Keane

Welcome back to The Keys To Rock!

Thanks for stopping in to check out the next featured artist! Keane comes to you all the way from East Sussex, England.  If you aren't already familiar with their sound, I encourage you to listen while you read!  Keane's Spotify Top 10 is available for listening in a playlist below.  And remember, if you love piano-rock music or love exploring new bands, you can subscribe by putting your email in the box to the right!

Keane

Keane is a keys-driven pop/rock band formed in 1997 by pianist/vocalist Tim Rice-Oxley, guitarist Dominic Scott, and drummer/backup-vocalist Richard Hughes.  Around the same time, Rice-Oxley was invited by Chris Martin of then newly-formed Coldplay, to play keys, Rice-Oxley would decline since Keane (then operating as Cherry Keane, named after a friend's mother who was inspirational to them..."Cherry" was later dropped from the name) was already actively working.  Singer/guitarist Tom Chaplin would join the band very shortly after its formation and later guitarist Jesse Quin would also eventually join the mix.

In 1998-99 Keane got its start with small tours of the London pub circuit and the release of two singles, Call Me What You Like and Wolf at the Door, on their own label Zoomorphic.  After a few more years, one of Keane's shows was attended by Simon Williams of Fierce Panda Records who would offer to release the band's first commercial single, Everybody's Changing.  However just before this, Scott would leave Keane to focus on his studies.  

After the release of Everybody's Changing, Keane would be offered a deal from Island Records in 2003 based on their "brilliant songwriting...and fantastic live show," as Island A&R put it.  Hopes and Fears, Keane's debut album, was released in May 2004 and this launched their first world tour.  The album debuted at the top of the UK Albums Chart, selling 5.5 million copies worldwide.

In April 2005, during the Hopes and Fears tour, Keane would team up with producer Andy Green from the Hopes and Fears album to start recording their sophomore album, Under the Iron Sea.  The album would release in June 2006, again putting Keane at the top of the UK Albums Chart while sales reached 2.2 million copies.  The band would have a second world tour in support of their sophomore album efforts, however the tour would be suspended briefly as Chaplin announced he had admitted himself to a clinic in efforts to help drug and alcohol problems.  In October 2007, Concert Live released a 9-CD set of every Keane live performance in the UK in October of '06, titled Live 06.

In 2008-09 the band would embark upon the recording of their third studio album, Perfect Symmetry, which would again take Keane to #1 on the UK Albums Chart.  They would follow this with an immediate world tour and the release of an 8-song EP entitled Night Train a few years later.  Night Train would again take Keane, for the fourth time, up to the top of the charts.

Keane finished work on its fourth full-length studio album, Strangeland, in early 2012 and performances were booked out of high-demand shortly thereafter.  Many shows in the Strangeland Tour sold out in minutes.

In catching up to modern day status for Keane, November 2013 saw the band release the album The Best of Keane, which was followed by a hiatus for the band.  Chaplin clarified things amongst the circling rumors, saying that the band wasn't splitting up, but was just "taking a bit of time out from being Keane" to have the opportunity to pursue other projects in their lives.

To read more about Keane, check out a few of the links below.  Don't forget to subscribe to The Keys To Rock in the box to the right to regularly hear about more great piano-rock bands!  You can also follow me on twitter @alecryanmusic to get information/notifications about future posts, and to hear what I have going on as a piano-rock artist!

Until next time,

Alec Ryan

http://www.keanemusic.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keane_(band)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keane_discography

Socratic

Welcome back to The Keys To Rock!

I hope you all enjoyed my last post about Something Corporate.  If you didn't get the chance to check it out, you can find it here.  I've got another solid piano-rock band coming to you, this time from the opposite coast. Socratic hails from New Jersey and brings a lot of fun to their light-hearted rock.  If you'd like to listen while you read, scroll down and check out the Spotify playlist I've included below.  And remember, if you love piano-rock music or love exploring new bands, you can subscribe by putting your email in the box to the right!  Without further ado...Socratic:

Socratic

In 1999, front man and guitarist Duane Okun, guitarist Kevin Bryan, keyboardist Vincent D'Amico, drummer Thomas Stratton, and bassist Adam Swider formed the five-piece piano-rock group Socratic in Linden, N.J.  Socratic is characterized by the fun-loving style found in both their lyrics and the feel of their songs.

Signing originally with No Milk Records, Socratic put out their first EP, It's Getting Late, in 2002.  No Milk Records, an independent record label based out of Jackson, New Jersey, had a lineup of mostly rock and piano-rock bands from New Jersey, and as such, naturally signed Socratic.

In really solidifying the free-spirited style that Socratic embodies, the band would release their first full-length album, Lunch For The Sky, in 2005 on Drive-Thru Records.  California's Drive-Thru Records played a large role in promoting the pop-punk/emo sound of the early 2000's.  If you read my last post on Something Corporate, you may remember that S.C. had also worked with Drive-Thru in the early 2000's.

In 2006, Socratic released Just Turn, a 5-track EP available for download on the band's social media profiles.  However, their next large release was their full-length album Spread The Rumors, released in 2008.  Produced by Mark Hoppus of blink-182, Spread The Rumors had a very melodic, upbeat style despite the lesser presence of the piano in comparison to previous albums.

I really think Socratic was just reaching their best sound in Spread The Rumors.  Their style had been refined and the album really packed a punch that mixed their punk/rock roots with poppy melodies that would easily get stuck in your head.  However, after Spread The Rumors, Socratic would remain fairly inactive in terms of music releases until 2012 when the band released their self-titled album Socratic.

Socratic, the band's final album release, really saw the band stray further away from their punk/rock roots, into a much more laid-back pop/rock oriented sound overall.  Having produced the full album themselves, Socratic also saw the band incorporating the piano back into their music more often.

I often find myself listening to music that goes deeper with its lyrics and is serious in nature, but sometimes a fun-loving style with light-hearted lyrics such as Socratic's is refreshing.  Though the members have each moved on to other projects in their lives, I definitely think they've made a great impression on the music scene.

To check out some more information about Socratic, its music, or its members, feel free to check out some links below.  Also don't forget to subscribe with the box to the right if you love hearing about piano-rock bands; and follow me on twitter @AlecRyanMusic if you're interested in seeing what I'm up to as a piano-rock artist in Iowa!

Until Next Time,

Alec Ryan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socratic_(band)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive-Thru_Records

http://socratic.bandcamp.com