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Buchanan are an Australian alternative rock band formed in late 2009, the project of English-born Josh Simons in collaboration with friends. They retired on their 10th anniversary.
"New Acts and Tickets For Laneway Festival"
, ''Beat Magazine'', 10 January 2011, accessed 12 March 2011. On 29 April 2011, the band released their first mass-produced record, ''No Photo - EP'', to a strong critical reception. Distributed via Inertia Records, ''Zoo Weekly'' gave the release four stars, comparing the songs to "Phoenix (French band), Phoenix, with the emotional gravitas of Mumford & Sons and the instrumental dexterity of Sigur Rós." ''MX (newspaper), MX'' newspaper gave the release three and a half stars describing the music as "considered indie pop." The band held residency throughout the month of release a
Northcote Social Club
as well as supporting Tim & Jean to promote the release."New Signing: Buchanan"
, Inertia Music 5 April 2011, accessed 6 April 2011. In June 2011, Buchanan embarked on their first national tour in support of second single "Mr Keeperman", playing shows in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne including supports with Jinja Safari, Trial Kennedy and Papa Vs Pretty. To promote the tour, the band appeared live on Triple J, Sea FM (Australian radio network), Sea FM, Star FM (Australia), Star FM, 3JOY, Joy FM, Channel 31 (Australia), Channel 31 and on BalconyTV to perform acoustically. On 23 August 2011 the band's single "Mr Keeperman" debuted at number six on the Australia
AMRAP
community radio charts after being released to air as a single.
AMRAP. 23 August 2011, accessed 27 August 2011.
, Radar Radio 10 May 2012, accessed 11 May 2012. In July 2012, Buchanan won Austereo's Radar Unsigned Find"Radar Unsigned Find Winner Buchanan"
Austereo. 11 October 2012, accessed 13 October 2012. competition, marking the band as the first to be recognised nationally in unsigned competitions from both Triple J and Austereo. In August 2012, the song was added to high rotation on Triple J. The song spent nine consecutive weeks in the AIR Charts, reaching number 3 on the 100% Independent Radio Charts and number 12 on the Independent Label Radio Charts. The song was the 99th most played song on Triple J in 2012. In October 2012, the band announced on their social media pages that they were embarking on a national tour of Australia throughout November and December. To coincide with the tour, the band offered a free download of a new B-side from their forthcoming debut album. The track, "When the Sun Comes Round Again", was made available for free from the band's official site."Buchanan Offer Single As Free Download"
''theMusic.com.au''. 26 October 2012, accessed 26 October 2012. In April 2013, the band announced their debut studio album, ''Human Spring'', would go on sale in Australia and New Zealand on 10 May 2013. The album, released under Simons' own labe
Raw Imagination People Expect
was met with extremely positive critical reviews. ''Tone Deaf'' gave the album 9/10 calling it a "tremendous debut" while ''Zoo Weekly'' gave the album an 8/10. The album was produced by Catherine Marks with additional production by frequent collaborator Tim Cross. It was recorded at various studios in Australia and the UK over the past 18 months. Andy Baldwin was hired to mix the record with the band choosing to master the album at Abbey Road Studios, Abbey Road with Geoff Pesche. The band released the title track, "Human Spring", on 12 April as the second single off the album. Triple J added the single to high rotation immediately. The song reached number 10 on the AIR Charts, AIR 100% Independent Radio Charts where it spent three weeks. In June 2013, the band performed live on Triple J for Like a Version, performing a cover of Frank Ocean's "Thinkin Bout You (Frank Ocean song), Thinkin Bout You". In July, the band released a new single from the album, "Par Avion", to coincide with a national headline tour of Australia. The band was also announced as part of the BIGSOUND Festival lineup for September 2013. The music video for "Par Avion" premiered on Yahoo! Music following the band's set at BIGSOUND."Exclusive! Australian Indie Rockers Buchanan Premiere Video for ‘Par Avion’"
''Yahoo!''. 24 September 2013, accessed 31 January 2015. In August 2013, both the band's single and album of the same name, "Human Spring", debuted at number 10 on the FMQB Sub-modern radio charts in North America, peaking at number 8. In April 2014 the band announced the release of the album worldwide, putting out a single from the album every three weeks in the lead up to its release."Buchanan Join 123 Agency Roster"
, ''Tone Deaf''. 23 April 2014, accessed 24 April 2014. "Temperamentally" hit number 30 on the iTunes US Alternative charts following the release of the single's lyric video online. The album was made available for purchase worldwide on 9 July 2014."Human Spring by Buchanan"
''iTunes''. 9 July 2014, accessed 15 July 2014.
