A band of musicians, poets & human hearts

'Press the Thingy' were an original 5-piece outfit based in Dublin, Ireland, from around 1990-2000.

Comprising core-members David Dennison (vocals), Graham Harte (keyboards, guitar and backing vocals) and Vincent Groves (bass), with others joining in along the way, notably Mark Carleton (guitars) and 'Marky' Mark Smyth, and later Paul Vickers on drums.

They played their quirky brand of pop / rock / ska / reggae and medieval folk (honestly! -check out 'The Bard of Ballincollig'...) -in all of Dublin's coolest venues, building a decent fan-base in the city.

They recorded a 5 song EP titled "God Bless the Thingy" in 1992/3, and another called "Licked Bickie" c. 1998. Both contained tributes to the band's (and Ireland's) favourite radio jock, the great Larry Gogan.

Both EP's were released as downloads on the fledgling MP3.com, and tracks from both were aired on Irish national radio, as well as various college radio stations in the USA.

Fans of the band included DJ's Larry Gogan, the late Gerry Ryan, Dave Fanning and Tom Dunne, and regular attendees at their live gigs included comedians Dylan Moran, Tommy Tiernan, Joe Rooney and Paul Tylak.

Other notable faces in the audience often included international movie-stars such as Liam Cunningham, Cillian Murphy, Bronagh Gallagher and Maria Doyle, not to mention Eurovision winner Niamh Kavanagh!

The band parted on good terms around the year 2000, with members going on to get involved in various projects, including ska band 'Skunk', and latterly, soul-funk outfit 'Proudfoot'. They remain very good friends to this day.

26th Dec. 2010.



lorne carson is following