Friday, October 24, 2014

Entry #23: I Met Tim Rice-Oxley From Keane and it was Pretty Damn Cool You Guys

I noticed today that my last post dates awhile back. The past three weeks have been fairly busy—Paris, Barcelona, London and endless bus rides in between (Barcelona to London= smelly 27 hour bus. Hell). I’ll write about that soon. But something more noteworthy happened today that I want to write down before I forget.

Which band has influenced and affected me the most is hardly even a question. Anyone who knows me a bit—particularly if you knew me between the beautiful (ha) ages of 13 and 16—knows about my unconditional fandom for the English piano-pop group Keane. My discovering of this band is largely responsible for many important facets of my life, the most important being my decision to play the piano.

Keane is dabomb.

someone I met in real actual life

Due to outlandish and amazing circumstances, I got the chance to spend an hour with Keane’s pianist and songwriter, Tim Rice-Oxley. But before I delve into the details, I want to list some of the many memories I have associated with the band. Here are just a few, off the top of my head:

  1. The time I saw them live in Montreal with my sister Alice, my mum and my friend Kelly. It was the pinnacle of my fourteen year-old existence. Kelly had brought a Canadian flag and the singer took it from us and sang with it onstage. We may or may not have thrown rubber animals on stage (okay, we did).
  2. There was a time when I was dedicated to writing novels longhand (ouf). I recall writing a chapter and listening to Hopes and Fears seven consecutive times. Six years later, still can’t tire of it.
  3. I spent a lot—a lot—of time on the Keane forum, gossiping and gushing about the band with fans from all around the world. On the summer I turned fifteen, I boarded a train from Montreal to visit my Keane correspondent in New Jersey. We’d never met before, but we’d exchanged mixed CDs.
  4. She and I went out for a drive and were so engrossed in singing along to Keane that we rear-ended another car.
  5. The time I fancied myself a stop-motion animator so I could enter their video-making competition (see here).
  6. The time I made collaboration music videos to their music with fans from around the world (see here and here).


Long story short: I put a lot of time and energy into loving these guys.

Anyway, so when Tim advertised a contest for young songwriters—the prize being an hour-long mentoring session with him—it would have been a crime not to try for it. I am young and song-writing. I wrote “Pathways” the day before the deadline, recorded it over at my friend Richie’s place, and tried not to get my hopes up too much.

When I found out I’d been selected… I had to lie face-down on the carpet for a while before I could explain to my friend why I was having a spontaneous meltdown. It was too surreal.

This week's The Observer

The first and last time I'll ever be mentioned in the same article as Tim Rice-Oxley


The meeting was in Battle, East Sussex. I was ridiculously early. I tried to prep myself for what was about to occur, without much success. When Tim walked through the door, I immediately felt that some cruel spectre had injected 500mgs of stupid into my veins.

“Is there someone in the loo?” he asked, innocuously enough.

“Hahahahahahahaha… no…” I responded, ever eloquent.

The hour went by very quickly. Tim is incredibly good looking and even more so in person. I was nervous—I can’t even think of any other event in my life wherein I was even in the neighbourhood of how anxious I felt this morning.

Notable moments from the session:

-Making small talk with the person WHO SHAPED MY WHOLE LIFE HOLY SHIT.
-Receiving honest criticism about my work (its full potential is undermined by it being under-produced and under-worked)
-Discussing the puzzlingly wide market for weird erotic lit (don’t ask)
-Listening to Tim PLAY MY SONG (WOW SNIFF DEAD) (it sounds much better when he does it)

When he tried to explain what he felt was wrong with my chorus, he struggled to find some words.

“There’s a great lead-up… but it’s like you’re dangling a carrot of…”

“A carrot of disappointment?” I tried to be helpful.

He laughed. “I didn’t say that.”

He had two pages of notes on my song. He is the sweetest.

Things that actually came from Tim’s mouth during the session:

“You have an amazing voice.”
“The melody of your pre-chorus is beautiful and perfect. I wish I’d written that.”

WHAT. WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT

I just want to lie in my bed and sob. My feet might not touch the ground for days. My ego is basically Hindenburg pre-explosion.

Later in the evening, there was a Q & A session with promoters (Melting Vinyl and BBC Introducing). They explained how to make it as a starting musician/band in this day and age—that is, an era where everything is done via Internet and music is expected to be free. They gave some pretty solid advice for bands who already have an established fan base (not me). Still, there was a good takeaway message: get out and play. Play, and make sure to really connect with those who want to listen.

I went back to see Tim after the Q & A to thank him. He wished me luck and told me to send him my new stuff. He told me Keane likely wouldn’t be touring for a while… but that with any luck Mt. Desolation, his other band, might be playing a few shows soon. I mostly nodded my head like an idiot while drowning in those scintillating blue eyes.


I am absolutely exhausted and uplifted. I want to do today all over again. 

Pics coming soon.

NB I didn't take any of these pictures. 

4 comments:

  1. I am so jealous. And every time I have met Tim, I am an idiot. I get lost in those darn eyes! I was at that concert in Montreal; I remember Tom holding your flag. ��

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    1. Some fans gave us a hard time over it afterwards because it was a Canadian flag rather than a Quebec flag... but making a political statement was the last thing I meant to do! It was a great show.

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  2. Hi Elise,
    As someone who was indirectly aware of all of the events you mention above I am just so very, very happy for you. What a dream come true. Now I must go listen to Pathways and write you an old-fogey style email.

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  3. I can't remember when you were not obsessed with Keane, so what an unbelievable opportunity! Don't be so humble though... you earned that opportunity through your talents, it didn't just fall out of the sky!

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