Dave King (above) was always interested in combining different types of music that ordinarily wouldn't be put together in a band; for example, punk rock and traditional Irish instruments like mandolins and tin whistles. While growing up in Ireland, King's parents ran traditional musical sessions in their home, and the memories stuck with him (via The Irish News).
Living in Los Angeles in the late 1980s, King was part of the heavy metal band Fastway, as well as Katmandu, a more experimental metal band, writes the San Diego Reader. He eventually broke off to start a solo career with a new label. King told The Irish News in 2018: "It [the 1980s music biz] was like prostitution, it was just horrible, it really was. I knew from very early on that I wasn't meant to be in a 'business band.'"
Said label, Epic Records, wasn't on board with him bringing in traditional Irish instruments, and therefore King left the deal. He ended up meeting Bridget Regan — who played the fiddle and was interested in his idea — at the Los Angeles bar Molly Malone's, and the rest is history. King said that before he started Flogging Molly (via The Irish News), "I just wanted to be able to sit in a room on my own and play a song and move myself with what I'd just done – and I'd never ever done that before."
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