fronted a hard rock band called Katmandu

Before forming Flogging Molly, Dublin -born Dave King was the lead singer for the heavy metal band Fastway featuring guitarist “Fast” Eddie Clarke of Motörhead in the early to mid- 1980s . He later fronted a hard rock band called Katmandu (1991), featuring Mandy Meyer of Krokus and Asia on guitars. Afterward, King retained a record deal with Epic Records and began to work on a solo album, but he began to reconsider his record deal when the label opposed his idea of bringing in traditional Irish instruments. King negotiated out of his record deal to go his own way musically soon after.