Keane

AuthorMessage
Kitty On The Catwalkâ„¢
Geek
Kitty On The Catwalkâ„¢
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 156
July 15th, 2006 at 10:31am
I looked through the whole "Other Bands" and saw no Keane thread, so here it is. Mr. Green


Band Photos
Image
Image

Genre
Alternative

Band Members

Tom Chaplin - Vocals
Tim Rice-Oxley - Piano, Keyboards, and Bass
Richard Hughes - Drums

Band Biography

We grew up and went to school together in and around a small town called 'Battle' in the south of England. There is not much to do in Battle, but in the late 1980s, during school holidays spent playing football, we discovered music, like most kids do, and pretty soon were swapping our favourite new albums and artists.

Tim had a few piano lessons at school, but quickly bored of the endless scales and classical music, so gave up trying, only to discover that he could play Buddy Holly tunes with what he had picked up. That was it, the start of years playing the songs he enjoyed listening to on a Casio keyboard, programming a pocket-sized sequencer, and trying to write his own songs to play to his friends.

As soon as Rich started out on the drums we started playing together, recruiting a guitarist; Dominic, and soon after, a singer; Tom.

Music was the only thing we all wanted to do. We had nobody to teach us aside from the tapes in our walkmans, and our Beatles? songbooks, so it took a while to get the hang of playing and writing. By 1999, we moved to London to seek a record deal and conquer the world.

Two years on, without a record deal, and with one less member, the three of us fled back to the countryside, broke and downhearted, suffering the ill-effects of two years spent in dead-end jobs by day, and dank rehearsal rooms by night.

Salvation arrived, as ever, in the form of music; an opportunity to go to a dilapidated farmhouse in France and record some new demos. The guitar lines were forgotten, and a new sound gradually emerged. ? Pianos and keyboard took over and Tom?s voice found the space it needed. We headed back home, eager to play our new songs to people.

By January 2003 we?d been given the chance to release a record on tiny-but-legendary indie label, Fierce Panda, whose head honcho had seen us play at the 12 Bar Club in London. We went back to Battle and recorded 'Everybody's Changing'. The song was made 'Single of the Week' by influential Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq, and gradually picked up by others. All 500 copies sold, and we could barely believe it. We took toured the UK for the first time, playing to packed houses and empty rooms. We paid for the fuel and food with what we had earned the night before, ?the money safely stored in a plastic food container.

The lure of a real band that was getting played on the radio and touring the UK was too much to resist, and pretty much all of the big labels had got their chequebooks out. We signed a deal that offered us total creative control over our music, and went to a small local studio called Helioscentric to record and co-produce (with Andy Green) our debut album 'Hopes and Fears' in late 2003, and headed back out on the road.

We released 'Hopes and Fears' in May 2004.

The continuing tour we embarked upon led us around the world for another eighteen months. In 2004 we played four UK tours, and by October 2005 had played 5 American tours which included playing alongside U2 at Madison Square Gardens, visited Mexico, Japan, Australia, toured Europe, played festivals all over the world, and played at the London 'Live 8' show.

'Hopes and Fears' sold over 5 million copies worldwide. We won two Brit Awards in 2005 (British Breakthrough Act and Best Album); Q Magazine's Best Album award; and were nominated in the Best New Act category at The Grammys, but the touring was taking its toll - we needed to get back into the studio, and back to our homes. During every break we could find since 2004, we had been recording bits and pieces, and in October 2005 we headed straight back into the studio for the new sessions with Andy Green, finishing off in December.

The new album, 'Under The Iron Sea' was recorded at The Magic Shop in Soho, New York, and back at Helioscentric Studios, near Battle.

In making this record we tried to confront all our worst fears, to ruthlessly scrutinise ourselves, our relationship with each other, with other people, and with the world at large, and to make a journey into the darkest places we could find.

It made for an incredibly intense atmosphere during the writing and recording of the album, and the resultant songs and sounds very much reflect that. In the songs we created a kind of sinister fairytale-world-gone-wrong, a feeling of confusion and numbness represented by a dark place under an impenetrable iron sea. To express all this we created entirely new sounds by putting an old electric piano and various analogue synths through many different combinations of vintage guitar effects pedals, creating soundscapes that range from the percussive to vast oppressive walls of distortion.

We were writing, singing and performing with a drive, intensity and fury that is almost unrecognisable from our previous music.

It was important that this album had a strong visual presence too, and the start of that was the collaboration with Irvine Welsh on ¡®Atlantic¡¯ offered somebody who both inspired us, and found his own inspiration in our music.

His resulting film echoes the importance of that visual identity we strove for.

We wrote Under The Iron Sea because we needed a record that was going to make us feel alive again.

