Band Member

Graham Downey played bass for the Frames 1993-1996.

Paul ‘Binzer’ Brennan is the founding Frames drummer, with the band from 1990 – 1998, for several tours and the records Another Love Song, Fitzcarraldo, and Dance the Devil. 2003 saw him back behind the kit to help out with touring commitments around America and Australia.

In subsequent years he played in studio and live with Mundy, BellX1, Gemma Hayes, The Shoos, The Waterboys, and Little Matador. He was also a member of Halite with another Frames drummer, Graham Hopkins.

These days Binzer is running an online drum track recording service at his website binzerondrums.com.

Johnny Boyle played drums with The Frames from 2003–2008 on several tours.

In the past couple of years he’s been playing with his previous bands LiR and Picture House, as well as Marianne Faithfull, The Fat Lady Sings, and A House.

He’s been Head of Drums at BIMM Dublin for over 9 years and just finished an album with John Murry, which was produced by John Parish (PJ Harvey, EELS, M. Ward, Tracy Chapman).

In February 2020 he launched a podcast called The Brief Encounter, talking music, movies, and the ups and downs of being an artist/musician. His second episode features another former Frames drummer Graham Hopkins and can be found here.

Noreen O’Donnell was a member of The Frames from 1990 – 1996. She appeared on Another Love Song and both versions of Fitzcarraldo, as well as all their live performances of that era. She went on to do various things amongst which involved working for Simon Communtity for several years. Most recently studied History of Art and Architecture as well as Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin.

In 2015 she rejoined the band onstage, along with other former members, for their 25th Anniversary show in Iveagh Gardens. With Noreen, they performed The Dancer, 15 Seafort Parade, Masquerade, Before You Go, Revelate, Where Is My Mind, Fitzcarraldo, and Monument.

John Carney is the founding Frames bassist, touring and recording with the band from 1990 – 1993. He left the band to pursue a career in directing film and television, helming various successful projects over the years. In 2001, he co-wrote and co-directed (with his brother Kieran Carney and Tom Hall) the hugely successful RTÉ TV series Bachelors Walk. The independently-produced TV series proved the most successful in Irish television history.

In 2006 he wrote and directed the movie Once, which starred Glen and Czech singer Markéta Irglová, and won the Sundance Audience Award in 2007. In 2012, Once was turned into a successful Broadway musical, winning 8 Tony Awards. In subsequent years, John has directed more films and television projects. Most recently, the film Sing Street – which he wrote, directed, and composed most of the music for – was adapted to a stage musical that will open on Broadway in March 2020.

Drummer Graham Hopkins joined The Frames on live shows in 2008, though he had previously worked with the band in the studio and appeared on Dance the Devil, Burn the Maps, and The Cost.

Prior to that, he recorded and played live with a variety of different artists including My Little Funhouse (with future Frames bassist Joe Doyle), Therapy?, Gemma Hayes, Halite, and Dolores O’Riordan (The Cranberries) and Snow Patrol. He subsequently appeared on Frames-adjacent albums The Once Soundtrack, The Swell Season, And Now the Weather (Agus Anois An Aimsir) by Colm Mac Con Iomaire, and Longitude.

Most recently, Graham can be found touring and playing drums on David Keenan’s debut album A Beginner’s Guide to Bravery and playing live with Square Pegs. Check out his website here.

Originally a member of Kila with schoolmate Colm Mac Con Iomaire, Dave Odlum is the founding guitarist for The Frames, recording and touring with them from 1990 – 2002. He appears on Another Love Song, Fitzcarraldo, Dance the Devil, For the Birds, and co-produced Burn the Maps with Rob Bochnik and The Cost with Stephen Fitzmaurice. Since leaving the band, he has established himself as a world class producer and in 2012, he won a Grammy for his production work on Tinariwen’s Tassili album. Alongside many other artists – Paloma Faith, Sam Smith, Lisa O’Neill and Gemma Hayes to mention a few – David continues to work with Glen and has been at the production helm of most of Glen’s solo albums.

