The wizards of odd

Two top ten singles and a number one album: not bad for two Britons and a Scandinavian who dwelt in relative obscurity a mere eight months ago.
Irwin Sparkes, Alfonso Sharland and Martin Skarendahl, collectively known as The Hoosiers, are in Dublin for some pre-Christmas promo and are in jovial form.
“I lost an iPod in Dublin this summer,” says bass player Alfonso eyeing my recorder suspiciously.
“Aoife, he’s doing the iPod thing again” shouts lead singer Irwin to his record company representative, for all the world like a child telling tales on his sibling.
“No, it’s not mine, mine was a white one,” Alfonso concludes following a cursory examination.
And the interview continues in this vein, my attempts at serious conversation sabotaged frequently by the jocular trio.
The story of The Hoosiers is almost as entertaining as the individuals themselves. Intent on broadening their horizons, Irwin and Alfonso secured a football scholarship to the University of Indianapolis. One year later, concluding that the beautiful game was not their true calling, they returned to London and put a band together.
“Myself and Irwin just wanted to see the world, we wanted to travel and get some life experience,” Alfonso explains. “We managed to blag the soccer scholarship, which was an ideal way of seeing America. We did that for a year but then came back with our respective injuries, I had shin splints and Irwin couldn’t breath properly!”
Cue chance meeting with Swedish recording engineer Martin Skarendahl and The Hoosiers are born. According to the press release, Martin was a fireman in a former life.
“It was a few months work at the fire brigade as part of the national service in Sweden,” he explains. “There was a lot of adrenaline though. When the alarm goes off during the night you have 90 seconds to be ready and in the truck.”
Did he learn from the experience?
“Yes, I did, when someone calls me, I’m ready in 90 seconds,” he states with pride.
“He can actually be dressed before his phone goes to answer phone, it’s great to watch,” nods Irwin.
The quirky troupe can even lay claim to their own genre, Oddpop.
“We didn’t want to be lumped in with everyone else,” says Irwin. “Oddpop is accessible and commercial but still has it’s own personality. When you look at a lot of the pop acts that have come through, Mika, Lily Allen, Kaiser Chiefs and The Killers, they’ve got their own voice, they have something to say. It’s all idiosyncratic and we are too I guess.”
Martin adds, “Also it has two ds, two os and two ps”.
Was this an important factor in the choice of title?
“Massively,” he says in mock seriousness.
Our attentions turn to the subject of television appearances, Tubridy Tonight being the main reason for their promotional jaunt.
“We’ve done about six or seven shows at home. It’s a bit annoying because Top Of The Pops isn’t on anymore and that would have been fun,” says Irwin wistfully.
The lead singer is also due to appear on Never Mind The Buzzcocks. When this is mentioned he is visibly apprehensive, fearing the razor sharp wit of Simon Amstel and his team leaders.
“I was so nervous when I found out, I’ve been getting my words wrong ever since and have been unable to crack a joke,” confesses Irwin.
“You have never been able to crack a joke,” interjects Martin.
“Yes I have!” he says indignantly. “I'm worried I'm going to be cannon fodder for all the comics. I’m thinking of doing something like fake tears or storming out, that worked really well for Preston. It'll be a laugh. I was really flattered to be asked, it really makes the band’s profile sink in.”
Their meteoric ascent has been impressive indeed. In July debut single ‘Goodbye Mr A’ charted at Number 5 and its October follow-up ‘Worried About Ray’ went one position better. Most impressive was long player The Trick To Life which entered the UK album chart at Number 1, a sugary indie-pop confection crammed with catchy upbeat tunes of the Mika variety. Catapulted to the upper echelons of stardom, the trio were soon rubbing shoulders with the crème de la crème.
Irwin leans forward, “Once we were playing a gig at Trafalgar Square in London and afterwards we found ourselves in the Green Room with (pause for dramatic effect) Jim Bowen from Bullseye and Roy ‘Catchphrase’ Walker. We got a picture with them. I might even have it on my phone,” he gushes, scrambling for said item with much enthusiasm but to no avail.
“How are they doing these days?” I inquire.
“Super, smashing and great” beams Irwin.
There follows a few minutes of misty-eyed nostalgia and talk of speedboats and Bully mugs.
“Martin’s from Stockholm so he wouldn’t have a clue what we’re talking about,” points out Irwin.
“I did a lot of very kind nodding there,” says Martin looking baffled.
Continuing on a celebrity theme the singer notes, “Al’s got a new best mate too. Have you got him on speed-dial? Enqrique?”
“Enrique Iglesias,” clarifies Alfonso. “We met him at a Transmission TV gig. He's the sweetest man you could ever meet. Brings a tear to my eye just thinking about it. He was really concerned about our journey onwards. He was just really, really nice.”
Following such dizzying highs what have the gents got to look forward to in 2008?
“Well, we’re off to Japan, which we’re really excited about and we’ll also be touring Europe, America and Australia. Seeing the world and getting to play music too. We feel like very lucky boys,” says Irwin with a smile.