Flogging Molly is a seven-piece irish folk influenced punk band, that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1997 and is currently signed under SideOneDummy Records. It all started at Molly Malone’s, a local bar in Los Angeles. They played there every Monday night. Dave King used to say that it felt like ‘flogging a dead horse’ when they played there. Therefore the name Flogging Molly. The band currently consists of: Dave King (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhran, banjo, spoons, backing vocals on “Cruel Mistress” and “Queen Anne’s Revenge”) Bridget Regan (fiddle, tin whistle, uilleann pipes, backing vocals lead vocals on the live version of “Factory Girls”*) Dennis Casey (electric guitar, backing vocals) Nathen Maxwell (bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on “Cruel Mistress” and “Queen Anne’s Revenge”) Bob Schmidt (mandolin, mandola, banjo, bazouki, backing vocals) George Schwindt (drums, percussion, bodhran)Matt Hensley (Accordian)
Accordianist Matt Hensley announced at the end of 2006 that he would no longer be touring with the band, but parted on good terms with best wishes, citing his reasons as “becoming a full-time father in order to be with his 11 year old son”. He has then officially left the band but returned in 2007.
Flogging Molly has released four major studio albums, Swagger, Drunken Lullabies, Within a Mile of Home and Float, as well as an independent live album entitled Alive Behind the Green Door. Also, they released a CD/DVD combo entitled Whiskey On A Sunday, which included a CD with acoustic tracks of many of the band’s songs and a brand new studio track, “Laura”. They have toured with the Warped Tour and Larry Kirwan’s American Fléadh Festival. They also contributed to the Rock Against Bush project. Also, as of late they have done extensive touring with the self proclaimed gypsy punk band, Gogol Bordello, which is also signed under SideOneDummy Records.
In a recent interwiew with Kerrang! magazine, Dave King revealed that the band’s name comes from Molly Malone’s, an Irish pub in LA. “We used to play there every Monday night and we felt like we were flogging a dead horse, so we called the band Flogging Molly.”
Their music is heavily influenced by such bands as The Pogues,The Dubliners, Johnny Cash and ranges from boisterous punk rock like the pirate-themed “Salty Dog” and “Seven Deadly Sins,” or the defiant “What’s Left of the Flag” and “Rebels of the Sacred Heart” to more somber songs like “Far Away Boys”, “The Sun Never Shines (On Closed Doors)”, or “Death Valley Queen”. In the Whiskey On A Sunday DVD King describes the band’s music as a ’21st century version of The Dubliners.’
The driving forces behind the music tend to be King’s gravelly voice and Regan’s manic fiddling. Prior to forming Flogging Molly, Dave King was the vocalist for Fastway, a late 80s-early 90s heavy metal band, featuring guitarist Eddie Clarke of Motörhead.
The band released a DVD and a full-length album entitled “Whiskey on a Sunday” on July 25th 2006.
The DVD “Whiskey on a Sunday” contains a two hour documentary that gives viewers insight into how the band members found each other and also talks about the members’ attitude towards life, events that have shaped their lives and their motivation for making music.