''Kings of Spins''. 18 July 2014, accessed 21 July 2014. They released a video on social media for a new single called "Coming Down" on 21 July 2014. The track received firm radio and club support throughout the UK and Ibiza, debuting at No. 29 on the Music Week Commercial Pop Charts."Chart Pack"
, ''Music Week''. 10 October 2014, accessed 12 October 2014. The song was also nominated as a semi-finalist in the 2014 International Songwriting Competition. On 26 September 2015 the band headlined the TED (conference)#TEDx, TEDx Macquarie University conference, which was streamed live worldwide, debuting several tracks from the new album."Get Psyched For All The Ideas At Macquarie University's Fifth TEDx Talk"
''Pedestrian TV''. 24 September 2015, accessed 7 October 2015. On 27 October, Simons' birthday, the band put up a post on social media revealing the album would be called ''Pressure in an Empty Space''."Buchanan"
''Facebook''. 27 October 2015, accessed 30 October 2015. On 16 November 2015 the band released an EP, ''Living a Lie'', which was a precursor to the then upcoming second studio album.
''Tone Deaf''. 16 November 2015, accessed 16 November 2015. A national tour of Australia in support of the release was also announced for February 2016. Apple Music promoted several promotional videos from the EP on the homepage of its service worldwide. Following the tour, the band released two consequential singles from the album, title track "Pressure in an Empty Space" and "Learn to Love Again", hinting at an April release date during an appearance on SYN Media#SYN Radio, SYN FM."THE HOIST: Buchanan IV with Abbey + Becs"
, ''SYN''. 15 March 2016, accessed 7 April 2016. The release date was later confirmed to be 29 April."Buchanan Release “Learn to Love again” Single Ahead of Album Launch"
''Sounds of Oz''. 30 March 2016, accessed 7 April 2016. The title track was later shortlisted in the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition."A bunch of awesome Aussies among finalists for $50,000 songwriting competition"
''Triple J''. 3 October 2016, accessed 22 April 2023. On the week of the album release Junkee Media, FasterLouder premiered a videoclip for the song "Stop!""Video premiere: Buchanan - 'Stop!'"
''FasterLouder''. 27 April 2016, accessed 29 April 2016. The album debuted at 42 on the iTunes Australia charts and has taken the band past the million units streamed worldwide milestone."Vampr app aims to become the musicians' equivalent to Tinder"
''The Age''. 19 May 2016, accessed 22 May 2016. The album was mastered at Metropolis Group#Mastering, Metropolis Studios in West London by John Davis and was met with extremely positive critical reviews."Pressure in an Empty Space by Buchanan"
''iTunes Store''. 29 April 2016, accessed 22 May 2016. The album follows Simons during the compounding experiences of the breakdown of a committed relationship whilst dealing with an obscure form of cancer in 2014, which ''Tone Deaf'' described as "a stunning and incredibly moving piece of work."
''Tone Deaf''. 29 April 2016, accessed 13 July 2016. The band premiered the video for the title track "Pressure in an Empty Space" on a new social-professional network for musicians called Vampr. Simons developed the app in collaboration with Hunters & Collectors' guitarist Barry Palmer (musician), Barry Palmer, and was released in May 2016. In July 2016 the band were announced as the opening act for Keith Urban, hand-picked for the Australian leg of his ripCORD World Tour along with Carrie Underwood."Keith Urban Confirms 'Buchanan' As Opening Act For The 'ripCORD World Tour Australia 2016' With Carrie Underwood"
''Australian Musician Network''. 14 July 2016, accessed 14 July 2016."See Keith Urban and 'Whiplash' Star Miles Teller Duet on 'My Girl'"
''Rolling Stone''. 25 July 2016, accessed 9 August 2016. It was announced in the same month that Simons co-wrote The Voice (Australian TV series) winner Alfie Arcuri's single "Careless Game" with Troye Sivan."Alfie Arcuri Releases New Album 'Zenith'"
''Australian Musician Network''. 31 July 2016, accessed 2 August 2016. The release spent 3 weeks on the ARIA Charts, peaking at number 5."Alfie Arcuri - Zenith"
''australian-charts''. 14 August 2016, accessed 21 February 2022. On 28 October 2016 the band released their first live album, ''Alive'', exclusively on Apple Music."Buchanan - The Beep Test"
''Play MPE''. 20 November 2016, accessed 25 November 2016. The album includes 13 tracks recorded during their ''Living a Lie'' tour.
