Brian Crosby is an Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 musician/producer and award-winning composer. He is a board director on the Irish Music Rights Organisation

Irish Music Rights Organisation

Irish Music Rights Organisation is the collecting society for songwriters, composers and music publishers of Ireland. Its role is to act as an agent for its members in order to collect license fees whenever their musical works are performed in public, broadcast or transmitted, and to pay out...

 (IMRO).

Career

Crosby is a founding member of the Irish band Juniper

Juniper (band)

Juniper were an Irish rock band from County Kildare, most widely-known today as a precursor to Damien Rice and Bell X1. The band consisted of Rice , Paul Noonan, Brian Crosby, Dominic Philips and David Geraghty...

 along with Damien Rice

Damien Rice

Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....

 and later of Bell X1 along with Paul Noonan

Paul Noonan

Paul Noonan is an Irish singer from Lucan, County Dublin, and lead vocalist of the band Bell X1. His father is Noel Noonan, the recently retired principal of St. Mary's B.N.S. in Lucan....

, Dominic Phillips and David Geraghty

David Geraghty

David Geraghtyis a Choice Music Prize-nominated. He is a solo artist, producer and a member of Irish band Bell X1.-Early career:...

.

In 2006 Crosby devised, curated and produced The Cake Sale

The Cake Sale

The Cake Sale are a collective of mostly Irish musical artists including Swedish singer/songwriter Nina Persson of The Cardigans and Australian musician Nick Seymour of Crowded House....

, a band featuring an eclectic and high-profile collective of musicians and writers, who combined to create an album of previously unrecorded material for the international charity Oxfam. Among the artists involved were Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard

Glen Hansard is the Academy Award–winning principal songwriter and vocalist/guitarist for Irish group The Frames and one half of folk rock duo, The Swell Season...

, Gary Lightbody

Gary Lightbody

Gary Lightbody is an Northern Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol.- Early life :...

, Paul Noonan

Paul Noonan

Paul Noonan is an Irish singer from Lucan, County Dublin, and lead vocalist of the band Bell X1. His father is Noel Noonan, the recently retired principal of St. Mary's B.N.S. in Lucan....

, Lisa Hannigan

Lisa Hannigan

Lisa Margaret Hannigan is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. For several years she was a member of Damien Rice's band before beginning her solo career in 2008. She has been the recipient of various award nominations and critical praise both in Ireland and the USA...

, Damien Rice

Damien Rice

Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....

, Nina Persson

Nina Persson

is the lead singer and lyricist for the Swedish pop group The Cardigans. She has also worked as a solo artist, releasing two albums as A Camp and appearing on the tribute album to Serge Gainsbourg entitled Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited...

, Gemma Hayes

Gemma Hayes

Gemma Claire Hayes is an Irish singer-songwriter and member of The Cake Sale.-Early life:...

, Neil Hannon

Neil Hannon

Neil Hannon is a Northern Irish singer and songwriter, best known as the creator and frontman of the chamber pop group The Divine Comedy. The band's official website even goes so far as to say, "The Divine Comedy is Neil Hannon," and Hannon is quoted in an interview as saying, "The Divine Comedy...

, The Frames

The Frames

The Frames are an Irish band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six albums...

 and The Thrills

The Thrills

The Thrills are an Irish rock band, formed in 2001 in Dublin, Ireland. The band was founded by lead vocalist Conor Deasy and guitarist Daniel Ryan, guitarist and bass player Padraic McMahon, pianist Kevin Horan and drummer Ben Carrigan. Their big break came with their debut album, So Much for the...

.
The album was released in Ireland on 3 November 2006. Its success in Ireland exceeded expectations and so went on to be released in Europe and the USA in 2007 through Yep Roc Records

Yep Roc Records

Yep Roc Records is an independent International record label based in Haw River, North Carolina and owned by Redeye Distribution . The label has put out albums by artists like The Go-Betweens, The Fleshtones, Gang of Four, The Reverend Horton Heat, and The Minus 5, as well as the work of important...

