the remains of youth

We are a young Belfast based band who play fast and energetic rock n' roll with post-hardcore/emo leanings.We often receive comparisons to "At the Drive-In" and recently added a saxophonist to the line-up to add to our hectic but catchy sound.

The band began as couple of 13 year old mates in school, doing covers and having a bit of craic. It got a bit more serious when the addition of a bass player (or two) was made, and people were drafted into different positions and dropped from the band, and then came the magical move from nirvana covers to writing our own material.

The first songs were simple verse/chorus/verse/chorus/outro, power-pop songs. But with the musical influences of our chief song writer, Adam Shirlow, it wasn’t long before our sound/songs matured and developed, and at all the age of 18 we can say we are very pleased with our progress. Our influences musically are rock and punk generally, but more specific post-hardcore/emo has had the biggest effect on our writing. In a way we could describe ourselves ‘post-emo’. Bands like ‘at the drive-in’ and ‘rites of spring’ and ‘Q and not U’ spring to mind. We have gladly steered away from falling victim of becoming a predictable ‘emo’ band.

Under the name ‘(The) remains of Youth’ has been going for nearly 3 years. In this time we have written over 30 songs. At the moment we are using an array of temporary bassists for gigs, and looking for a more permanent member. We have recorded roughly 18 songs on 6 different Eps over the last 3 years on digital 8-track at home. We have racked up approximately 30 gigs in the local area so far. Our highlight so far is backing up ‘Stiff Little Fingers’ at the empire in front of a 500 strong crowd. Seemingly intimidating, but we fell at ease very quickly and earned an encore from the crowd. For the mean time we’re just looking to get as many gigs under our belt, and expose as many people as possible to our sound.

For us playing live is the most important part of being in a band and many people have said we sound better live than on record - We try to make our live shows as energetic and intense as possible no matter where we play and how impossibly small the stage may be...our best live moment to date is definitley supporting Stiff Little Fingers in the Empire Music Hall in December 2003 after winning an ATL radio demo competition.

Our musical preferences are very diverse but the music which influences our songwriting the most include indie and punk bands like - At the Drive In, MewithoutYou, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Hot Water Music, Million Dead, Jetplane Landing, Q and Not U, Hoover, Embrace(dischord), Moss Icon, Rites of Spring, the Smiths, Therapy?, Idlewild, Sunny Day Real Estate, Cursive, the Appleseed Cast, Logh, Knapsack, Death Cab for Cutie, Rival Schools, Coheed and Cambria, Pilot to Gunner, Sparta......