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Red Rum Club are an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 2016. The group consists of Francis Doran (lead vocals), Tom Williams (guitar, backing vocals), Michael McDermott (guitar, backing vocals), Simon Hepworth (bass guitar), Neil Lawson (drums, percussion), and Joe Corby (trumpet).

They have released 1 studio album: "Matador" released in 2019 through the record label Modern Sky.

Pre-Red Rum Club and Formation
All members of the band were born around the areas of Waterloo, Crosby and Thornton and grew up within 2 miles of each other. Michael and Simon met in year 2 primary school and then met Joe during a Battle of the Bands competition in Crosby Civic Hall when they were 14 and would go on to form a band together. Francis and Neil met while attending Holy Family Catholic High School although they attended different year groups. Francis and Tom are cousins and both started to learn how to play guitar after seeing their cousin Jake play, all 3 would later form a band together named The Gooch. Neil would later meet Michael in South Sefton College and be asked to join his current band The Lazy Guns with Simon as their drummer had just left.

Michael, Simon and Neil had been playing gigs for a number of months around Liverpool and Michael had kept up with what Francis and Tom had been doing. Michael wanted to form another band with what would be "The best musicians from where we lived". He organised a practice in his bedroom but Tom wasn't supposed to be there originally. He was supposed to be going out with friends but due to it being raining, decided to ask Francis what he was doing instead and after Fran told him that he was going to meet some lads to play music, asked if he could join too.

Early Work
After the first rehearsal in Michael's bedroom, the band played a number of small local gigs playing covers and soon moved into a rehearsal space by The Saltbox pub in Litherland at the recommendation of Tom's dad. During this time the band experimented with cover songs and tried to write their own as a collective, it was during this that Tom admitted he had been writing his own songs since before he could play guitar. Once the band found their sound, this then resulted in them finding their name. The band have admitted to wanting to be cinematic and would watch old movies and it was when Tom watched The Shining (film) that the name Red Rum Club come together. They had made their live debut in The Zanzibar Club in Liverpool in October 2016 but felt like something was missing. A chance reunion in a pub between Mike and Joe, the latter of whom had just moved back to Liverpool from university would result in Joe coming along to a rehearsal in the bands new practice room in Elevator Studios and he joined the band immediately after. They would go on to release their first single "Alone Together" through local independant label Rooftop Records on 4th November 2016 with the video being released on Youtube on 3rd February 2017. The band would open up the main stage of that years Liverpool Sound City festival. Their next single released through Rooftop Records was "Friend Of A Friend" and was released on 29th September 2017 and a final single "Calexico" being released on 16th February 2018.

Matador
Red Rum Club announced that they had signed a record deal with Modern Sky on 26th June 2018 and recording for their debut album was done in August in Parr Street Studios Liverpool.

In 2018 the band embarked on their first major touring of the UK which included headlining Liverpool Sound City Festival, playing Isle of Wight Festival, Tramlines in Sheffield, Truck, Y Not and playing a sold out show in the main room of O2 Academy Liverpool infront of 1,200 people during a sold out September tour which included 3 dates in Seoul South Korea.

Their debut album 'Matador' was announced on 28th September 2018 and would be released on 11th January 2019 produced by Chris Taylor (The Coral, Blossoms, The Mysterines). This announcement coincided with the release of the first single "Honey" alongside a video for the track. The second single was announced as "Would you rather be lonely?" on 14th November 2018 with the video, which was filmed around Liverpool, being released two days later. The final pre-album single "Angeline" would be released on 13th December 2018.

On the release of 'Matador' on 11th January 2019, it reached No.1 of the iTunes Alternative Charts, knocking Mumford and Sons off the top and reached No.47 in the official UK Albums Charts and was met with favourable reviews. The band would subsequently go back out on a sold out tour in the UK from March which would then lead into a third consecutive year playing Liverpool Sound City Festival 2019 where they played a surprise slot on the District stage, dressed as the characters from their music video "TV Said So" which was released a few days before. An invitation by BBC Introducing to play Glastonbury Festival 2019 would be the start of a busy festival season culminating in appearances headlining their respective stages at Isle of Wight Festival, Tramlines, Truck, Y Not as well as slots at Kendal Calling, Viva Sounds in Sweden, Blafrost Festival in Norway and Summer Well Festival alongside The 1975, Jungle (band) and Pale Waves in Romania.

Kids Addicted and 2nd Album
Red Rum Club announced on 16th September 2019 that a new song "Kids Addicted" would be released on Spotify and iTunes on 20th September 2019 as a stand alone single. The video was recorded during their sold out O2 Academy Liverpool on 28th September 2019 and was released on 6th November 2019.

It was hinted on 11th May 2020 via their Instagram that the second album was finished and new music would be released soon. It is believed the 2nd album was also recorded in Parr Street Studios, Liverpool.

Band members

 * Francis Doran – Lead Vocals
 * Thomas Williams – Guitar, Backing Vocals
 * Michael McDermott – Guitar, Backing Vocals
 * Simon Hepworth – Bass Guitar
 * Neil Lawson - Drums and Percussion
 * Joe Corby - Trumpet

Discography

 * Matador - (2018)