Simons has been working on new material in Los Angeles at GOOD Music with producer Anthony Kilhoffer."For Former Busker Ed Sheeran and for Other Undiscovered/Unsigned Musicians Today, It’s Still About Social Networking & Connecting"
''The Huffington Post''. 3 May 2017, accessed 7 May 2017. The first track from these sessions, "The Beep Test", was released as a single on 25 November 2016."Premiere: Buchanan Dish Out Bouncing Synth Pop With 'The Beep Test'"
, ''Beat Magazine''. 23 November 2016, accessed 25 November 2016. The music video for the single, filmed during the ripCORD World Tour, premiered on Drum Media, theMusic.com.au on 8 February 2017."PREMIERE: Buchanan - The Beep Test"
''theMusic.com.au''. 8 February 2017, accessed 8 February 2017. On 14 December 2016, Buchanan would become the first band in history to perform at the International Convention Centre Sydney as part of the tour."Live Review: Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Buchanan"
''theMusic.com.au''. 15 December 2016, accessed 31 January 2024. Simons and Kilhoffer co-wrote and co-produced the final track of Cyhi the Prynce's debut album No Dope on Sundays released in November 2017. The track "I'm Fine" features Travis Scott and the project was executive produced by Kanye West."Cyhi the Prynce - I'm Fine Lyrics"
''Genius''. 17 November 2017, accessed 17 November 2017. The album debuted at 65 on the Billboard 200."Top 200 Albums"
''Billboard''. 9 December 2017, accessed 16 December 2017. It peaked at number 30 on Billboard charts' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and reached number 1 on iTunes in the US for Hip-Hop/Rap."R&B/Hip-Hop Albums"
''Billboard''. 9 December 2017, accessed 13 December 2017. In December 2017 Simons' app, Vampr, was featured by Apple Inc., Apple in their "Best of 2017" roundup."Best of 2017 - App Store"
''Apple Inc''. 7 December 2017, accessed 3 January 2018. In January 2018 Simons co-produced and mixed Tre Capital single "Blue Eyes White Dragon Flow", which premiered on Complex (magazine), Complex."Premiere: Tre Capital Shares Video for New Single "Blue Eyes White Dragon Flow""
''Complex''. 25 January 2018, accessed 12 June 2018. The track was the lead single for Tre Capital's third studio album, ''Hero'', released 29 June 2018, where Simons was executive producer and co-produced nine tracks which included notable contributions from Kilhoffer and WondaGurl. In May 2018 Allan Kingdom's single "All Night" premiered on Hypebeast which Simons co-wrote with Kilhoffer."Allan Kingdom's "All Night" Might Be His Next Major Hit"
''Complex''. 19 May 2018, accessed 12 June 2018. The release was the lead single for his ''Peanut Butter Prince'' album released on 15 June 2018 where Simons co-wrote the tracks "Don't Wait", "Fall For You" and "All Night"."Josh Simons on Twitter"
''Twitter''. 15 June 2018, accessed 15 June 2018. In June 2018 Simons contributed a vocal and piano performance for "Stand By You", a charity single b
EveryOneBand
The project is the biggest band and largest interactive recording project in history, raising funds for Australian charit
Support Act
"Members"
''EveryOneBand''. 1 June 2018, accessed 12 June 2018. The single debuted at number 1 on the AIR Charts, AIR Singles Chart."Charts"
''AIR''. 12 June 2018, accessed 12 June 2018. September 2018 saw the release of ''Songs From the Ashes, Pt. 2'', an EP from singer-songwriter Cobi (musician), Cobi whose opening track "Church of the Lonely" was co-written by Simons."Cobi Expands Sound"
''Billboard''. 20 September June 2018, accessed 21 September 2018. In October 201
King IV
released her single "Basic" which was produced and co-written by Simons. Buchanan would release their first single in two years on 23 November 2018."Buchanan Return"
''Art News Portal''. 23 November 2018, accessed 23 November 2018. Titled "Breathe" the song features guest vocal performances by Tre Capital and Georgia Mae. In press surrounding the release Simons indicated he's "starting to think about an album". On 11 January 2019 the band announced their retirement with a final mixtape called ''The Crayon Collection'' to be released on 25 January 2019."PREMIERE: Buchanan – The Crayon Collection"
''theMusic.com.au''. 20 January 2019, accessed 20 January 2019. The release included recently completed songs from each era and production team of the band's ten-year history. The announcement was accompanied by lead single "An Uncommon Experience" and a retrospective video chronicling the band's career highlights. The mixtape debuted at 79 on the iTunes Australia charts with over half a million streams as of the week of release."Buchanan – Home"
''Facebook''. 24 January 2019, accessed 24 January 2019. The March 2019 release of Jenny Queen's album ''Baby It Was Real and We Were the Best'' on ABC Music included the single "Medicine" co-written by Simons."Baby It Was Real and We Were the Best - Jenny Queen"
''AllMusic''. 22 March 2019, accessed 12 January 2021. Simons wrote the film score for the July 2019 documentary ''Latter Day Jew'' starring Judy Gold, which was accepted into eight film festivals."News"
''Latter Day Jew''. 26 February 2020, accessed 16 January 2021.
''The Music Network''. 16 April 2020, accessed 16 April 2020. Simons was quoted acknowledging the awards by saying, "I’m going to celebrate with a quarantini," in reference to the curfews and lockdowns related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 Vampr was nominated for a Music Week award in the Music Consumer Innovation category, and would be nominated a second time in 2022, alongside Apple Music, TikTok and Amazon Music."Vampr passes one million users and confirms Q4 funding round"
''Music Week''. 6 September 2021, accessed 19 March 2022. In March 2022, Fast Company inducted Vampr into their ''Most Innovative Companies'' list."The 10 most innovative music companies of 2022"
''Fast Company''. 8 March 2022, accessed 19 March 2022. Later that year Google Play would spotlight the company in their Top 150 apps in the United States. In February 2023, Simons was invited to be a guest lecturer at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to discuss music industry entrepreneurship. Later that month it was announced that Vampr had been acquired by the then Sydney-headquartered music credits database, Jaxsta. In June 2023, following completion of the deal, Simons was appointed CEO of the company. The ASX listed company was later rebranded as Vinyl Group.
