Sandstone Hard Rock / Co. Derry

Sandstone is a 5 piece melodic metal band for Derry in Northern Ireland founded in 2003 by Stevie McLaughlin (lead guitar) and Sean McBay (vocals). Their mix of tight Power Metal spiced with a decent dash of melodious Progressive is riveting and reminds you a bit of Fates Warning, Iron Maiden, Queensryche, or even Guns’n’Roses. The latter may be a bit odd, some will say, but SANDSTONE dare and manage the almost impossible, creating a versatile, exciting, and unique style.

From the beginning Sandstone are committed to writing their own material and working in their own studio, Stevie’s brother David McLaughlin (bass) and Paddy Flemming (drums) join the two, completing the band. The foursome wants to perform their songs live as soon as possible – which they do, turning SANDSTONE into a household name in the Irish scene very fast. 2006, they sign a deal with Casket Records, and the label releases their debut album “Tides Of Opinion”, consisting mainly of material written since 2003. The album, containing twelve songs recorded in their own studio, is very well received by the press, the gist of it being “I haven’t heard such an impressive Hard Rock album for a long time”.

“Tides of Opinion” opens a lot of doors for SANDSTONE: they play numerous gigs, and also a tour the UK in 2006/2007. Even hyper-critical British music magazine Kerrang! is crazy about the band’s outstanding live performance. 2008, they start working on the successor of “Tides Of Opinion”. Once again, the band is recording in their own studio, thus being independent of tight time schedules and pressure – and the new compositions mirror that advantage.