Tin Alley

Tin Alley signing autographs at the PAOK Soccer Club Headquarters in November 2008. Left to right: Paul Siourthas, Jim Siourthas, Paok Director, Peter Hofbauer.

Brothers Jim and Paul Siourthas grew up in Reservoir. Paul received his first guitar at age eight.

The Siourthas brothers formed the group Everything in early 1998 with friends Bill Wall and Angelo on Bass. In 1998 drummer Peter Hofbauer of Austrian descent read an ad in The Sunday Herald and after two auditions joined the band Everything.

In 2006, after producing some demo recordings at Melbourne records, Paul invited numerous labels and profile managers to various shows and showcases. In the process, Jim helped facilitate their progression in musical style from Indie rock to the more hard rock approach that is now their trademark. On the strength of these demos, Mark Huxley took the band to meet with executives at MGM Distribution where they were immediately signed to a distribution deal.

Tin Alley's debut album, entitled Everyturn,[13] was released in Australia on 17 October 2007, released along with its lead single, "In Your Hands". It peaked at number 13 and 17 consecutively in the AIR Charts. Due to the success of Tin Alley's first independent release, another single from the album was released through MGM titled "Polar Bear".[14]

The video clip for Polar Bear was filmed and directed in the United States of America by producer Max Rubitzky and proved to be an underground university hit in the United States. The track Polar Bear was only a digital release through MGM,[15] unlike "In Your Hands" which was marketed to Australian record stores.

In mid-2007, Tin Alley was voted in as 3RRR album of the week and soon found themselves playing on numerous TV shows such as The Breakfast Show and doing guest appearances and acoustic performances on various radio stations.

In December 2007 Tin Alley were struck down with the near loss of Drummer Peter Hofbauer from a serious motorbike accident stopping the band in the midst of their first Australian tour.

It takes more than broken bones to keep me away from what I love most.

— Peter Hofbauer

Tin Alley live at the FUSE Festival in South Australia, 2008.

In late 2008, Tin Alley were back and began work on their second release Crossing Paths. The EP[16] was written and recorded in Queensland and produced by Stuart Stuart who has also worked with The Veronicas and Small Mercies and many other Australian artists.

For any band worth their salt, there comes a time in their evolution when they get tired of messing around—a point of all-or-nothing.
And when that point is reached, the world around them—producers, promoters, fans—seem to come together in an unspoken recognition that something big is about to happen. For Tin Alley, that time is now.

— Jesse Shrock, 05/08/09

In October 2009, the title track Out of Control was released to national radio as the lead single from the 2010 EP release Crossing Paths. The track Out Of Control was written by Tin Alley and had spawned from drummer Hofbauer's near death experience at the age of 27.

The number 27 had led Tin Alley to delve deep into the history of the 27 Club that further led them basing the lyrics in general on that theme and even quoting Kurt Cobain's last words in his suicide note "Best to burn out bright than fade into the night" in the final seconds of the track.

In early November 2009 Tin Alley made the top 100 on the ARIA Charts and in the weeks to follow Out Of Control also made No.1 spots on AIR Charts and AMO "Australian Music Office" Charts for six consecutive weeks and later peaked at number 7 on the ARIA Australian Singles Chart in early December. The track "Out Of Control" also featured as mover of the month on the Jägermeister AIR Charts[17] and was the fourth most added track to National radio and a week later got inducted into the 27 club hall of fame.[18]

Unplugged Session Tour 2009 / 2010

During the bands Out Of Control release Tin Alley were busy on their National Unplugged Sessions Tour.[19] The Media Acoustic Tour kick started in Queensland that spanned across Australia over a four-month period from November 2009 to March 2010. While the band were in Sydney Jim mentioned on the Ugly Phil show on Triple M:

It was a tough time for the band being on the road for days on end. We were up for 25 hrs one day and running late for an Interview and at that time we were under a lot of pressure"

— Jim Siourthas Triple M 12/03/10

In December Tin Alley came back to Melbourne to play a special showcase performance supporting Boom Crash Opera for their Christmas party in Melbourne along with other guests on the night such as Taxiride.

Tin Alley were invited to assist Juke Kartel on their Return To Australia Tour with other special guests Electric Mary. The group's success to date from the Out Of Control release had created landmark achievements and new opportunity's for the band. Following the success of Out Of Control in late December 2009 Tin Alley received notice that Luke Chable was offering to create a special dance version of the band's rock track.

In the weeks to follow Tin Alley accepted and the track was later received and backed by commercial and community radio stations in Australia and also received spins on commercial stations in the UK and United States and received a Top Ten review in The Music Network.[20] Lead singer Jim Siourthas later went on to mention in an interview on Nova 969[21] he was not to happy at first listen with Luke's vocal effects on his voice however he was still very pleased to have Luke collaborate with Tin Alley and liked the dance version.[3]

Tin Alley were fortunate enough to showcase on the Friday night at the Melbourne Moomba Festival before bad weather and storms hit the Melbourne districts the following days[22] resulting in headlining act Vanessa Amorosi and other performances being canceled on the Saturday and Sunday.