But do you remember the indie pop of the 2000s-and-something? Suddenly we were overwhelmed by a new declination of punk, made up of energetic synth guitar playing combined with choruses and dream. A shot, let's say, of positivity, which has allowed the more niche garage bands to invade the homes not so much of the mainstream, but to please everyone a bit. We were all “indie”, all with the cowlick, with the squares, in short, it was a period we could say “positive”; Maybe it was because for the undersigned it was in the middle of university, four months in Canada where I saw him with extreme joy OK Go jump live on treadmill. Again: the Arcade Fire they dated The Suburbsi Vampire Weekends they took out Contra and a group of less than twenty-year-olds from Northern Ireland marked one of the first real successes of the genre – and indelibly linked to those years.
Let's talk about Two Door Cinema Club that is to say Alex Trimble (vocals, guitars and synths), Sam Halliday (lead Guitar) e Kevin Baird (bass), and their debut album, Tourist Historynow in its fifteenth anniversary. Circumstance for which the band is preparing for the European and international celebratory tour, because we know the years must always be celebrated, certainly if they are great successes or game-changers in someone's career.
AND they also touch Italy on two dates in JulyThe 21 and the 22 respectively a Gardone Rivieraal Victorial for the Festival Keep-in-mindand so on Rome toAuditorium Parco della Musica.
Tickets on sale > https://tidd.ly/4sqt6sB
On the phone, in the sun on a scorching Roman day, I say to Kevin Baird, with whom I have the opportunity to speak, who few can boast in their records of having placed a debut piece in the official soundtrack of FIFA 11, I Can Talkwhich among other things remains solid in my very personal running soundtrack: having been a great follower of Electronic Arts products, I can only share the appreciation for this result. Yet it will not be the last (Sleep Halofrom the next album, will be in FIFA 13). Kevin hopes that in reality their singles will always continue to be, soundtracks of people I mean, and therefore also of my races, because in the end it's a really nice thing to know – that certain songs can go much further, and remain in the mind for more than a wave of music specifically linked to a certain, happy, time.
It's funny for Kevin to think that people consider them one of the standard bands of that era. “But at the time no one thought we would become one. People liked our music, but there wasn't a single journalist who would be mad if we were still around and had become some kind of iconic group, you know, 10-15-20 years later. It was a crazy time”.
It tells us that at the time we probably didn't realize how good things were going. “We felt like a bit of an outsider: we were from Ireland and trying to stand out in the UK, and it wasn't easy for people to understand or place us. But fans have always connected so much with our music.”
It must be said that with that album success literally exploded in his hands. Kevin remembers the first tour in France, one of the first places that really impressed them. They were there for a French magazine, they found themselves playing together with Passion Pit, Florence and the Machine, La Rouxthey were very excited, and it went very well. So on the way back by car to Ireland they didn't have to be told twice to return to Paris the following week for an almost month-long tour, jamais.
“It all happened very quickly: hearing your song on the radio for the first time, being recognized in shops, or being recognized on the street by someone who wasn't a family member… it was incredible. Opportunities came suddenly, one after another.”
You also have to be intellectually honest and share that Alex, Sam and Kevin they expected everything except not to be very successful, because while they were producing for the French Kitsuné they knew they were working on something really interesting, but THAT kind of success, which leads them to constantly play around the world (they were on world tour until 2025, and not for long, and next week we start again, says Kevin, with the Portugal), with five albums under his belt and a style that has evolved and changed, even going beyond what was the perfect framework of Tourist History and hits like Something Good Can Work.
Here, not a random piece. Beyond the guitar chords that dictated the very beginning of an ideal cinematic flash forward all devoted to hope, a text encouraging perseverance with brilliant strings and snappy but gentle drums were the signs that the new wave he could have, so to speak, a possible smile and the hair on his face didn't, it didn't have to indicate an unequivocal belonging to the emo genre. From here to selling out 30 concerts in the USA and Australia in 2024 (including a super performance at Sydney Opera House) maintaining the same freshness is not a job for amateurs.
Also because as Kevin recalls, the three from Bangor were actually active well before, since 2007. There has been some evolution, obviously. When I ask him if he understands or knows why people fell so in love with those songs, Kevin thinks about it.
“In general, pop music is about being loved or about breakups or about good times, like there are three things that music is generally about. And I think that's not a problem. Particularly in the indie world, there were a lot of attempts, really forced attempts to be tall and broad and really smart. We were really young, 16–19 years old” he explains to us “We didn't know much about the world or love, so the songs were very genuine. There was no attempt to be “intellectual” or sophisticated. They were just real.”
They understood very early on that they wanted to write songs that made people feel something: make them smile, dance, move. It was all there. “We wanted to create connection, and that's always been our goal, since the beginning. We have always tried to understand how to make people “move”. So yes, we did it with really, really fast songs, which now you can still listen to while running!”.
He is aware that we are in a moment of attention to music born and raised in Ireland, he knows that some bands like i Fontaines DC they are particularly famous in Italy, but he is not shocked, not too much. The Irish scene, he points out, has always existed, “it just took time for it to be discovered.“In general he is quite direct about musical and social phenomena.”When one artist emerges, then everyone is looking for the next one. Yet I think that in Ireland there was also the advantage of being able to grow more calmly.”
In what sense? “Well, if you are born in London or another metropolis you have to be good straight away, because you are always exposed. In Ireland we had time to be “bad” at the beginning, and it is part of the process of becoming good.” he chuckles, “this allowed the scene to develop more naturally.”
However, there is no criticism. He really appreciates the variety of the environment. “And there's also a new wave of artists making music in the Irish language. The more diversity, the better.”
However, it is not new to the band to be interested in the relationship between their music and their fans. They have been very active on the marketing front, let's say, but also in an almost political way. In 2022 i Two Door Cinema Club they had taken a stand against the rush to sell in the first week, which, given the enormous production of music today, no longer gave a realistic picture of the market, seeing the charts change extremely quickly. They put aside the multi-format editions and the concerts outside the shops, but above all they destroyed the master tapes of their new album, Keep On Smiling. With a post on social media, they confirmed to fans that the vinyl would not be reissued after the 5,000 copies available worldwide had sold out. On that occasion they filmed themselves while they melted the last vinyls.
A choice that they did not deny. For Kevin the rankings “honestly, they don't matter much to fans. They are mostly used by labels and artists to say they have a number one. Today everything is focused on the first week, with bundles, multiple editions, offers combined with concerts. It's a way to inflate the numbers and often ends up being unfair to the fans. We prefer to focus on what truly gives value to those who listen to our music, rather than chasing numbers that ultimately mean little in the long run.”
The tours and their continued success, thanks to a very present fan base, seem in line with our guest. Or will it always be due to the solid line of always looking for the movement of one's audience? For posterity… even if no one is betting on it. And I will continue to run with them for a long time to come.
TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB
TUESDAY 21 JULY 2026
Tener-a-Mente Vittoriale Festival – Gardone Riviera (BS)
WEDNESDAY 22 JULY 2026
Cavea Auditorium Music Park – Rome
Tickets on sale > https://tidd.ly/4sqt6sB
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
