2007年1月美国加州一家报社采访Tim：The British are coming – Keane到Berkeley出席格莱美

2007年1月美国加州一家报社采访Tim：The British are coming – Keane到Berkeley出席格莱美

The British are coming – to Berkeley — Pop trio Keane up for a Grammy
By Amy Maginnis-Honey

It’s seems an unlikely pairing – a hip hop artist who pitched a fit when he didn’t win a video of the year award and a proper British gent who is a member of a band often referred to as “the nicest men in music.”

But it’s entirely within the realm of possibilities as Keane’s Tim Rice-Oxley has written a song he would love hip hop artist Kanye West to record.

Rice-Oxley, 30, collaborated with Gwen Stefani on her second solo effort and has penned a song for head Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger.

Ironically, Keane is pitted against the Pussycat Dolls, Black Eyed Peas, the Fray and Death Cab for Cutie for Grammy honors next month.

Last year, the trio, which also includes singer Tom Chaplin, 27, and drummer Richard Hughes, 31, were up for Grammy’s best new artist. John Legend took home that award.

Today, the band known for its lack of guitars on stage, kicks off five West Coast dates in Los Angeles after an appearance on the “Ellen” TV show. Tomorrow Keane plays in Berkeley.

In February they’ll tour their homeland.

While hanging out stateside, Rice-Oxley took time to field some questions.

AH: You’re coming back to the San Francisco area. Last time you played here “Under the Iron Sea” (the group’s second album) was released in the U.S. that day. Tell me how things have changed for the band since that gig.

TR-O: It was a rough 2006 for the most part. The album came out and it was a big success. That was really nice. You can’t complain about that.

But as far as how we dealt with each other, we had to change things around bit. That’s been tough. We survived. That’s the hardest thing for a band to do. (A rift among band members was heavily reported before the album was released.)

AH: I get the idea the friendships comes before the band. (Members have known each other since childhood.)

TR-O: I think the two are intertwined. Each one supports the other. It would be impossible for the band to exist if we were unhappy with each other as people or even ourselves. But there was something wrong as far as Tom was concerned. We couldn’t ignore it. His health is the most important thing. Making music is part of our friendship as well. (Chaplin checked himself into rehab in August, 2006, for drug and alcohol addiction. The group had to cancel several tour dates, including one in northern California.)

AH: Name some favorite places in the San Francisco area.

TR-O: We had a really nice time when we played at Bimbo’s. It’s kind of like and old speak easy. We probably played there about 18 months ago. It was in the Italian part of town, so there was some good food. We are all quite into our food.

AH: Is “Dirtylicious” on the set list for this tour? (The tune is the band’s hybrid of Christina Aguilera’s “Dirty” and Destiny Child’s “Bootylicious.”)

TR-O: (Laughs) I don’t know. We might sneak it in somewhere. It’s one of those crazy ideas that turned out really well. It sounds pretty good as well with the three-part harmony. It’s definitely inspired us to explore some new areas of music.

AH: You collaborated with Gwen Stefani. Now she’s calling you Clark Kent. What Superhero do you think you are most like?

TR-O: I think Gwen got it right there. My mum has some great photos of me dressed up as a child. I think Spiderman was my costume of choice. But I think the geekiness of Clark Kent never managed to quite shake off.

AH: There’s some buzz on the band’s Web site message boards that Tom is doing a solo project. Please tell me a little about it.

TR-O: I think that’s mainly conjecture. I don’t know basically. Tom is interested in writing some more. When we started out as a band we wrote songs together. It was pretty evenly balanced as far as songwriting. Now I’ve ended up doing the writing for Keane. He wants to get more into writing songs. That’s good and exciting. That’s about all I know and I think that’s about all Tom knows.

AH: People love to analyze your lyrics. Do they usually get it right?

TR-O: It’s very flattering. If you don’t have intriguing and meaningful lyrics, you can’t have a great song. When I was a kid, I was really into lyrics and analyzing Morrissey’s lyrics. I think our lyrics are part of the reason people get into our music. Then Tom has this incredibly expressive voice that pulls people in. People develop this almost obsessive love for the band.

AH: Outside of the basics, what’s the one thing you always take on tour with you? Is the blender coming? (The group reportedly packs a blender in their equipment case so they can have smoothies on tour.)

TR-O: Tom is in charge of smoothies. I’m the one grazing around the chocolate bowl normally.

We do like to get some local in so a map is the most important thing to confirm we make our way back and that we get on stage. We like to experience the real life of these great cities we go to.

AH: Is it important for British acts to conquer the American music market?

TR-O: Historically America is the home of rock ‘n’ roll. The most exciting music is coming out of the states. America is on top of the game musically.

It’s a competitive market and it’s the hardest when you are punching your weight with those fantastic musicians. If we could end up with them, that would be the pinnacle of achievement. We love coming here. We’ve done much better here than I ever thought we would.

Reach Amy Maginnis-Honey at 427-6957 or amaginnis@dailyrepublic.net.

The Keane songs you know (or ought to know)

“Hopes and Fears,” their 2004 debut has sold more than 5 million copies worldwide and launched the hit single “Somewhere Only We Know” which has been featured on TV shows like the “O.C”. as well as ads last summer for the Keanu Reeves-Sandra Bullock flick, “The Lake House.” Other heavily-played tunes off the same record are “Everybody’s Changing,” “Bedshaped” and “Bend and Break.”

“Under the Iron Sea,” debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard chart in June, 2006. “Is It Any Wonder?” earned the Grammy nod. The current single, “A ABad Dream,” is inspired by the WB Yeats poem, “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death.”

You can hear songs that aren’t included on either recording on the two-disc DVD “Strangers,” which follows the band on tour during the summer of 2005 and plenty of extras including video of their first-ever gig.

Some trivia: Keane pianist/songwiter Tim Rice-Oxley attended college with Coldplay’s Chris Martin and turned down Martin’s offer to join Coldplay.

Rice-Oxley was also the recipient of Britain’s songwriting award the Ivor Novello. Past winners include Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger.