Tim Rice-Oxley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tim Rice-Oxley |
|---|
Photography of Tim Rice-Oxley from Q Magazine.
|
| Born |
 June 2, 1976 in Battle, East Sussex |
| Occupation |
| Pianist, composer |
| Professional degree |
| Classics |
| Achievements |
| Ivor Novello award in 2004 |
Timothy "Tim" James Rice-Oxley is the co-founder, pianist and composer of English piano rock and alternative rock band Keane. He plays piano, keyboards, bass, and provides backing vocals for the band.
Contents |
[edit] Life and career
He was born in June 2, 1976 to Margaret and Charles Patrick Rice-Oxley. He went to Tonbridge school, Kent with his best friends at the time, Richard Hughes and Tom Chaplin. He had been close friends with Chaplin due to Chaplin having been born on the same day as Tim's brother (also called Tom) – both their mothers met in hospital as a result. He had piano lessons when he was a teenager but he admitted to hating them and never practising pieces because they were all classical music (which he thought was boring). After his parents stopped his lessons, he developed a liking for piano and so taught himself how to play, mainly because of listening to The Beatles.[1]. Later, Tim would give Chaplin after-school piano lessons. In 1994, he began studying for a degree in Classics at University College London, where bandmate Richard studied Geography. Dominic suggested to Tim that they form a band and he, wanting to, agreed. While there, he met Chris Martin, who was creating demos at the time with Coldplay. Tim was invited by Chris to join after listening to his piano playing during a weekend at Virgina Falls, in Surrey, but refused in order to concentrate on Keane and because he didn't want to leave his friends. In an interview in 2004 he admitted to being jealous of Chris Martin's success with Coldplay.
In 1997, Rice-Oxley convinced Scott and Hughes to let Chaplin join the band. It was in this year that the band took the name "Keane".
During their stint in London (since c.1998), Tim shared a flat with Tom in Stoke Newington and they tried to get money for rehearsal time.
When Dominic Scott played lead guitar, Tim took on the role of bass guitarist and did fill-ups as bass was not really important in the songs they played. He composed the songs for the band along with Scott. On Strangers Keane comment Scott's style was "bluesy" and they didn't like that at all. Soon they started playing Tim's compositions instead of Dominic's.
When Scott left the band in July of 2001, Tim started playing the piano, and ditched his "filling-up" image to become the driving force of all Keane songs. He continues to play bass; however now the parts are pre-recorded and are sampled in live gigs through an Apple Powerbook.
In 2004, he won the Ivor Novello award for Best Composer of the year.
In 2006, he contributed on the song, "Early Winter," on Gwen Stefani's second solo album, The Sweet Escape.
Currently, he provides live and studio backing vocals for Keane, except for the studio songs "Sunshine" and "This Is The Last Time" (Demo version) where he sings the lead vocals, as well as some Under the Iron Sea DVD demos.
[edit] Equipment List
More information here: Live and studio instrumentation
- Yamaha CP70 (Main Piano)
- Nord Lead 3 Synth (Synthesizer)
- Fender Precision (Bass Guitar)
- Apple Computer PowerBook G4 Titanium (For bass tracking)
- Apple PowerMac G5
[edit] Trivia
- His great-great grandfather, great grandfather, grandfather, father, mother and brother are all medical doctors.
- His car is a silver Volkswagen Golf Mark IV.[2].
- His favourite color is green
- His favourite foods are Italian and Greek.
- His favourite Keane song is "Fly To Me".
- He is 6'3"
[edit] Quotes
| I don't know whether Keane will survive |
From Q Magazine
[edit] References
- ^ Keaneshaped - FAQ - About songs: The Way You Want It. Retrieved on August 1, 2006.
- ^ Q Magazine: Keane (July 2006)
| Keane |
|---|
| Tim Rice-Oxley | Tom Chaplin | Richard Hughes |
| Adam Tudhope | Dominic Scott |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Hopes and Fears | Under the Iron Sea |
| Lives and EPs: Live Recordings 2004 | Keane Live 06 |
| Singles: "Call Me What You Like" | "Wolf at the Door" | "Everybody's Changing (Part 1)" | "This Is The Last Time (Part 1)" | "Somewhere Only We Know" | "Everybody's Changing (Part 2)" | "Bedshaped" | "This Is The Last Time (Part 2)"| "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" | "Bend and Break" | "Atlantic" | "Is It Any Wonder?" | "Crystal Ball" | "Nothing in My Way" | "A Bad Dream" | "Try Again" |
| DVDs: Hopes and Fears DVD | Strangers | Under the Iron Sea DVD |
| Tours: Hopes and Fears Tour | Under the Iron Sea Tour |
| Other: List of songs by Keane |
| Related articles |
| Piano rock | Battle, East Sussex | Rye, East Sussex | War Child (charity) | Help - a Day in the Life |