In January 2024, Vampr signed Emmanuel Kelly directly to their distribution and publishing service ahead of the release of his single, "My Sky", which Simons co-produced and would see its live premiere at the Australian Open on 23 January 2024. "My Sky" was named by Spotify as one of the top 30 most streamed songs by an Australian artist in 2024.
Kelly's subsequent ''No Zodiac'' EP, was released by Vampr on 30 October 2024, and was executive produced by Simons, Kelly and Chris Martin. Simons also played guest guitar in Kelly's band during the Australian leg of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour,"Josh Simons , Fun fact as we hit the halfway mark of the Australian leg of the tour: @Coldplay were the first band I saw live."
''Instagram''. 4 November 2024, accessed 14 November 2024. a record breaking run which included new attendance records at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium, Marvel Stadium with 227,000 fans over four shows, and Sydney's Stadium Australia, Accor Stadium with 338,776 fans over four shows. In October 2024, Business News (Australia), Business News announced Simons as a winner of their ''Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards'' in the Digital Disrupter category. The following month, Simons was subsequently recognised nationally as a winner of the ''Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year'' in the same category. Throughout 2024, Simons has, as Vinyl Group CEO, acquired The Brag Media, Mediaweek (Australia), Mediaweek, Funkified Entertainment and Serenade, while raising over $15 million in new funds for the company. Since then, and into 2025, Simons raised a further A$10 million and acquired digital city guide publisher Concrete Playground.
''iTunes Store''. 10 May 2013, accessed 7 May 2017. #Act Natural #Par Avion #The Punch #Temptation #For Tonight We Rest (Leaves) #Run Faster #Human Spring #Temperamentally #Sit It Out #The Few #An All Clear? *''Pressure in an Empty Space'' (2016) #Only Us #Learn to Love Again #Coming Down #Stop! #Pressure in an Empty Space #I Don't Want to Die #All That Remains #Pleasure #Uncuff Me
''Coldplay.com''. 24 October 2024, accessed 1 December 2024. , - , "My Sky" , rowspan="1" , Emmanuel Kelly , rowspan="1" , ''No Zodiac - EP'' , rowspan="1" , Executive Producer (Album)Co-producerCo-writer , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" ,
Buchanan Official Website
Josh Simons Official Website
Buchanan
on Twitter
Buchanan
on Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan Australian indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2009 Victoria (state) musical groups
Career
2009–2012: Early years and ''No Photo - EP''
Originating out of Melbourne, Australia, the band recorded their debut record ''The Safety Beach E.P.'' in April 2010. Featuring production by Tim Cross (former Mike Oldfield collaborator) the collection of demos was released on iTunes in May 2010. The band were shortly after invited to showcase for several record labels. Deciding to steel themselves and avoid hasty commitment, the band headed back to the studio to develop more material and record the follow-up. Triple J debuted "Mr Keeperman" on Australian national radio on 19 September 2010. The band would go on to be featured on the Triple J Unearthed page and podcast. In November 2010, the band released a single called "Teachers" independently via TuneCore. The single was a Triple J hit, immediately added to high rotation and gained a five out of five star rating from Richard Kingsmill and multiple additions to The Hype Machine. In early 2011, the band played their first full electric shows in Sydney and Melbourne, playing to sold-out venues with the likes of Gypsy and the Cat, Kimbra, Georgia Fair and Alpine (band), Alpine. In February 2011 the band won the Triple J Unearthed competition and were invited to play the esteemed Laneway festival in Melbourne, playing alongside Foals (band), Foals, Two Door Cinema Club, Cut Copy and Gotye.Thorose, Corin"New Acts and Tickets For Laneway Festival"
, ''Beat Magazine'', 10 January 2011, accessed 12 March 2011. On 29 April 2011, the band released their first mass-produced record, ''No Photo - EP'', to a strong critical reception. Distributed via Inertia Records, ''Zoo Weekly'' gave the release four stars, comparing the songs to "Phoenix (French band), Phoenix, with the emotional gravitas of Mumford & Sons and the instrumental dexterity of Sigur Rós." ''MX (newspaper), MX'' newspaper gave the release three and a half stars describing the music as "considered indie pop." The band held residency throughout the month of release a
Northcote Social Club
as well as supporting Tim & Jean to promote the release."New Signing: Buchanan"
, Inertia Music 5 April 2011, accessed 6 April 2011. In June 2011, Buchanan embarked on their first national tour in support of second single "Mr Keeperman", playing shows in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne including supports with Jinja Safari, Trial Kennedy and Papa Vs Pretty. To promote the tour, the band appeared live on Triple J, Sea FM (Australian radio network), Sea FM, Star FM (Australia), Star FM, 3JOY, Joy FM, Channel 31 (Australia), Channel 31 and on BalconyTV to perform acoustically. On 23 August 2011 the band's single "Mr Keeperman" debuted at number six on the Australia
AMRAP
community radio charts after being released to air as a single.
AMRAP. 23 August 2011, accessed 27 August 2011.
