BIO
Invaderband are a garage/artrock band assembled in Derry, Northern Ireland by Mancunian singer, guitarist and songwriter Adam Leonard who enlisted local musicians to voltage-enhance his dystopian post-punk songs. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2017 on CD, vinyl & download. Since then the record has enjoyed radio play throughout the UK & Ireland (BBC Radio 6Music, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle, RTE 2FM, RTE 2XM, RTE RNAG & Today FM) and has received widespread critical acclaim (see press quotes below).
The album was shortlisted (Top 12) for the Northern Ireland Music Prize Album of the Year 2017.
In 2021 a new album Peter Gabriel was announced and lead single 'I Won't Remember You' was released on 12th March (making the BBC Music NI Where Music Matters Playlist). Follow up single ‘Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself’ was released in July.
The quartet have played shows all over Ireland and Northern Ireland including Other Voices, and their singles have been selected for Steve Lamacq’s BBC Radio 6Music Recommends show twice.
'‘Peter Gabriel’ was released in September, and has again received national radio play in the UK and Ireland, rave reviews, and has ended up in a number of ‘Best of 2021’ lists.
THE BAND
ADAM LEONARD - VOX, guitar, synths
CHRIS McCONAGHY- LEAD GUITAR, synths
James cunningham - BASS GUITAR
TOM DOHERTY - DRUMS
NEWS
AUGUST 2023
MAY 2023
Forthcoming gigs for June & July.
NOVEMBER 2022
Photos from the Deer’s Head gig by Vincent O’Callaghan.
OCTOBER 2022
We’re delighted to be opening for one of Dublin’s finest bands, Melts, on 13th Oct at the Deer’s Head, Belfast. Tix: https://www.thedeersheadbelfast.com/music-hall/
We’ve just been informed that our album ‘Peter Gabriel’ is now shortlisted for Album of the Year 2022 at the NI Music Prize, which is really great news! Our commiserations to Van Morrison whose album did not make the Top 12 :)
JULY 2022
JUNE 2022
‘Cheese Slices’ played 3 times on 6 Music. Thanks Steve & Gideon!
MAY 2022
New single! ‘Cheese Slices’ will be released 3rd June. We’re doing a mini-tour to promote this, with dates in Dublin, Belfast & Derry.
APRIL 2022
Next gig…
MARCH 2022
GIG! We open for for King Kong Company at The Limelight, Belfast on 19th March. Tickets from https://www.shine.net/
Luke Haines speaks!
Gideon Coe agrees that people who are happy are ill on 6Music again…
DEC 2021
Invaderband, album review, ‘Peter Gabriel’
“The cover is a painting of prog-rock era Peter Gabriel, imagined by Britpop misanthropist Luke Haines. The record is made in Derry by an established, Anglo blow-in. The songs are furious in parts but mostly peeved and petulant. They seem to be sited in some wind-lashed, provincial sinkhole, frequented by ruffians, poseurs and bald adolescents. Welcome back, Invaderband with your new streak of slanted, declamatory stuff.
Luke Haines, the supreme hater of indie-showbiz cant, resurfaces on a song called ‘Vanity Search’. It seems to be a Google trail of random requests, possibly called up by Haines himself. Fragments of a life are glimpsed, misappropriated and trashed. This is all we may amount to, mere tinder on the bonfire.
Adam Leonard sounds like a Peel Show student, a miscellany of the rough wit that featured on those transmissions. There’s a moment during ‘At Right Angles’ when the Mancunian rattle transmutes into Memphis rockabilly and then immediately reverts. Mark E. Smith might have approved.
The scorn attains a comedic peak on ‘Cheese Slices’. The chord shapes recall the Stone Roses and ‘This Is The One’. But instead of grandeur and self-regard there’s a truth attack on a musician that’s unworthy. Listen to the end and hear the plastic wrapper peeling away from the processed dairy product. Actual Kraft work.
For all of the outsider energy, the class war and the random mithering, Invaderband reserve the right to be monumentally upset. Adam picks his moment on ‘Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself’. It’s a discourse on crooked news and rotten institutions. It returns you to Black Lives Matter with a different, riffing method. Thus, Invaderband hammer at the gates and challenge the citadel. They do this sort of thing well and hopefully will do it more often”.
Stuart Bailie
(This review features in Issue 6 of Dig With It magazine)
NOV 2021
HONOURED to be selected for Other Voices 2021. The gig sold out immediately.
OCT 2021
The 16th show sold out, so we added a 2nd show on 23rd, and that sold out too! Can’t wait to play these gigs. We’re playing both albums in full.
SEPT 2021
NB: This is not a ticket-only event but Bennigans is not the biggest venue so to ensure everyone who REALLY wants to get in - gets in - we’re selling tickets for this show. We will be playing 2 sets; the first album in full, then a short break, then ‘Peter Gabriel’ in full. 45 tickets for sale.
** Show starts at 9pm sharp **
27th Sept: The album’s only been out 5 minutes (well, 3 days) and already Sir Gideon Coe will be playing music from it tomorrow on 6Music. ‘Delighted’ doesn’t cover it.
25th Sept: The new album exists! It is out in the world. As you can see from the quotes above people seem to like it.
AUGUST 2021
16th JULY 2021
The Thin Air premiere the new video
9th JULY 2021
The new single ‘Handcuffed Man Shoots Himself’ is out today
JUNE 2021
Adam’s Mixtape & New single news
APRIL 2021
T-Shirts now available to order
ORDER HERE: https://adamleonard.bandcamp.com/merch
MARCH 2021
Video premiere at THE THIN AIR
MARCH 2021
New single out today!
