The Hostiles are a ska punk band formed in Ayr, Scotland in 2001. Brothers Josh Barron (guitar) and Chris Barron (bass) moved to Ayr from the United States, where they had grown up with a love of local ska-punk bands such as Reel Big Fish, Less Than Jake, Catch 22 and No Doubt. In Ayr they met drummer Callum Douglas and trombone player Steve Bruce. In the first few years about 7 or so Hostiles members came and went, but those four friends stuck through all of the member changes and spent their spare time learning to play songs by their favourite bands and performing at local gigs.

Once this line-up was established the band started writing their own material, taking influences from the American ska-punk bands Josh and Chris loved, and heavier British ska-core bands such as Capdown, Lightyear and King Prawn. Their debut ep, ‘Big Kahuna?’ was recorded in Ayr in 2004 by JP Reid from Sucioperro/Marmaduke Duke. As the band were still at school and therefore had no income, the recording of the ep was mainly funded through a sold out Halloween show at a local youth centre with a 350 capacity. ‘Skalloween’ has now became a very popular event that

the band have put on every year since. Two years and another few member changes later their second ep, ‘Niceday EP’ was recorded by Matt Harvey at

Maybank Studios in Glasgow. Live Music Direct described their sound as, “A relentless hook you itch to hear come back around again.”On the back of shifting over 2000 copies of the ‘Niceday EP' the band were able to start gigging all over the UK, playing with some of their favourite bands such as Zebrahead, Sonic Boom Six, The King Blues, RANDOM HAND, Leftover Crack, Neville Staple, The Toasters, The Beat and Strike Anywhere. In 2008 work began on their debut album, which was hindered by yet more member changes as two long-term trumpet players left and current member Lynsey Cowan (saxophone) joined. By this stage Josh, Chris, Callum and Steve had been playing together for seven years and although the American ska-punk bands that they grew up listening to still heavily influenced The Hostiles, they had gained a greater appreciation of the song-writing talents of more mellow bands such as Brand New and heavier bands such as Deftones. Watching and learning from the bands that they shared stages with also helped to shape The Hostiles’ sound for the album. In April 2009 The Hostiles self-released ‘Always Looking Forward’, which was recorded at Maybank Studios with Matt Harvey, produced by Tim G (Sonic Boom Six, RANDOM HAND, MTV Mash Up) and mastered by Peter Miles (The King Blues, Failsafe, The JB Conspiracy). Punktastic’s album review said it was, “Upbeat, effervescent, bouncy and danceable.” The album release was followed by a 18 date tour, including an album release show in Glasgow supporting Catch 22. For the remainder of 2009 The Hostiles plan to get as much exposure as possible and tour any venue in the world to promote their album in order to expand their fan-base.

http://www.myspace.com/hostileska

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