Dave Hingerty played drums and percussion with The Frames from 1998 – 2003 on several tours, as well as on the albums For the Birds, Breadcrumb Trail, and Set List. Fans from that period surely recall his “hands-on” technique while playing “Lay Me Down” in concert.

Since then has performed with such renowned artists as Kila, Paul Brady, Bronagh Gallagher, Lisa Lambe, The Swell Season, and Josh Ritter. He has also spent time in the studio with Steve Albini (Nirvana), Trevor Horn (Grace Jones), and Brian Deck (Modest Mouse).

He is currently producing a group of musicians known as Side 4 Collective, where Dave’s melodic and primal drum patterns are the first point of writing, and other artists were invited to experiment and record their uninhibited ideas to these beats (‘like throwing paint on canvas’ as Pete Townsend put it when he heard about the project). More info about this project can be found at Dave’s website.

Rob Bochnik is a musician, audio recording engineer, singer and songwriter. He honed his recording skills while working with Steve Albini at Electrical Audio, as an audio engineer. In addition, Rob played an important role in constructing the studios and overseeing their maintenance. It was his audio engineering work on For the Birds (which was recording at Electrical Audio)  that brought him to the attention of The Frames.

He began playing guitar and touring with The Frames in 2002 and was asked to join the band the following year. He played on Set List, Burn The Maps and The Cost, as well as on all their subsequent tours. Additionally, he has toured and recorded as the guitarist and backing vocalist with The Swell Season and with Glen on his solo records.

Rob also records as a solo artist, having released his own records Blowing Out the Cobwebs in 2007 and Lovevolve in 2017.  For more info check out his site here.

Joseph Doyle joined the band in 1996 after his friend Graham Hopkins suggested he audition for the spot. He has subsequently appeared as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist on all albums since Dance the Devil. Alongside Rob Bochnik and Gerry McDonnell, Joseph also engineered Set List. In addition to appearing on 6 Frames albums he also appears on The Swell Season albums Once and Strict Joy, and Glen’s solo albums Didn’t He Ramble, Between Two Shores and This Wild Willing. Joseph continues to perform and record with Glen.

Colm Mac Con Iomaire was a founding member of The Frames with Glen Hansard in 1990, after they met as buskers on Grafton Street. At the time, Colm was playing violin with his band Kíla – and other future Frame, guitarist David Odlum – when he and Glen crossed paths and formed an instant musical connection. He has played on every Frames record, at nearly every live performance and also recorded and toured with The Swell Season.

He has released three solo instrumental albums –  The Hare’s Corner (Cúinne an Ghiorria) 2008, And Now the Weather (Agus Anois An Aimsir) 2015, The River Holds Its Breath (Tost ar an Abhainn) 2019.

As well as being a renowned composer and performer, Colm has worked extensively writing music for film, theatre & television. He created the music for the theatrical shows Bláth & How To Catch a Star and for Movies Dare to be Wild, Out of Innocence, and the Oscar-Nominated animation Late Afternoon. Recently Colm traveled to Israel & Palestine with Narrative4, a program that harnesses the power of ‘story exchange’ to embolden young adults to improve their lives, communities, and the world. His website can be found here.

Glen Hansard is the lead singer and founding member of The Frames. In 1991 he came to international attention as Outspan Foster in the Alan Parker film The Commitments. In the same year The Frames released their debut album Another Love Song on Island Records. The band have released 8 albums as The Frames alongside EPs and singles.

Under his own name Glen has released 4 critically acclaimed albums to date. He is also one half of The Swell Season, alongside pianist Markéta Irglová. Together in 2007 they wrote the music for and starred in the movie Once. The song “Falling Slowly” from the film was awarded the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In 2013 the film was adapted for Broadway as Once, The Musical, winning eight Tony Awards including the top musical prize itself and an Olivier Award in London for Outstanding Achievement in Music.

Glen continues to work with various members of The Frames under his own name.