The Online Reflector

By Marcus Whalbring
Entertainment Editor

Irwin Sparks and Alfonso “Allen” Sharlando used to run up and down the soccer field for the University of Indianapolis. Now they are running up and down the stage and emerging in the spotlight of England’s music scene.

Sparks and Sharlando make up two-thirds of The Hoosiers, an indie rock band that hails from London. Sparks plays guitar and performs vocals; Sharlando plays the drums; and Martin Skarendahl plays bass.

According to the band’s Web site, Sparks and Sharlando grew up together in England and were looking for a way to get to the United States and dive into the music scene.

According to Gabriel Hall, assistant coach of the UIndy men’s soccer team and former teammate of Sparks and Sharlando, earning a soccer scholarship was, to them, the best way to find a place in the U.S.

“Basically this was the only school that would give them one [soccer scholarship],” Hall said. “I think that was just a way for them to get over here.”

The pair’s time at UIndy started in July of 2000 and ended in October of 2001. Hall said that Sparks was a theater major and Sharlando studied radio in the communication department. But it wasn’t their areas of study, their soccer playing or even their music that made them stand out on campus. According to James Carson, UIndy alumnus and former roommate of Sparks and Sharlando, it was purely their personalities.

“They had a wild sense of humor,” Carson said. “They were the kind of guys that were up for anything.”

Hall said that Sparks’ theater experience played a major role in his day-to-day life.

“He was the drama major that was always playing different scenes with his accent, especially with the girls,” Hall said. “He loved the spotlight, the attention.”

Trent Kuprewicz, who also played soccer with the two, said that Sharlando was more into playing soccer than Sparks and loved to goof around just as much as his musical sidekick.

During their time at UIndy, the two aspiring musicians cut a small demo, but they never ended up pursuing music while they were in the U.S. Hall said they were never able to find a third person for their group, which prevented them from playing a single show during their time in the states. Although they never performed in Indianapolis, Kuprewicz said he saw hints of their talent from time to time.

“They performed for us all the time,” Kuprewicz said. “Sometimes they would sing karaoke. They really liked singing Bon Jovi, and you could tell that they had talent.”

But the two dreamers must have had more in mind for themselves than belting out Bon Jovi for their friends because they left the U.S. and took the next step in their pursuit of music. They returned to England, added Martin Skarendahl on bass and started performing and building a following.

Today they have released a full-length album called “Trick to Life” and have gigs booked across England until mid March. The album includes an array of catchy indie-pop songs like “Goodbye Mr. A” and “Worried About Ray.”

A few of the songs can be heard online at the band’s myspace page: www.myspace.com/thehoosiers.

More information about the band can be found at the band’s official website: www.thehoosiers.co.uk.

Even though Sparks and Sharlando have since moved on from UIndy and started a following as a British indie-rock band, how they felt about their short-lived time at UIndy can be found on the band’s Web site where they discuss their name: “A Hoosier is a native of Indiana, the mid-western corn growing capital of America, a place we found ourselves when we found ourselves.”