2012–2014: ''Human Spring''
In March 2012, the band released "Run Faster", a warm-up single for their forthcoming debut album, to positive critical reviews. In May 2012, the song was added to rotation on Austereo's Radar (radio station), Radar Radio."Playlist Adds May 10", Radar Radio 10 May 2012, accessed 11 May 2012. In July 2012, Buchanan won Austereo's Radar Unsigned Find"Radar Unsigned Find Winner Buchanan"
Austereo. 11 October 2012, accessed 13 October 2012. competition, marking the band as the first to be recognised nationally in unsigned competitions from both Triple J and Austereo. In August 2012, the song was added to high rotation on Triple J. The song spent nine consecutive weeks in the AIR Charts, reaching number 3 on the 100% Independent Radio Charts and number 12 on the Independent Label Radio Charts. The song was the 99th most played song on Triple J in 2012. In October 2012, the band announced on their social media pages that they were embarking on a national tour of Australia throughout November and December. To coincide with the tour, the band offered a free download of a new B-side from their forthcoming debut album. The track, "When the Sun Comes Round Again", was made available for free from the band's official site."Buchanan Offer Single As Free Download"
''theMusic.com.au''. 26 October 2012, accessed 26 October 2012. In April 2013, the band announced their debut studio album, ''Human Spring'', would go on sale in Australia and New Zealand on 10 May 2013. The album, released under Simons' own labe
Raw Imagination People Expect
was met with extremely positive critical reviews. ''Tone Deaf'' gave the album 9/10 calling it a "tremendous debut" while ''Zoo Weekly'' gave the album an 8/10. The album was produced by Catherine Marks with additional production by frequent collaborator Tim Cross. It was recorded at various studios in Australia and the UK over the past 18 months. Andy Baldwin was hired to mix the record with the band choosing to master the album at Abbey Road Studios, Abbey Road with Geoff Pesche. The band released the title track, "Human Spring", on 12 April as the second single off the album. Triple J added the single to high rotation immediately. The song reached number 10 on the AIR Charts, AIR 100% Independent Radio Charts where it spent three weeks. In June 2013, the band performed live on Triple J for Like a Version, performing a cover of Frank Ocean's "Thinkin Bout You (Frank Ocean song), Thinkin Bout You". In July, the band released a new single from the album, "Par Avion", to coincide with a national headline tour of Australia. The band was also announced as part of the BIGSOUND Festival lineup for September 2013. The music video for "Par Avion" premiered on Yahoo! Music following the band's set at BIGSOUND."Exclusive! Australian Indie Rockers Buchanan Premiere Video for ‘Par Avion’"
''Yahoo!''. 24 September 2013, accessed 31 January 2015. In August 2013, both the band's single and album of the same name, "Human Spring", debuted at number 10 on the FMQB Sub-modern radio charts in North America, peaking at number 8. In April 2014 the band announced the release of the album worldwide, putting out a single from the album every three weeks in the lead up to its release."Buchanan Join 123 Agency Roster"
, ''Tone Deaf''. 23 April 2014, accessed 24 April 2014. "Temperamentally" hit number 30 on the iTunes US Alternative charts following the release of the single's lyric video online. The album was made available for purchase worldwide on 9 July 2014."Human Spring by Buchanan"
''iTunes''. 9 July 2014, accessed 15 July 2014.
2014–2016: ''Pressure in an Empty Space''
The band relocated to London to commence work on their second studio album with renowned producer Simon Duffy (songwriter), Simon Duffy."Buchanan - Coming Down - Raw Imagination People Expect"''Kings of Spins''. 18 July 2014, accessed 21 July 2014. They released a video on social media for a new single called "Coming Down" on 21 July 2014. The track received firm radio and club support throughout the UK and Ibiza, debuting at No. 29 on the Music Week Commercial Pop Charts."Chart Pack"
, ''Music Week''. 10 October 2014, accessed 12 October 2014. The song was also nominated as a semi-finalist in the 2014 International Songwriting Competition. On 26 September 2015 the band headlined the TED (conference)#TEDx, TEDx Macquarie University conference, which was streamed live worldwide, debuting several tracks from the new album."Get Psyched For All The Ideas At Macquarie University's Fifth TEDx Talk"
''Pedestrian TV''. 24 September 2015, accessed 7 October 2015. On 27 October, Simons' birthday, the band put up a post on social media revealing the album would be called ''Pressure in an Empty Space''."Buchanan"
''Facebook''. 27 October 2015, accessed 30 October 2015. On 16 November 2015 the band released an EP, ''Living a Lie'', which was a precursor to the then upcoming second studio album.
''Tone Deaf''. 16 November 2015, accessed 16 November 2015. A national tour of Australia in support of the release was also announced for February 2016. Apple Music promoted several promotional videos from the EP on the homepage of its service worldwide. Following the tour, the band released two consequential singles from the album, title track "Pressure in an Empty Space" and "Learn to Love Again", hinting at an April release date during an appearance on SYN Media#SYN Radio, SYN FM."THE HOIST: Buchanan IV with Abbey + Becs"
, ''SYN''. 15 March 2016, accessed 7 April 2016. The release date was later confirmed to be 29 April."Buchanan Release “Learn to Love again” Single Ahead of Album Launch"
''Sounds of Oz''. 30 March 2016, accessed 7 April 2016. The title track was later shortlisted in the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition."A bunch of awesome Aussies among finalists for $50,000 songwriting competition"
''Triple J''. 3 October 2016, accessed 22 April 2023. On the week of the album release Junkee Media, FasterLouder premiered a videoclip for the song "Stop!""Video premiere: Buchanan - 'Stop!'"
