show.

Have a listen to the track here and see if you can remember it.

With a high profile placement on Jersey Shore in the bag, it wasn’t long before Coming Apart came to attention of producers a little closer to home.

“Hollyoaks picked it up from Jersey Shore and used it to open up an episode, playing it right through the opening scenes” Geraghty said. “They used our version of Pink’s Try too.”

The next call came from EastEnders, which has featured Coming Apart and another song by the band called 13th Floor.

They played 13th Floor in The Queen Vic, and two new tracks – Hero and Headlines – are both going to be played on EastEnders now over the coming weeks.

The band’s tracks are also due to feature on Made In Chelsea, Shameless USA and a Canadian TV show. It’s not bad going for a self-promoted, self-managed five piece, so why haven’t they got a record deal?

“We’re all married with kids so we can’t be on the road 50 weeks a year” Geraghty explained.

The music industry has changed. You could be flavour of the month one month, but if it’s not happening for you then it’s a case of ‘who’s next?’. We have families, we can’t afford that.

Friends of Emmet have developed an international following and regularly gig in Canada and the USA. The band will reunite in Ireland for the release of their debut album – State of Mind – on March 21st, but in the meantime they’ve been working on some side projects here too.

Kevin Hines – the young man who inspired Coming Apart – contacted them and appeared in the video for the track. It prompted students from Ireland, America and Canada to make their own videos, highlighting the dangers of bullying, depression and suicide in schools.

The lads are now working on a course for Transition Year students, which they hope will help them identify the tell-tale signs of depression and offer support.

“God knows what will happen next”, said Geraghty: We think it’s safe to say that, in the case of this Irish band at least, things really are coming together.

For more information on Friends of Emmet you can check out the band’s official website, right here.

(H/T  to DailyEdge.ie reader OU1852)

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