Band

Tim Rice-Oxley and Tom Chaplin both attended the Vinehall School in Robertsbridge.  They later attended the Tonbridge School, where they met Richard Hughes.  However, they did not consider careers in music until Rice-Oxley managed to form a rock band with friend, guitarist, and now former band member Dominic Scott at University College in London.  They invited Hughes into the band and were called The Lotus Eaters, a cover band that played songs by U2, Oasis, and The Beatles.

In 1997, Coldplay’s Chris Martin invited Rice-Oxley to join his band after hearing him play the piano. However, Rice-Oxley declined because he did not want to leave his own band: “I was seriously interested, but Keane were already operational and Coldplay’s keyboard player idea was dropped.”  Later that year, Chaplin joined the band, taking Rice-Oxley’s place as vocalist and adding himself as the acoustic guitarist.  The band name was then changed to Cherry Keane.

Two years later in 1999, without a record teal, Keane recorded their first promotional single, “Call Me What You Like”.  It was released on CD through Keane’s own label, Zoomorphic, and was sold after gigs at the pubs where they played during 2000.

Due to the limited success Keane had at this time, Scott decided to leave the group a month after the single was released.  Before this, in November of 2000, Keane were invited by record producer James Sanger to his recording studio, where the band recorded tracks including “Bedshaped” and “This Is The Last Time”.  Sanger has been referred to as the key point in changing Keane’s future sound. In November of 2001, they signed to BMG to publish their music, but at this time they did not yet have a recording contract.

In 2002, the band returned to performing live.   Fatefully, one gig at the Betsey Trotwood in London was attended by Simon Williams of Fierce Panda Records, the same man that discovered Coldplay.  Williams offered to release the first commercial single by the band, “Everybody’s Changing”, which created much attention.  The band signed with Island Records in the summer of 2003.