Early years (1989–1992) While attending a charity gig at the
Jordanstown Polytechnic in 1988, Andy Cairns noticed
Fyfe Ewing playing drums in a punk covers band. The two spoke afterwards and agreed to meet for rehearsal in Fyfe's house in
Larne with Andy playing a small practice amp and Fyfe playing his kit with brushes. In April 1989 they recorded a four track demo tape (
Thirty Seconds of Silence) with Andy playing a bass guitar borrowed from Fyfe's classmate
Michael McKeegan. Deciding to play live, they recruited McKeegan and played their debut gig at the
Belfast Art College supporting Decadence Within on 20 August 1989. They followed this up with another four track demo tape (
Meat Abstract). Their sound was becoming highly influenced by artists of the
indie rock movement such as
The Jesus Lizard,
Big Black, and
The Membranes as well as
new beat disco acts such as Belgian outfit Erotic Dissidents. Therapy? released its first single, called
Meat Abstract in July 1990. The single was limited to 1,000 copies and released on the band's own Multifuckinational Records. During the summer of that year, the band made its first tour through the United Kingdom with
The Beyond, catching the attention of influential
DJ John Peel along the way. The band's early years followed the familiar pattern of hard graft on the local alternative music scene, with Cairns often putting in a full day at the
Michelin tyre factory (where he worked as a quality controller), then speeding across Northern Ireland in order to make it to gigs. The band also took whatever support slot they could, opening for the likes of
Loop,
Ride,
Teenage Fanclub,
Inspiral Carpets,
Tad,
Fugazi and
Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Therapy? quickly came to the attention of local music fans with their distinctively uncompromising style. Their use of guitar feedback as a "fourth instrument" and unconventional song structures, combined with a darkly original approach to lyrics and imaginative use of samples pulled from cult movies and obscure documentaries, led them to be spotted in 1990 by London-based independent label
Wiiija Records. The move was helped by
Lesley Rankine of
Silverfish, who passed the band's first single on to Gary Walker of Wiiija. and Ireland. The
grunge revolution was in full swing, with US outfit
Nirvana leading the way. Predictably, the media began to draw comparisons between the two bands. The heavy guitars and inventive drumming that was swiftly becoming Therapy?'s trademark led them more towards the grunge camp than away from it. However, promotion for the album was scant at best, due to problems at the
A&M label, which culminated in the loss of their record deal with the company. Without label support, Cairns and McKeegan needed to finance the band's European tour in late 1998 themselves. The following album
One Cure Fits All was released in April 2006. The album, produced by Pedro Ferreira, was a return to the melodic tendencies of
High Anxiety and again divided opinion among the band's fans. In addition to this release, the band received some attention from their old record company
Universal Records (who own the rights to the band's material recorded on
A&M Records) who released both a DVD of old promo clips (
Gold) and a double-CD compilation of BBC sessions
(Music Through A Cheap Transistor) in 2007. On the touring front, Therapy? focused on markets they had not usually played, including a slot at the
NXNE festival in Canada, festival dates in Europe (one of which was as a late replacement for
Helmet at the
Nova Rock Festival) and a tour through countries such as
Romania,
Croatia and
Serbia, even playing two gigs on
Reunion Island, off the East African coast. The band ended 2007 by supporting
New Model Army at their Christmas gig in
Cologne. Therapy? were a last minute replacement for
Biffy Clyro on the
Jägermeister Rock Liga tour of Germany which lasted five dates in February 2008. These dates were the only gigs played in 2008 as the band focused their energies exclusively on recording the new record. Therapy? began recording the new album in late July at Blast Studios in
Newcastle and finished recording by late August. It was produced by
Andy Gill. Video of rehearsals surfaced on Therapy?'s website offering previews of the new work, showcasing a more rythmetic jazz-influenced direction (
Rehearsal), alongside a rough track typical of newer Therapy? output (
Clowns Galore). The album, titled
Crooked Timber, was released on 23 March 2009 via
Blast Records/
Global Music. The band performed the new album in its entirety on selected live dates in May, played various European festivals throughout the summer (including a debut appearance at
Oxegen in Ireland and a second outing at England's
Download) and toured Europe extensively from October to December.