Biography taken from keanemusic.com

Band Websites

MySpace
Official Site


I know.. the Bio is really long but I couldn't find a better one.

Enjoy. Mr. Green
mikey1000
Idiot
mikey1000
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 728
July 15th, 2006 at 10:37am
I only like ONE song from them and you can thank my ex girlfriend for that...something with strangers.
Protest the Hero.
Falling In Love With The Board
Protest the Hero.
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 6048
July 15th, 2006 at 10:38am
I like them.
Kitty On The Catwalkâ„¢
Geek
Kitty On The Catwalkâ„¢
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 156
July 15th, 2006 at 10:40am
mikey1000:
I only like ONE song from them and you can thank my ex girlfriend for that...something with strangers.


We Might As Well Be Strangers, perhaps?
mikey1000
Idiot
mikey1000
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 728
July 15th, 2006 at 10:44am
That's the one, when i first heard it i was like ewwww wtf??? But after 100 listenings or so it grew on me...i still like it and have it on my iPod, reminds me of her. Sad
ellie ex-friend
Falling In Love With The Board
ellie ex-friend
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 7772
July 15th, 2006 at 11:52am
I can understand why they've become so popular, they're talented guys and make lovely music, but I don't like it. Too generic radio-play indie for me.
Basketcase463
King For A Couple Of Days
Basketcase463
Age: -
Gender: Female
Posts: 4608
July 15th, 2006 at 12:03pm
i love them..
Amy.
Falling In Love With The Board
Amy.
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 5239
July 15th, 2006 at 12:13pm
Cemetellie Drive:
I can understand why they've become so popular, they're talented guys and make lovely music, but I don't like it. Too generic radio-play indie for me.
I'm with you there
newagecarny
Was Here Two Weeks Ago
newagecarny
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 42495

Mibba
July 15th, 2006 at 01:22pm
PunkPixie:
Cemetellie Drive:
I can understand why they've become so popular, they're talented guys and make lovely music, but I don't like it. Too generic radio-play indie for me.
I'm with you there

I concur.
Feesh
Geek
Feesh
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 221

Blog
July 15th, 2006 at 01:26pm
I think they're okay. I like "Somewhere Only We Know"
State Radio
Falling In Love With The Board
State Radio
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Posts: 6583
July 15th, 2006 at 03:02pm
I'm a big fan of "Somewhere Only We Know."
stargazer93
Geek
stargazer93
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 105
July 20th, 2006 at 11:34pm
i like the band, especially Bedshaped and Somewhere Only we know.
Rainbows in the Dark
Idiot
Rainbows in the Dark
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 820

Blog
July 20th, 2006 at 11:36pm
Rocket:
I'm a big fan of "Somewhere Only We Know."

I loveeeeee that song. It's one of those amazing songs that you can listen to for like an hour straight and not get sick of.
Toxic Teeth
Idiot
Toxic Teeth
Age: 29
Gender: Female
Posts: 645

Blog
July 20th, 2006 at 11:39pm
Rocket:
I'm a big fan of "Somewhere Only We Know."

i know what you mean!
davey jones.
Falling In Love With The Board
davey jones.
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 7018

Mibba Blog
July 20th, 2006 at 11:40pm
I love them. I like Somewhere Only We Know and Is It Any Wonder?
Dehren McGhengland
Rotting On Here
Dehren McGhengland
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 49206
July 21st, 2006 at 01:57am
Ella:
PunkPixie:
Cemetellie Drive:
I can understand why they've become so popular, they're talented guys and make lovely music, but I don't like it. Too generic radio-play indie for me.
I'm with you there

I concur.


I concur ×7.
I used to like one song by them.
I believe it was called 'Everybody's Changing'.
asthenia.
Falling In Love With The Board
asthenia.
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 8632

Blog
July 21st, 2006 at 02:24am
i love "somewhere only we know". i can never get tired of it.
Kitty On The Catwalkâ„¢
Geek
Kitty On The Catwalkâ„¢
Age: -
Gender: -
Posts: 156
August 13th, 2006 at 03:11am

Many "Somewhere Only We Know" fans. XD
Incubus
Jackass
Incubus
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 1820
August 16th, 2006 at 07:26pm
I love them so much. Their first album was great and Under the Iron sea is ever better. "Is it any wonder" is ok...shades of U2 at the beginning (Shifty) but my favourite tracks are "Atlantic" "Bad Dream" and of course "Crystal Ball" which is oddly like an attention-seeking child, it holds you in its grasp and doesn't let you go till the last seconds out! Brilliant.
Whitney.
Idiot
Whitney.
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 507
August 16th, 2006 at 07:51pm
I like their single.
Register