''FasterLouder''. 27 April 2016, accessed 29 April 2016. The album debuted at 42 on the iTunes Australia charts and has taken the band past the million units streamed worldwide milestone."Vampr app aims to become the musicians' equivalent to Tinder"
''The Age''. 19 May 2016, accessed 22 May 2016. The album was mastered at Metropolis Group#Mastering, Metropolis Studios in West London by John Davis and was met with extremely positive critical reviews."Pressure in an Empty Space by Buchanan"
''iTunes Store''. 29 April 2016, accessed 22 May 2016. The album follows Simons during the compounding experiences of the breakdown of a committed relationship whilst dealing with an obscure form of cancer in 2014, which ''Tone Deaf'' described as "a stunning and incredibly moving piece of work."
''Tone Deaf''. 29 April 2016, accessed 13 July 2016. The band premiered the video for the title track "Pressure in an Empty Space" on a new social-professional network for musicians called Vampr. Simons developed the app in collaboration with Hunters & Collectors' guitarist Barry Palmer (musician), Barry Palmer, and was released in May 2016. In July 2016 the band were announced as the opening act for Keith Urban, hand-picked for the Australian leg of his ripCORD World Tour along with Carrie Underwood."Keith Urban Confirms 'Buchanan' As Opening Act For The 'ripCORD World Tour Australia 2016' With Carrie Underwood"
''Australian Musician Network''. 14 July 2016, accessed 14 July 2016."See Keith Urban and 'Whiplash' Star Miles Teller Duet on 'My Girl'"
''Rolling Stone''. 25 July 2016, accessed 9 August 2016. It was announced in the same month that Simons co-wrote The Voice (Australian TV series) winner Alfie Arcuri's single "Careless Game" with Troye Sivan."Alfie Arcuri Releases New Album 'Zenith'"
''Australian Musician Network''. 31 July 2016, accessed 2 August 2016. The release spent 3 weeks on the ARIA Charts, peaking at number 5."Alfie Arcuri - Zenith"
''australian-charts''. 14 August 2016, accessed 21 February 2022. On 28 October 2016 the band released their first live album, ''Alive'', exclusively on Apple Music."Buchanan - The Beep Test"
''Play MPE''. 20 November 2016, accessed 25 November 2016. The album includes 13 tracks recorded during their ''Living a Lie'' tour.
2016–2019: ''The Crayon Collection'', Collaborations and Vampr
Simons has been working on new material in Los Angeles at GOOD Music with producer Anthony Kilhoffer."For Former Busker Ed Sheeran and for Other Undiscovered/Unsigned Musicians Today, It’s Still About Social Networking & Connecting"''The Huffington Post''. 3 May 2017, accessed 7 May 2017. The first track from these sessions, "The Beep Test", was released as a single on 25 November 2016."Premiere: Buchanan Dish Out Bouncing Synth Pop With 'The Beep Test'"
, ''Beat Magazine''. 23 November 2016, accessed 25 November 2016. The music video for the single, filmed during the ripCORD World Tour, premiered on Drum Media, theMusic.com.au on 8 February 2017."PREMIERE: Buchanan - The Beep Test"
''theMusic.com.au''. 8 February 2017, accessed 8 February 2017. On 14 December 2016, Buchanan would become the first band in history to perform at the International Convention Centre Sydney as part of the tour."Live Review: Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Buchanan"
''theMusic.com.au''. 15 December 2016, accessed 31 January 2024. Simons and Kilhoffer co-wrote and co-produced the final track of Cyhi the Prynce's debut album No Dope on Sundays released in November 2017. The track "I'm Fine" features Travis Scott and the project was executive produced by Kanye West."Cyhi the Prynce - I'm Fine Lyrics"
''Genius''. 17 November 2017, accessed 17 November 2017. The album debuted at 65 on the Billboard 200."Top 200 Albums"
''Billboard''. 9 December 2017, accessed 16 December 2017. It peaked at number 30 on Billboard charts' Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and reached number 1 on iTunes in the US for Hip-Hop/Rap."R&B/Hip-Hop Albums"
''Billboard''. 9 December 2017, accessed 13 December 2017. In December 2017 Simons' app, Vampr, was featured by Apple Inc., Apple in their "Best of 2017" roundup."Best of 2017 - App Store"
''Apple Inc''. 7 December 2017, accessed 3 January 2018. In January 2018 Simons co-produced and mixed Tre Capital single "Blue Eyes White Dragon Flow", which premiered on Complex (magazine), Complex."Premiere: Tre Capital Shares Video for New Single "Blue Eyes White Dragon Flow""
''Complex''. 25 January 2018, accessed 12 June 2018. The track was the lead single for Tre Capital's third studio album, ''Hero'', released 29 June 2018, where Simons was executive producer and co-produced nine tracks which included notable contributions from Kilhoffer and WondaGurl. In May 2018 Allan Kingdom's single "All Night" premiered on Hypebeast which Simons co-wrote with Kilhoffer."Allan Kingdom's "All Night" Might Be His Next Major Hit"
