kEANE

Tom Chaplin (vocals), Richard Hughes (drums), and Tim Rice-Oxley (piano) are childhood friends from Battle, East Sussex, England who make up the merry pop sounds of Keane. Formed in 1997 while each were attending college, Keane initially started out as a cover band. They played Oasis, U2 and Beatles songs in and around Sussex with guitarist Dominic Scott. The schtick would only last so long, for Keane got tired of playing everyone else's songs and yearned to do things on their own. When Chaplin left his Art History studies at Edinburgh University behind in 1999 and moved to London to join the rest of his mates, Keane had a chance to really do it. They began writing and recording almost immediately. Call Me What You Like marked their self-released debut single in early 2000 and Wolf At The Door followed a year later, however things were slow to develop. Scott left the band in July 2001 and labels weren't really biting at Keane's rich, piano-driven kind of rock & roll because Coldplay was supposedly doing it. In December 2002, Keane got the break that they'd be waiting for. Fierce Panda's Simon Williams was summoned by a friend to attend a Keane gig in London. He was so impressed by the band's performance, Williams offered to issue the band's next single, Everything's Changing, on the spot. The limited-edition release was such a success on radio, several labels soon swarmed around the indie rock trio, eager to offer them a recording contract. Keane signed to Island UK in fall 2003 and released their fourth single, This Is The Last Time. The band's full-length debut, Hopes and Fears, appeared the following spring.