Tim Rice-Oxley playing his Yamaha CP70 piano alongside drummer Richard Hughes during the Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert
Background information
Also known as	The Lotus Eaters (1995-1998) Cherry Keane (1998)
Origin	Battle, England
Genre(s)	Piano rock Alternative
Years active	1997 – present
Label(s)	Island Universal Interscope Fierce Panda Zoomorphic
Website	Keanemusic
Members
Tim Rice-Oxley Tom Chaplin Richard Hughes
Former members
Dominic Scott

Keane (IPA: /kin/) are an English piano rock band, first established in Battle, East Sussex in 1995, taking their current name in 1997. The group is comprised of composer, bassist, and pianist Tim Rice-Oxley, lead vocalist Tom Chaplin and drummer Richard Hughes. Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.

Keane are known for using a piano as their lead instrument instead of guitars, significantly differentiating them from most rock bands. The inclusion of a distorted piano effect since 2006 and various synthesizers are now a common feature in their music that nowadays combines the pure piano rock sound used during their first album and the alternative rock sound which developed during 2005. Acoustic and power ballads are also a highlight in the group's music and have evolved into many fan favourite songs such as "On a Day Like Today" and "We Might As Well Be Strangers".

Keane's first two studio albums, Hopes and Fears and Under the Iron Sea achieved great success in the United Kingdom upon release and very high sales worldwide: their multi-award-winning debut was the best-selling British album of 2004 and their follow-up sold 222,297 copies during its first week on sale in June 2006.

History

Early years and formation

Rice-Oxley's brother — also called Tom — was born in the same hospital on the same day as Chaplin, on March 8, 1979. Their mothers became friends, as did Chaplin and Rice-Oxley. Tom's father David was the headmaster of Vinehall School in Robertsbridge (owned by Chaplin's family) for 25 years, the school both Rice-Oxley and Chaplin attended. Both of them later attended Tonbridge School, where they met Dominic Scott and Richard Hughes. The four of them discovered their liking for music (Rice-Oxley had also learnt to play the flute) but none of them had considered it as a proper career.

While studying at University College, London for a degree in classics in 1995, Rice-Oxley finally managed to form a rock band with Scott, and invited Hughes to play drums. The Lotus Eaters started as a cover band, playing songs by the members' favourite bands, including U2, Oasis, and The Beatles, and rehearsing at home. Adam Tudhope took managing whom Rice-Oxley met and became friends with at University. Tudhope is also involved in film production through his company, White House Pictures and has contributed to some English films such as Love Actually. The band composed a song for the film, but it was not used.

In an interview with The Irish Times on June 2, 2006, Rice-Oxley was quoted as saying that the band had originally been named Coldplay, but he later denied that he ever made the comment to the interviewer.

After listening to Rice-Oxley's piano playing, during a weekend at Virginia Water, Surrey in 1997, Chris Martin invited him to join the early Coldplay. However, Rice-Oxley declined because he did not want to leave Keane, stating "I was seriously interested, but Keane were already operational and Coldplay's keyboard player idea was dropped." Due to Martin's offer, and although Hughes and Scott were originally opposed to it, Chaplin joined the band in 1997, taking Rice-Oxley's place as vocalist and adding himself as the acoustic guitarist. Chaplin's recruitment also marked a change of name from The Lotus Eaters to Cherry Keane, after a friend of Chaplin's mother, whom Rice-Oxley and Chaplin knew when they were young. At her death due to cancer, she had left money for Chaplin's family. Chaplin commented "I used some of the money to see me through the harder times with the music." The name was shortened to Keane soon afterwards.

Chaplin departed for South Africa in summer 1997 to work as a volunteer during his gap year. Chaplin's early experiences there would later be reflected in the band's position for the Make Poverty History campaign. Returning a year later on July 3, 1998, Hughes's first words when the band picked up Chaplin at the airport were "we've got a gig in ten days." With original material, Keane made their debut live appearance at the "Hope & Anchor" pub on July 13, 1998. As commented on by Rice-Oxley, though the band's music included guitar their sound was "epic and dreamlike", distinguishing the band from others. After this gig, throughout 1998 and 1999 the band performed on London's pub gig circuit. In 1998, Chaplin went to Edinburgh University to study for a degree in art history. However, he later quit his degree and moved to London, in order to pursue a full-time musical career with his friends.

Early releases and Scott's departure

In late 1999, and without a record deal, Keane recorded their first promotional single, "Call Me What You Like". Released on CD format through Keane's own label, Zoomorphic, it was sold after the gigs at the pubs where Keane used to play during February 2000. Only five hundred copies were printed. The tracks, however, can now be found on the internet.

The band members have declared they are not against fans sharing tracks that are unreleased on CD, such as the "More Matey" and "Emily" demo tracks. Chaplin has commented "they most likely see those recordings as an interesting extra to get hold of - I don't see it causing any damage. If it was the album we have coming out leaked early (Under the Iron Sea) then I'd probably feel differently." The EP was reviewed by Ben Rodwell from eFestivals who listed "Closer Now" as the best song of the record - one that is particularly enjoyed by fans today.

Four months after the "Call Me What You Like" re-recording session in February 2001, their second single, "Wolf at the Door" was released. Only fifty hand-made copies are known to have been made, using unlabelled CD-Rs. Both singles are considered highly valuable collectors' items by fans. In particular, "Wolf at the Door" has been known to be sold for over £1000 on eBay.

Due to the limited success Keane had at this time, Scott decided to leave the group a month after this single was released in order to continue his studies at the LSE. Before this, in November 2000, Keane were invited by record producer James Sanger to his recording studio at Les Essarts, France, where the band recorded a number of tracks from August to November 2001, including "Bedshaped" and "This Is the Last Time". It was during these sessions that the idea of using a piano as lead instrument began to emerge. Sanger received a shared credit for four songs that appeared on Keane's debut album Hopes and Fears, including the song "Sunshine", the only one composed there.
Sanger has been referred to as a key point in shaping Keane's future sound during the Hopes and Fears era.

The remaining members of the band returned to England in November 2001. Soon after, they signed to BMG to publish their music, but at this time they did not have yet a recording contract. 2002 was a hard year for Keane. All recording or live performances were stopped and Scott's feeling of going nowhere was starting to emerge in Rice-Oxley and Chaplin as they stood at home smoking and listening to records.

In December 2002, Keane returned to performing live. Luckily, one gig at the Betsey Trotwood in London was attended by Simon Williams of Fierce Panda Records, the same man who had discovered Coldplay years previously. Williams offered to release the first commercial single by the band. This release would be "Everybody’s Changing", which Steve Lamacq went on to name single of the week on Lamacq Live on April 19, 2003; the CD Single was released on May 12, 2003.

As a result of the attention created by this release, a bidding war for the band ensued between major labels, with the band deciding to sign with Island Records in summer 2003. The band released "This Is the Last Time" on Fierce Panda, in October 2003, as the final release on that label.

Hopes and Fears