20th anniversary (2010–2013) To mark the 20th anniversary of their debut commercial recording release, Therapy? performed for three consecutive nights at London's
Monto Water Rats in March which were recorded for the bands' first official live album titled ''
We're Here to the End'', released in November. A deluxe gold edition of 2009's
Crooked Timber album was released on 19 July. Therapy? also appeared at European festivals in the summer, including at
Knebworth Sonisphere on 31 July when the band performed the
Troublegum album in its entirety. Later in 2010, the band performed several "Troublegum & more" sets throughout Europe as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations. In December 2010, the band began recording their thirteenth studio album, titled
A Brief Crack of Light, in Newcastle's Blast Studio. The album recording was completed in February 2011 and mixing began in March. In late May 2011, the group announced a change of plan for the new album; another recording session was planned for June in order to record new songs that had emerged. Those songs were mixed in July 2011 and included, along with songs from the first session, for the new album. The album was released in February 2012. A preceding single and video titled
Living in the Shadow of the Terrible Thing was released in January 2012. In May 2013, Cairns embarked on his first ever solo acoustic tour of the UK, as well as some dates in Europe. To especially mark the tour, he released a CD of acoustic material for sale exclusively at the shows, comprising 12 Therapy? songs, 6 original tracks freshly written for the tour and a cover version, all recorded in late April in Newcastle's Blast Studios
The Gemil Box was released on 18 November 2013; a career-spanning box set of rare and unreleased material. Contents included remastered versions of
Nurse,
Troublegum,
Infernal Love and
Semi-Detached, three CDs of rare and unreleased tracks, a DVD of the band's 2010 Sonisphere performance of the
Troublegum album, official bootlegs of London ULU '91 and London Mean Fiddler '92, a 12" vinyl of their early demo releases and a cassette of a live recording from Dublin 1990. Deluxe Edition releases of both
Troublegum and
Infernal Love were released by
Universal Music on 31 March 2014. The band promoted these releases with a series of retro video and audio uploads to their official
YouTube channel, proceeding a short UK tour in early April. A compilation of singles from 1992 to 1998 followed on 14 April 2014 via
Spectrum Records, a subsidiary of Universal Music, titled
Stories: The Singles Collection.
Disquiet and acoustic shows (2014–2017) 2017 On 18 February 2014, the band began pre-production on studio album number 14 with producer Tom Dalgety in their now usual surroundings of
Blast Studios in Newcastle. The session finished on 28 February with 18 tracks laid down in demo form. Having chosen 11 songs, the band began recording the album proper on 17 April 2014 and it was completed on 30 April 2014. although it was available in early March to purchase on limited edition CD at the bands' UK tour performing the
Infernal Love album in its entirety. Summer festivals on the European circuit followed, including a date at the
Wacken Open Air in Germany. Therapy? performed a fully acoustic "Wood & Wire" tour through Belgium, Holland, Austria, Germany and the UK from 14 November until 1 December 2016. A newly recorded 11-track acoustic album titled
Wood & Wire was available for purchase on CD at these shows. A six date Irish
Wood & Wire tour took place in April 2017. On 21 July 2017, the band announced a double live acoustic album,
Communion: Live at the Union Chapel, for release on 21 August 2017. The album was recorded in London on 1 December 2016 during the "Wood & Wire" European tour.
Cleave (2018–2019) On 15 January 2018 the band began recording their 15th studio album at Blast Recording in Newcastle with
Chris Sheldon producing. Recording was completed on 6 February 2018. In March, the band completed a 22-date UK and Ireland tour supporting
The Stranglers. On 10 May 2018, the band announced via their social media that they signed a worldwide record deal with Marshall Records: "Absolutely delighted to announce we have signed to @marshallrecs for a worldwide deal! The first single, "Callow", from our 15th album "
CLEAVE" will be released Fri May 25th 2018" A second single, "Wreck It Like Beckett", was released as a digital download on 7 September 2018, preceding the release of
Cleave on 21 September 2018, following an extensive
Pledge Music pre-order campaign which featured signed CDs, coloured vinyl, black vinyl and test presses. "Kakistocracy" was released as a digital-only single along with a music video on 24 January 2019.
30th anniversary (2020–2022) On 16 January 2020, the band announced that they would be releasing a greatest hits compilation, titled
Greatest Hits (The Abbey Road Session). The album featured newly re-recorded versions of 12 Top 40 UK singles spanning the albums
Nurse,
Troublegum,
Infernal Love, and
Semi-Detached, and was recorded at the venerable Abbey Road Studios in November 2019. The band was due to embark on a European tour in support of the album beginning in March; however, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, they postponed the tour until October 2020. In June 2020, they rescheduled the tour again for spring 2021. Once more, in March 2021, the tour was rescheduled to begin in January 2022. The over 18 months between the last show of 2019 and the first show of 2021 (a festival date in July which was one of only three gigs in 2021) was the longest the group has ever gone between shows in their existence. Therapy? spent the majority of 2022 touring the UK and Europe to celebrate their 30-year anniversary, since re-dubbed the "So Much for the 32 Year Plan" tour. The band rounded up the 30th anniversary celebrations by doing a special "Love Your Early Stuff" UK tour in November - December 2022, playing cities they rarely visited and a setlist including rarities and less often played songs. On 2 November 2021, the band announced that their major label debut
Nurse would be reissued by
Caroline Records on 26 November 2021. The remastered 2CD version contained b-sides and previously unreleased demo tracks. There was also a vinyl release.
Hard Cold Fire (2023–present) The band's 16th studio album,
Hard Cold Fire, was released on 5 May 2023. The album was recorded in November 2021 at
Marshall Studios with producer
Chris Sheldon. Due to touring commitments in 2022 related to the delayed 30th anniversary tour, the album had been shelved for 18 months. The album was released across three formats, including CD, cassette and six colour vinyl variants. In February 2023, supergroup
JAAW (featuring Cairns on vocals) announced their debut album called
Supercluster to be released on 26 May 2023 on Svart Records. ==Question mark suffix==