''Complex''. 19 May 2018, accessed 12 June 2018. The release was the lead single for his ''Peanut Butter Prince'' album released on 15 June 2018 where Simons co-wrote the tracks "Don't Wait", "Fall For You" and "All Night"."Josh Simons on Twitter"
''Twitter''. 15 June 2018, accessed 15 June 2018. In June 2018 Simons contributed a vocal and piano performance for "Stand By You", a charity single b
EveryOneBand
The project is the biggest band and largest interactive recording project in history, raising funds for Australian charit
Support Act
"Members"
''EveryOneBand''. 1 June 2018, accessed 12 June 2018. The single debuted at number 1 on the AIR Charts, AIR Singles Chart."Charts"
''AIR''. 12 June 2018, accessed 12 June 2018. September 2018 saw the release of ''Songs From the Ashes, Pt. 2'', an EP from singer-songwriter Cobi (musician), Cobi whose opening track "Church of the Lonely" was co-written by Simons."Cobi Expands Sound"
''Billboard''. 20 September June 2018, accessed 21 September 2018. In October 201
King IV
released her single "Basic" which was produced and co-written by Simons. Buchanan would release their first single in two years on 23 November 2018."Buchanan Return"
''Art News Portal''. 23 November 2018, accessed 23 November 2018. Titled "Breathe" the song features guest vocal performances by Tre Capital and Georgia Mae. In press surrounding the release Simons indicated he's "starting to think about an album". On 11 January 2019 the band announced their retirement with a final mixtape called ''The Crayon Collection'' to be released on 25 January 2019."PREMIERE: Buchanan – The Crayon Collection"
''theMusic.com.au''. 20 January 2019, accessed 20 January 2019. The release included recently completed songs from each era and production team of the band's ten-year history. The announcement was accompanied by lead single "An Uncommon Experience" and a retrospective video chronicling the band's career highlights. The mixtape debuted at 79 on the iTunes Australia charts with over half a million streams as of the week of release."Buchanan – Home"
''Facebook''. 24 January 2019, accessed 24 January 2019. The March 2019 release of Jenny Queen's album ''Baby It Was Real and We Were the Best'' on ABC Music included the single "Medicine" co-written by Simons."Baby It Was Real and We Were the Best - Jenny Queen"
''AllMusic''. 22 March 2019, accessed 12 January 2021. Simons wrote the film score for the July 2019 documentary ''Latter Day Jew'' starring Judy Gold, which was accepted into eight film festivals."News"
''Latter Day Jew''. 26 February 2020, accessed 16 January 2021.
Josh Simons (2020–present)
In April 2020 Simons was named in The Music Network's ''Thirty Under 30 Awards'' in addition to being voted ''Reader's Choice'' in a public poll."TMN 30 Under 30: Vampr founder Josh Simons wins Reader’s Choice"''The Music Network''. 16 April 2020, accessed 16 April 2020. Simons was quoted acknowledging the awards by saying, "I’m going to celebrate with a quarantini," in reference to the curfews and lockdowns related to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 Vampr was nominated for a Music Week award in the Music Consumer Innovation category, and would be nominated a second time in 2022, alongside Apple Music, TikTok and Amazon Music."Vampr passes one million users and confirms Q4 funding round"
''Music Week''. 6 September 2021, accessed 19 March 2022. In March 2022, Fast Company inducted Vampr into their ''Most Innovative Companies'' list."The 10 most innovative music companies of 2022"
''Fast Company''. 8 March 2022, accessed 19 March 2022. Later that year Google Play would spotlight the company in their Top 150 apps in the United States. In February 2023, Simons was invited to be a guest lecturer at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to discuss music industry entrepreneurship. Later that month it was announced that Vampr had been acquired by the then Sydney-headquartered music credits database, Jaxsta. In June 2023, following completion of the deal, Simons was appointed CEO of the company. The ASX listed company was later rebranded as Vinyl Group.
In January 2024, Vampr signed Emmanuel Kelly directly to their distribution and publishing service ahead of the release of his single, "My Sky", which Simons co-produced and would see its live premiere at the Australian Open on 23 January 2024. "My Sky" was named by Spotify as one of the top 30 most streamed songs by an Australian artist in 2024.