. Later in 2007, it received further recognition when the song 'Some Surprise’, was featured on the ABC medical drama Greys Anatomy. The Cake Sale’s only live appearance to date was their performance of ‘Some Surprise’ at the 2008 Meteor Awards in Dublin.
To date, the project has profited over €250,000 which is used to support Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair

Make Trade Fair

Make Trade Fair is a campaign organized by Oxfam International to promote trade justice and fair trade among governments, institutions, and multinational corporations.-Objectives:The campaign has focused on the elimination of several trade practices:...

 campaign and their overseas programme work in countries such as Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

 and Malawi

Malawi

The Republic of Malawi is a landlocked country in southeast Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on the east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawi. Its size...

. All the publishing royalties for The Cake Sale

The Cake Sale

The Cake Sale are a collective of mostly Irish musical artists including Swedish singer/songwriter Nina Persson of The Cardigans and Australian musician Nick Seymour of Crowded House....

 also go to Oxfam

Oxfam

Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...

, an unusual occurrence for a charity album.

In 2006, Crosby and Nick Seymour

Nick Seymour

Nick Seymour is a musician, painter, and record producer. He is best known for being the bass guitarist in the Australasian rock group Crowded House and brother to Mark Seymour of another successful group; Hunters and Collectors.- Biography :Born in Benalla, Victoria, Australia, Seymour studied...

 wrote the music score for the short movie 'Silent City' directed by Academy-Award nominated Irish director Ruairí Robinson.

In 2007, Crosby won the Prix Europa

Prix Europa

Prix Europa is the Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. Its open juries sample and select the best television-, radio- and online productions of each year...

 Prize for his music score for the radio drama 'Mayday' written by Veronica Coburn, which was broadcast on Irish national broadcaster RTÉ Radio 1. The Prix Europa

Prix Europa

Prix Europa is the Europe's largest annual tri-medial festival and competition. Its open juries sample and select the best television-, radio- and online productions of each year...

 is the premier international prize for radio broadcasting. During this year he also produced 'Blackbird', the debut album for the band One Day International and composed the music for the TV series 'The Modest Adventures of David O’Doherty'.

In 2008, Crosby collaborated with Irish visual artist Paddy Jolley, and composed and recorded the music score for a number of his short films. 'Fall', shown at Darklight Film Festival and Cork Film Festival in 2008 features repetitions of both destructive and calm images underscored by Crosby’s dark, minimalist, unsettlingly moving music. 'This Monkey', filmed over a number of months in the Delhi area of India, confronts the spectator with disturbing images of mans close relative, the rhesus monkey, a subject made all the more provocative by the starkly minimal, yet evocative score. In 2008 Crosby also composed the score for the short movie ‘The German’, a world war two action short directed by Irish film maker Nick Ryan.

Departure from Bell X1 and what he did afterwards

On October 2, 2008, Brian Crosby announced his decision to leave Bell X1 following their European tour. Having juggled his work with band life for some years, he announced he would like to concentrate on film scoring and producing in the future.

Crosby said on his departure:

"It's been an extraordinary privilege to be in a band with your mates for more than 15 years. I'm really grateful for everything I got to do with Bell X1, for all the adventures we had and for the great support of our fans. It's been particularly wonderful to have connected with so many people and to have got to meet people all over the world doing what I love. I look forward to continue making those connections. At the same time I'll be applauding the boys continued success."

Noonan said on the band's website:

"We've grown up making music together, and will of course miss Brian in all of the areas that he drove things. The band has become a hub from which many other projects have sprung over the past few years, which is a very healthy thing I think - it's been great to explore other areas of music. I know his voice will continue to reach people, and I'm sure we'll work together again in some shape or form."

In February 2009, Crosby produced the song "A Year and a Bit" for the Dutch band Voicst

Voicst

Voicst are a three-piece indie rock band hailing from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. "Voicst" was the name of a stray cat at the band's very first practice space in Amsterdam.- Band members :* Tjeerd Bomhof * Sven Woodside...

.