NEWBRIDGE, CO. KILDARE

2005 - 2010

OVERVIEW Super Extra Bonus Party was an electro-fuelled indie band from Kildare. The group came into existence in November 2005 after an earlier outfit, Illegal Kids, decided to expand its lineup. Illegal Kids was essentially a scratching duo which featured Mike Donnelly and Cormac Brady. When they recruited Stephen Fahey in 2005, they changed their name to Super Extra Bonus Party. In this early period, the band also recruited Brazilian MC, Rodrigo Teles and Gavin Elsted on guitar and drums. The band set to work on writing and recording material. The first output came in 2006 in the shape of the 'Super Extra Bonus Party' EP which featured tracks such as 'Spanik Sabotage' and 'Vamanos Todos'. The band then set about recording its debut album. The self titled debut, which was released in April 2007 featured contributions from the likes of Nina Hynes and Paul O'Reilly from Channel One. After the release of the album, the lineup of the group was enhanced with the addition of Steve Conlan on guitar and Cons Henry on drums. However, later that year Cons would leave the group only to be replaced by Gary Clarke. In January of 2008, the album was nominated for the Choice Music Award. That month also saw the band release a second EP entitled 'Everything Flows'.In February of that year, against all the odds, the band scooped the Choice Music Award and the prize of €10,000. This was all the more impressive in light of the competition which included Róisín Murphy with her album 'Overpowered' and Cathy Davey with 'Tales Of Silversleeve'. Later that year, the band released a remix album entitled 'Appetite For Reconstruction'. The album, which was made available as a free download as well as a limited CD release, saw tracks from the band's debut album remixed for a wide variety of people including Jape, The Vinny Club and Decal. In 2009, the band released a second album, 'Night Horses'. Once again, the collection featured a number of collaborations including Heathers, May Kay (from Fight Like Apes) and RSAG. Heathers contributed the vocals to 'Comets' which was released as a single in 2010. However, by the time of the release of the second album, cracks were beginning to appear. Founder member, Mike Donnelly left the group in 2009 as did Rodrigo Teles. While never actually splitting, the group has been on hiatus since this time. Gavin has continued to be very active. He released an EP of electronic music under the Adult Rock moniker un 2010. He also formed the band We Are Losers which features Super Extra Bonus Party mates Steve Conlan and Gary Clarke. 2005 - Band formed [November] 2006 - Release of 'Super Extra Bonus Party' E.P. 2007 - Release of 'Super Extra Bonus Party' album [13 April] 2008 - 'Super Extra Bonus Party' is nominated for the Choice Music Prize [January] - Release of 'Everything Flows' E.P. [15 January] - Super Extra Bonus Party win the Choice Music Prize for their eponymously-titled debut album [February] - Release of 'Appetite For Reconstruction' remix album [13 October] 2009 - Release of 'Night Horses' album [22 May] - Super Extra Bonus Party perform as part of the Hard Working Class Heroes Festival in Dublin [16 - 18 October] 2010 - Release of 'Comets' single [05 February]