Theaudience (styled as theaudience) were an English rock band, formed in London in 1996. They released one album and saw three singles enter the UK Singles Chart. The band's lead vocalist

Sophie Ellis-Bextor Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo and ...

became a successful solo artist after the band's disbandment.

History

theaudience were founded by guitarist

Billy Reeves Billy Reeves (born 7 June 1965) is an English songwriter, musician, record producer and broadcaster. In 1996 he formed the London-based indie-band Theaudience, (featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor on vocals). Theaudience quickly established themselv ...

, formerly of the indie group Congregation. The group was fronted by

and included drummer/producer "Patch" Hannan (ex-

The Sundays The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in Bristol. The band's lineup consisted of lead vocalist Harriet Wheeler, guitarist David Gavurin, bassist Paul Brindley, and drummer Patrick Hannan. Percussionist Lindsay Jamieson was ...

), keyboard player Nigel Butler (ex-The Bridge), guitarist Dean Mollett (ex-Porcupine) and bass guitarist Kerin Smith. Their one self-titled album received critical acclaim and reached No. 22 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, with two of four singles released reaching the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart. Reeves left the band in December 1998, and although the remaining band members wrote and demoed at least 33 songs for a second album, it was rejected by record label

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

, who then dropped the band, which split in 1999. Approximately half of these tracks were leaked onto the internet, most of which appeared as a fourteen-track bootleg album in 2009 under the fan-made title ''Quiet Storm''. Ellis-Bextor started a solo career in

major label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

artist-driven

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

music following the success of her collaboration with

Spiller Cristiano Spiller (born 3 April 1975) is an Italian electronic music DJ and record producer. He is best known for his 2000 single "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)", featuring Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The song reached number-one in the UK, Australia, I ...

on "

Groovejet (If This Ain't Love) "Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" is a song by the Italian electronic music DJ and record producer Spiller with lead vocals performed by English singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Various versions of the single were later featured on the Germ ...

" in 2000.

Discography

The discography of Theaudience consists of one studio album, four singles and four music videos. The album track "Keep In Touch" was earmarked as a potential fifth single. Thirty three songs were recorded as full band demos in 1998-1999 for a second album, just over half of which circulate as bootleg/download tracks. One such track, "Out With The Old School" was released contemporarily on

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

sampler cassette "Wicked Women" in late 1998.

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

*
Theaudience page
at Sophie-Online.net
Album review
{{Authority control English rock music groups Musical groups established in 1996 Musical groups disestablished in 1999 Alternative rock groups from London Indie rock groups from London Britpop groups Sophie Ellis-Bextor Female-fronted musical groups Mixed-gender bands Mercury Records artists