The Frames - History

History

The band began in 1990 and consists of survivors of Dublin's prolific early 1990s rock-and-roll scene. The band was central to the development of many emerging Irish rock bands of the time, including Turn. They also toured together with other Irish artists. In December 2004, Hansard appeared on stage to collaborate with Paddy Casey and The Dublin Gospel Choir. In 2007 The Frames toured Australia and New Zealand as the support act for Bob Dylan.

The name The Frames arose from Hansard's habit of fixing bicycles of his friends. The large number of bicycle frames lying around his house led neighbours to dub it the "house with the frames". In a 2001 interview, Hansard said, "I worked in a bicycle shop for a little while, but the name came from ... my back garden was so full of frames, my house became known as The Frames house, much to my mother's distaste, she hated it. But my garden was full of frames, old bikes, I would make up bikes for my friends out of all the old bikes. So it sort of became known if anybody found a bike up on the hill on the way home they would throw it into my garden, a graveyard for old bikes."

The band has had many members over the years, some of whom have also been, or later became, members of other Dublin rock bands. Colm Mac Con Iomaire and Dave Odlum both were founding members of folk group Kíla. Graham Downey, son of Thin Lizzy drummer Brian Downey, played bass for the band between 1993 and 1996.

The Frames have always collaborated closely with other groups that emerged from the buskers on Grafton Street, Dublin, where Hansard started his music career. Among these groups were the aforementioned Kíla, and Mic Christopher. When Christopher died in 2001, Hansard and his band were heavily involved in organising the Skylarkin' concert to commemorate his life and release the album. The Frames still occasionally perform Mic's songs—chiefly "Heyday"—as a tribute.

The band is also known for interspersing snippets of songs by other artists into their own as a form of homage; notable examples are "Redemption Song" by Bob Marley, "Ring of Fire" by Johnny Cash, "Lilac Wine" by James Shelton (as made popular by Jeff Buckley / Elkie Brooks) and "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, all of which are captured on the live album Set List.

In 1991, Hansard came to public attention after taking the part of "Outspan" Foster in the film The Commitments. However, Hansard regretted this role as he felt it distracted from his music career. Mac Con Iomaire also had a cameo in the movie as a violinist auditioning for the band. Bronagh Gallagher, one of Hansard's colleagues, can be seen wearing a Frames t-shirt in her appearance in the film Pulp Fiction. Hansard appeared on screen as the principal character parodied by Irish music comedy Web site Eyebrowy.com and in 2007 as the lead in the movie Once which featured his songs.

As of 2007, the band consisted of Glen Hansard, Joe Doyle, Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Rob Bochnik and Johnny Boyle. Various people played drums during 2003 and 2004, including Graham Hopkins who drummed Dance the Devil, Burn the Maps, and the band's latest album The Cost. On one version of the album Fitzcarraldo, the band used the name The Frames DC, to avoid confusion with a United States band.

The band released its sixth studio album, The Cost, on September 22, 2006. They appeared on the setlist at Lollapalooza 2006 just 12 days afterward.

The band's song "Dream Awake" was used in the pilot episode of NBC's Life. Also, "Finally" was prominently featured in the 11th episode of the show, when the title character reaped the rewards of the detective work which he had been doing all season. However, a different song is used in the version of the episode on nbc.com. The band's song "Seven Day Mile" was used in the season six premiere of House on Fox.

The band's ex-bassist, John Carney, is now a film director, best known for writing and directing the film Once, which stars Hansard, who wrote much of the music for the film. Hansard and Marketa Irglova won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Falling Slowly" from Once.

On May 13, 2008, the US iTunes store released a Deluxe Edition of The Cost. This edition included three extra songs—"The Blood," "No More I Love Yous," and "This Low." It also included the music videos for "Falling Slowly," "Sad Songs," and "The Side You Never Get To See."

In late 2009, the band appeared on The Swell Season's album, Strict Joy. On March 24, 2010, the band announced their first concert in three years at Electric Picnic to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

The Song "Rise" from the Album The Cost was featured at the end of season 3, episode 13 of the ABC series "Castle".