General Fiasco

General Fiasco

General Fiasco is an indie rock group from Bellaghy, Northern Ireland, formed in 2006 and active to the present. The band is based in Belfast and starts with Owen Strathern on vocals and bass, Enda Strathern on guitar and vocals, Stuart on guitar and percussion, and Stephen “Leaky” Leacock on drums.

Formation and early line-up

The group forms around the Strathern brothers, Owen and Enda, together with Shane Davey, who meet at St. Mary’s Grammar School in Magherafelt. After Davey leaves, Leacock joins the band; he is met at Rainey Endowed School in Magherafelt, County Londonderry. The band first performs live at Glasgowbury Festival near their home town.

Releases and live work

Their debut single, Rebel Get By, is released in 2008. The song receives airplay from Zane Lowe, Steve Lamacq, Colin Murray, Huw Stephens, John Kennedy, Jenny Huston and Sara Cox, and it is playlisted on Xfm. The band is invited to perform at Reading and Leeds Festival as part of the BBC Introducing line-up, and also appears at Electric Proms later in 2008. They play at Oxegen, Belsonic, and the Reading and Leeds Festivals, and later perform an acoustic set at Jo Whiley’s Little Noise Sessions.

Touring and support slots

General Fiasco supports The Wombats, One Night Only, The Pigeon Detectives and The Enemy. They also support Snow Patrol at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, and later support Snow Patrol again at the Ward Park Homecoming date. In late 2009 they complete three tours, including a UK headline tour and main support slots for The Enemy and The Answer.

Name and reception

The name General Fiasco comes from a combination of two earlier rejected band names. Owen Strathern explains that one idea is General Music, while another is Marley Jedrejak Fiasco, with the final name combining elements of both. BBC’s Across The Line describes the band as a promising act, and NME names their Reading and Leeds appearance among its “ten hopes for the near future.”