Walking on Cars was a four-piece Irish rock band, whose 2020 lineup consisted of Pa Sheehy (vocals), Sorcha Durham (piano), Paul Flannery (bass), and Evan Hadnett (drums). Their first single, "Catch Me If You Can", released in 2012, went to no. 1 on the Irish iTunes chart. The band released their debut EP, As We Fly South, in 2013, and a second one, Hand in Hand, in 2014. Their first full-length album, Everything This Way, came out in January 2016, peaking at no. 1 in Ireland. Their second record, Colours, was published in April 2019.
The band announced its split in August 2020, on the same date that a final six-track EP, called Clouds, was released.
History Formation and early years In 2010, five school friends—Pa Sheehy (vocals), Sorcha Durham (piano), Paul Flannery (bass), Evan Hadnett (drums), Dan Devane (guitar)—started performing at local venues and clubs in their hometown of Dingle, County Kerry. Committing wholly to their musical ambitions, the band went on to rent a house on the Dingle Peninsula and lock themselves away for the purpose of writing and recording demos. "The place we rented was a really old cottage, where we had no television, no phone, no Internet, no transport," says Sorcha, "We were there for 6 months – just our equipment and us. It was an amazing time, ideas were constantly flowing."
In 2012, Walking on Cars won the Red Bull Bedroom Jam competition and gained extensive radio play with their debut single, "Catch Me If You Can". As a result, the track reached no. 27 in the Irish Singles Chart, where it remained for over 20 weeks. The song also reached no. 1 on iTunes and garnered over 450,000 views on YouTube.
Walking on Cars released the four-song EP As We Fly South in 2013. It was recorded in Attica Studios, Termon, and produced by Tom McFall (R.E.M, Snow Patrol, Bloc Party, Editors). In July 2014, they issued the tracks "Hand in Hand" and "Always Be with You".
Chart success In 2016, Walking on Cars released their first full-length album, Everything This Way. It went double platinum and reached number one on album charts in Ireland as well as charting in several other European countries.
In 2020, the band's single "Monster" was used as the opening theme of the Netflix series The Stranger.
Split and Pa Sheehy solo work In August 2020, coinciding with the release of the EP Clouds, the band announced that they had split up.
In 2021, vocalist Pa Sheehy launched a solo career. His debut single, "I Saw You at a Funeral", was released in June, with the follow-up single, "Roisin", coming out in August.
Band members Pa Sheehy – vocals, piano, guitar (2010–2020) Sorcha Durham – piano, backing vocals (2010–2020) Paul Flannery – bass, backing vocals (2010–2020) Evan Hadnett – drums, percussion (2010–2020) Dan Devane – guitar (2010–2018)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums Year Details Peak chart positions Certifications IE BE DE NL UK 2016 Everything This Way Released: 29 January 2016 Label: Virgin EMI Formats: CD, download 1Irish Album Charts . chart-track.co.uk. Retrieved on 4 March 2016. 157 23 76 26 IE: double platinum 2019 Colours Released: 12 April 2019 Label: Virgin EMI Formats: CD, download 2 200 7 -- 50
EPs Year Details Irish albumchart positions 2013 As We Fly South Released: 21 June 2013 Label: Independent 2014 Hand in Hand Released: 1 January 2014 Label: Virgin EMI 2020 Clouds Released: 21 August 2020 Label: Walking on Cars/Independent 13
Singles Title Year Peak chart positions Certifications Album IRL IRL Hom. NZ AUT GER SWI BEL NL UK "Catch Me If You Can" 2013 27N/a — — — — — — — Everything This Way "Two Stones" 12 — — — — — — — "Tick Tock" 8 — — — — — — — "Hand in Hand" 2014 19 — — — — — — — "Always Be with You" 39 — — — — — — — "Speeding Cars" 2015 11 16 17 18 18 20 46 87 "Monster" 2018 —14 — — — — — — — Colours "Coldest Water" 2019 7212 — — — — — — — "—" denotes a title that did not chart. Irish Homegrown Top 20 chart did not exist before 7 June 2019
Music videos Title Year Director "Two Stones" 2013 Luke Daly "Tick Tock" "Hand in Hand" 2014 Luke Daly "Always Be with You" 2015 Filmawi & Esrael "Catch Me If You Can" "Speeding Cars" Luke Daly and Nathan Fagan (Luna) "Don't Mind Me" 2016 Luke Daly and Nathan Fagan (Luna) "Monster" 2019 Luke Daly and Nathan Fagan (Luna) "Coldest Water" Luke Daly and Nathan Fagan (Luna) "Too Emotional"
References
External links