The Academic

When: 10th February 2023
Location: Barrowland

The Academic are an Irish indie-pop outfit announce a 2023 UK tour. Coming to Glasgow’s Barrowland on 10th February 2023.

Hailing from Rochfortbridge, County Westmeath, Irish quartet The Academic formed in 2013 while its members were still in school. Within a year, Craig Fitzgerald (vocals and guitar), Dean Gavin (drums), and brothers Matthew and Stephen Murtagh (lead guitar and bass, respectively) were opening a local show for alt-rock cult heroes The Pixies.

In 2015, The Academic became one of Ireland’s most talked-about new bands thanks to their debut single Different. It even helped the group get a slot that year at British Summer Time in London’s Hyde Park alongside The Strokes, Beck, Future Islands, Temples and Public Service Broadcasting.

Their Mixtape 2003 single followed in 2016, showcasing the indie-pop stylings that formed the core of the band’s canon.

The Academic’s debut album Tales From the Backseat came out in January 2018 and the group further evolved their sound, with lead single Bear Claws offering a nod to influences such as Arctic Monkeys and Weezer.

Upon its release, Tales From the Backseat went right to the number one spot on the Irish albums chart. That summer, the quartet played their biggest headline show to date for 5,000 fans at Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens.

In 2018 and 2019, The Academic reach spread beyond homeland as the band became festival favourites all around the world.

On 10 July 2020, they released the six-track EP Acting My Age, produced by Kaiser Chiefs’ Nick Hodgson. Shortly afterwards, the band announced a UK headline tour for April 2021.