‘I Won’t Remember You’ is the first single from Invaderband’s second album, Peter Gabriel - following up on their eponymous 2017 Northern Ireland Music Prize-shortlisted debut LP. Like the fruit of a now-lost collaborative project between Buzzcocks' Pete Shelley and Wire, it’s an immediately earworming punk-pop nugget that clocks in at just over 2 minutes. Accentuated with razor-sharp guitars and a singular voice, the track release is cut from a strain of garage-leaning art rock that embraces idiosyncrasy and eccentricity, à la Supergrass, Super Furry Animals, or Modern Life Is Rubbish-era Blur.
On first glance, ‘I Won’t Remember You’ is pointed vitriol, but it only masks a sardonic, underlying self-reflection.
FEBRUARY 2021
New single ‘I WON’T REMEMBER YOU’ coming soon
The first new material from Invaderband since 2017.
january 2021
Happy New Year - Happy New Album!
A long overdue update. We played a few gigs in 2019, but for obvious reasons 2020 was a write-off, however we have (drum roll) recorded our 2nd album. It’s currently being mixed and will be released later this year.
Album title / tracklist / art to follow.
NOVEMBER 2018
A Dutch Kills Christmas Don’t. 15/12/18
MAY 2018
From the wilds of Ireland’s Atlantic north west, Donegal’s Festival of the avant-garde and psychedelia – Distorted Perspectives – showcases 3 acts from across the lo-fi, psychedelic and shoegaze spectrum with DJ sets by DP DJs and former Spacemen 3 bass player Will Carruthers.
Invaderband are a garage/artrock band formed in 2012. Since then the band has enjoyed radio play throughout the UK & Ireland and has twice been 6Music Recommended by Steve Lamacq.
The Barbiturates are a D.I.Y Neo-Psychedelic anti-pop band based in Derry. Having released 5 E.P’s, two mini albums and a free soundtrack recording since 2013 they are currently working on their debut long player.
Donegal’s own experimental psychedelic and ambient outfit Tuath launch their latest EP Youth, with a series of Irish dates culminating in this DP Belfast special.
Doors 7:45pm | Limited Unreserved Seating
http://cqaf.com/the-barbiturates-invaderband-tuath-will-carruthers-ex-spacemen-3/
FEBRUARY 2018
DECEMBER 2017
12/12/17 - Chris & Adam interviewed in The Derry News
"...And make no mistake, it’s been a pretty remarkable year for Irish music. Here’s our take on what stood out best, strongest, and most emphatically of all..."
Our track 'Attack Of The Pod People' made it into The Thin Air’s Top 100 Irish Tracks of 2017. Just!
Interview with Derry Live List - http://www.derrylivelist.com/page/day-2-interview-invaderband
NOVEMBER 2017
22/11/17 - NI Music Prize clip about the album by the Oh Yeah Music Centre, Belfast.
Dublin, opening for the phenomenal Autre Monde. Photo by Wrapped In Plastic.
OCTOBER 2017
Next gig at Voodoo Vintage, Lower Main Street, LETTERKENNY, Ireland.
Entry: 8 euro before midnight, 10 euro after midnight.
13th October: The Daily Mirror on our chances of winning the NI Music Prize... "An outsider".
SEPTEMBER 2017
We're absolutely delighted and shocked to be shortlisted for the Northern Ireland Music Prize 2017. More than 70 judges were contacted from the music industry and music media. They were invited to cast their votes for the best album of the last 12 months, and 'Invaderband' was in the top 12.
There will be a second round of voting and the winning album will be announced at a special awards night at the Mandela Hall in Belast on November.
Interview with Adam & Chris on 6Music
Sept 23rd - Click HERE to listen.
AUGUST 2017
New gigs announced (see LIVE section below) including The Thin Air's Culture Night Belfast show at the Oh Yeah Centre on September 22nd.
MAY 2017
Photo from 24/5/17 by Mickey Rooney. More photos via THE THIN AIR HERE.
THE ULTIMATE SUPPORT SLOT! WE WERE HONOURED TO OPEN FOR DAMO SUZUKI IN LETTERKENNY.
APRIL 2017
(The Irish News, 14/4/17)
MARCH 2017
10th March 2017: Lovely words from The Daily Mirror!
Upcoming gigs...
FEBRUARY 2017
The Making of 'Invaderband' feature on BBC Radio Ulster's ATL. Click on image to listen.
JANUARY 2017
Steve Lamacq played the opening track from the album 'Ship Of Nothing' on his BBC 6Music Recommends show.
Further national radio play came from Tom Robinson and Gideon Coe:
PRESS
“If John Peel was still with us, this lot would be one of his favourite new bands” - The Daily Mirror
"Invaderband have set the bar incredibly high ... sounds like a lost classic" - The Irish News
"A rare breed of a record. Impossibly earworming" - The Thin Air
“Definitely one of the records of the year. Magnificent” - SWIT
“Sly and cunning with a great hook. I really like this…” - Steve Lamacq, BBC Radio 6Music
“Really good ... smashing record” - Gideon Coe, BBC Radio 6Music
“Splendidly anarchic” - Tom Robinson, BBC Radio 6Music
“Fresh, invigorating & snappy” - Mickey Bradley, BBC Radio Ulster
"Fantastic. A great debut record" - Across The Line, BBC Radio Ulster
"Incredible. An absolute must-have. Get them into your life as fast as you can" - Stephen McCauley, Electric Mainline, BBC Radio Foyle
"On an aural axis that freewheels between Roxy Music and Magazine. Slickly drilled post-punk ... Steeped in wit, waywardness and white hot effervescence” - Mark Barton, The Sunday Experience
“It will be looked back on as a cult classic” - Louder Than Words