The Humble Hooligans have been putting their special twist on Irish music in the bars and pubs of California ever since 2004. Like any musical idea they have had their share of trials and troubles. Leading this band of musicians is Troy Rulmyr with a strong Irish Tenor and a build like a brick shit-house. The rest of the Humble crew are happy troublemakers looking for a good time. Over the years their ranks and numbers have changed, but the spirit of this band has never wavered.

Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.

We have four members and several revolving subs that play for us. The band is fronted by Troy Donham (Guitar/Mandolin/Irish Banjo/Harmonicas/Whistles), Accordionist Kevin Patrick Taylor, Drummer Eric Avdeef, Bass Eloy "Loy" Palacios

For starters, what bands were you guys a part of prior to The Humble Hooligans? How long has the band been around?

The list is really long, but nothing notable. We have all played for or opened some very big shows, The Beach Boys, Story of the Year, Bullets and Octane, lots of rock shows, blues, jazz, you name it, this is a very eclectic groups of musicians.

What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?

The name has never changed in 11 years. We were looking for something fun and edgy and we came up with The Humble Hooligans... We always joke about having a hard time coming up with a name. The punch line is we thought we could be a Irish ZZ Top cover band called ZZ Top O' The Morning, but for us the name came pretty easy. 

Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?

Troy writes all the songs, then we bring them together and add pieces to flush out the tunes. Everyone gets to collaborate, and when it starts to really work we take it on the road to polish it off.

What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?

I think our biggest inspiration is the Pogues. The approach, style and energy are very similar in our minds. Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphy's are great too. We've been playing in this genre for so long that anyone who makes Celtic inspired music affects us.

Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?

There wasn't really one. We loved Sublime and The Pogues, but music for the sake of music was what really got us going.

What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …

Troy likes to do some vocal warm ups while he sets up, and some fingers exercise running scales on the guitar. Kevin usually plays through a few classical tunes on the accordion, Eric has hand exercises. We all do something. It's important to be ready to play when you play as often and as long as we do, four to five nights a week with four hour shows.  It's really important on St. Patrick's day. We just finished a twelve and a half hour show. More like a marathon than a gig, but its always loads of fun.

What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?

We've become good friends with The Young Dubliners, and have been featured on some great festival line-ups. We go to Hawaii every year on tour, which is a rough time! It's all been really quite amazing.

If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?

I think that if we could have toured with the Pogues, that would have been amazing. But today Gogol Bordello would be an awesome tour. Can we make that happen?

Is there anything else you would like to add?

There are some hard things about being a niche band, like trying to get exposure, or trying to book out of market gigs, but we wouldn't change it, the music we play we love and the people we meet are amazing! Thanks for the opportunity to do the interview!