Kelly's subsequent ''No Zodiac'' EP, was released by Vampr on 30 October 2024, and was executive produced by Simons, Kelly and Chris Martin. Simons also played guest guitar in Kelly's band during the Australian leg of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour,"Josh Simons , Fun fact as we hit the halfway mark of the Australian leg of the tour: @Coldplay were the first band I saw live."''Instagram''. 4 November 2024, accessed 14 November 2024. a record breaking run which included new attendance records at Melbourne’s Docklands Stadium, Marvel Stadium with 227,000 fans over four shows, and Sydney's Stadium Australia, Accor Stadium with 338,776 fans over four shows. In October 2024, Business News (Australia), Business News announced Simons as a winner of their ''Melbourne Young Entrepreneur Awards'' in the Digital Disrupter category. The following month, Simons was subsequently recognised nationally as a winner of the ''Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year'' in the same category. Throughout 2024, Simons has, as Vinyl Group CEO, acquired The Brag Media, Mediaweek (Australia), Mediaweek, Funkified Entertainment and Serenade, while raising over $15 million in new funds for the company. Since then, and into 2025, Simons raised a further A$10 million and acquired digital city guide publisher Concrete Playground.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Human Spring'' (2013)"Human Spring by Buchanan"''iTunes Store''. 10 May 2013, accessed 7 May 2017. #Act Natural #Par Avion #The Punch #Temptation #For Tonight We Rest (Leaves) #Run Faster #Human Spring #Temperamentally #Sit It Out #The Few #An All Clear? *''Pressure in an Empty Space'' (2016) #Only Us #Learn to Love Again #Coming Down #Stop! #Pressure in an Empty Space #I Don't Want to Die #All That Remains #Pleasure #Uncuff Me
Mixtapes
*''The Crayon Collection'' (2019) #Breathe #Hold Off #An Uncommon Experience #The Beep TestLive albums
*''Alive'' (2016) #Only Us (Live) #Learn to Love Again (Live) #Run Faster (Live) #Temperamentally/Teachers (Live) #Mr Keeperman (Live) #Aisles (Live) #Safety Beach (Live) #When the Sun Comes Round Again (Live) #Pressure in an Empty Space (Live) #Human Spring (Live) #Living a Lie (Live) #All That Remains (Live) #Coming Down (Live)EPs
*''The Safety Beach E.P.'' (2010) #Mr Keeperman #Waiting #Safety Beach #Son *''No Photo - EP'' (2011) #Moon #Mr Keeperman #Waiting #Teachers #Aisles #Waiting on a Sound (Bonus Track) *''Living a Lie'' (2015) #Living a Lie #Galileo #Coming Down (Acoustic)Singles
Awards and nominations
, - , 2011 , "Teachers" , Triple J Unearthed Competition , , - , 2012 , "Run Faster" , Austereo's Radar Unsigned Find Competition , , - , 2014 , "Coming Down" , International Songwriting Competition , , - , 2016 , "Pressure in an Empty Space" , Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition , , -Solo credits
{, class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" , +List of solo credits, showing year, song, artist, album and role , - ! scope="col" , Year ! scope="col" , Song ! scope="col" , Artist ! scope="col" , Album ! scope="col" , Role ! scope="col" class="unsortable" , , - ! rowspan="1" scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2016 , "Careless Game" , rowspan="1" , Alfie Arcuri , rowspan="1" , ''Zenith'' , rowspan="1" , Co-writer , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" , , - ! rowspan="1" scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2017 , "I'm Fine (feat. Travis Scott)" , rowspan="1" , Cyhi the Prynce , rowspan="1" , ''No Dope on Sundays'' , rowspan="1" , Co-writerProducer , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" , , - ! rowspan="7" scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2018 , "Blue Eyes White Dragon Flow" , rowspan="1" , Tre Capital , rowspan="1" , ''Hero'' , rowspan="1" , Executive Producer (Album)Co-producerMixer , style="text-align:center;" , , - , "All Night" , rowspan="3" , Allan Kingdom , rowspan="3" , ''Peanut Butter Prince'' , rowspan="3" , Co-writer , rowspan="3" style="text-align:center;" , , - , "Don't Wait" , - , "Fall For You" , - , "Stand By You" , rowspan="1" , EveryOneBand , style="text-align:center;" , — , rowspan="1" , Backing VocalsPiano , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" , , - , "Church of the Lonely" , rowspan="1" , Cobi (musician), Cobi , rowspan="1" , ''Songs From the Ashes, Pt. 2'' , rowspan="1" , Co-writer , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" , , - , "Basic" , rowspan="1" , King IV , style="text-align:center;" , — , rowspan="1" , Co-writerCo-producer , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" , , - ! rowspan="2" scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2019 , "Medicine" , rowspan="1" , Jenny Queen , rowspan="1" , ''Baby It Was Real and We Were the Best'' , rowspan="1" , Co-writer , style="text-align:center;" , , - , Film Score , rowspan="1" , Latter Day Jew , style="text-align:center;" , — , rowspan="1" , WriterMusic Producer , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" , , - ! rowspan="2" scope="row" style="text-align:center;" , 2024 , "ONE WORLD" , rowspan="1" , Coldplay , rowspan="1" , ''Moon Music'' , rowspan="1" , Backing vocals , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" , "ONE WORLD , Coldplay"''Coldplay.com''. 24 October 2024, accessed 1 December 2024. , - , "My Sky" , rowspan="1" , Emmanuel Kelly , rowspan="1" , ''No Zodiac - EP'' , rowspan="1" , Executive Producer (Album)Co-producerCo-writer , rowspan="1" style="text-align:center;" ,
References
External links
Buchanan Official Website
Josh Simons Official Website
Buchanan
on Twitter
Buchanan
on Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Buchanan Australian indie rock groups Musical groups established in 2009 Victoria (state) musical groups