Self-proclaimed as a band that wears their Irish pride on their sleeves – and openly drinks Guinness, the king of Irish beers – Flogging Molly have made a name for themselves with their high-energy, punk rock anthems.

And it helps that during live shows, Flogging Molly’s fans usually also partake in the tasty brew.

Add the two qualities and you get a group that – from their humble beginnings playing weekly gigs at Molly Malone’s, an Irish pub in Los Angeles, to selling out clubs all over the country – has garnered the reputation of a bar band. But this fall, Flogging Molly is branching out and headlining Fuse’s The SideOneDummy College Tour, the band’s first outing specifically for the higher education crowd.

Mandolinist Bob Schmidt says playing to a “booze-free campus is a challenge that [the band] is overcoming,” because playing to a “sober audience is a completely different thing.” The band decided to headline the tour partly because the Molly’s longtime record label, SideOneDummy, was involved and also because they had a “desire to do more with college kids,” a large part of their audience.

With the tour, the band has also been playing not only to presumably sober audiences, but also in various places they aren’t used to, such as campus ballrooms. Because the awkward venues are the “least rock and roll places” the band has ever played, Schmidt says Molly has to “kick the energy level up and whip up a frenzy.”

Flogging Molly is the brainchild of frontman Dave King, the former singer of ’80s metal band Fastway. King started Molly as a chance to make music with a decidedly more folk or Irish sound. As a result, the seven-piece band mixes Celtic, punk, folk and rock influences.

Schmidt joined the band when King was first looking for members to support his new style. King needed a mandolin player, and Schmidt had one. The only problem? Schmidt didn’t know how to play it, despite picking up an “old electric Kay mandolin from the ’50s” at a swap meet when he was 18. He says he bought the instrument because “it had strings and looked cool.”

But after playing with the band for two weeks, Schmidt finally picked up the instrument for good, building on his history with other string instruments to persevere through the new learning process.

Since 1997, the band has released four studio albums, one live album and a DVD/CD combo on independent record label SideOneDummy Records. For the band, their choice to remain on an indie label is about creative control.

“No one believed in us. They just called it bar music,” says Schmidt. But the guys at SideOneDummy supported the band, letting them do whatever they wanted.

Nevertheless, Molly isn’t indie just for the sake of standing apart from the rest of the punk pack. Instead, if a major label offered Molly a lot of money and full creative control, the band would take it to do what’s best for them – but that’s not how the industry works, Schmidt says.

Over the years, Flogging Molly has become notorious for playing raucous, fist-pumping live shows. Schmidt says part of the thrill of being a musician is “hearing kids screaming their hearts out” to King’s lyrics, while also getting emotional to Molly’s more folksy songs that “get people in the right place.”

According to Schmidt, it’s King’s lyrics that make the band who they are.

“It’s so easy to get behind Dave’s sincerity,” Schmidt says. “There is no bullshit.”

Flogging Molly plans to hit the studio again after this tour, with a new album due early next year. Schmidt says he hopes the band can capture the “looseness” of their records Swagger and Drunken Lullabies, but also the diversity of their last, Within a Mile of Home. Schmidt also adds that last year’s Green 17 tour will return this winter, especially so the band can roadtest new material for their upcoming album.

Flogging Molly performs as part of the SideOneDummy College Tour on Sunday at Rams Head Live in Baltimore. Bedouin Soundclash and Zox open. Tickets are $23.50 and doors open at 7 p.m.

Contact reporter Rudi Greenberg at greenbergdbk@gmail.com.