Dive Dive are a British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band, composed of Jamie Stuart (guitar and vocals), Ben Lloyd (guitar and vocals),

Nigel Powell Nigel Powell (born 1 October 1971) is an English multi-instrumental musician from Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon. Powell was born in Bromley, London, and educated at Abingdon School. While at school he was in a band called Illiterate Hands, whic ...

(drums and vocals) and Tarrant Anderson (bass guitar). Ben Lloyd and Tarrant Anderson also play as full-time members of

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primaril ...

's band, The Sleeping Souls. Dive Dive formed in 2001 in

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

after the breakup of the members' previous bands,

Unbelievable Truth Unbelievable Truth are a British rock band, led by Andy Yorke, with Nigel Powell, Jason Moulster, and Jim Crosskey. Their sound has been described as "slow, melancholy, country-tinged ballads, wrapped in a soft blanket of acoustic guitars ...

(Nigel Powell) and Dustball (Jamie Stuart and Tarrant Anderson), in 2000. The band were championed from early on by

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

, for whom they recorded a number of sessions at the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Maida Vale Studios Maida Vale Studios is a complex of seven BBC sound studios, of which five are in regular use, in Delaware Road, Maida Vale, west London. It has been used to record thousands of classical music, popular music and drama sessions for BBC Radio 1, ...

and also performed live on his

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

show.

Biography

Debut album

Dive Dive's first release was "The Crock" (an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

track that often closed their concerts up to 2007). This appeared in 2002 on a joint EP, "When I Wank On My Guitar The Whole World Wanks With Me", on the Oxford-based

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

, Juggernaught Records. Other bands on the EP were The Rock Of Travolta, Six Ray Sun and South Sea Company Prospectus. "The Crock" was followed a few months later by a four track EP, "Sounds All Wrong", also on Juggernaught Records. In 2003, Dive Dive released "Name & Number" as a 7" single on Oxford indie label Vacuous Pop Records, which garnered national press attention for the band for the first time, including single of the week in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. "Name & Number" was followed by the release of a single, "Good Show" on Idle Records in early 2004, which again attracted positive reviews, including another single of the week in ''The Independent''. By 2004 the band's developing reputation as an outstanding live act led to an album deal with London-based independent label, Diablo Records. Diablo released Dive Dive's debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, ''Tilting At Windmills'', in June 2005, along with three supporting radio singles "Good Show", (rereleased) "555 For Filmstars" and "The Sorry Suitor". "555 For Filmstars" and "The Sorry Suitor" both received a moderate amount of national and regional radio play, and entered the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...

at #6 and #10 respectively. The band were joined on stage by Ride's

Loz Colbert Laurence John "Loz" Colbert (born 27 June 1970) is an English musician, best known as the drummer in Ride and formerly of The Animalhouse, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Supergrass and Gaz Coombes. His drumming style has been characterized as fu ...

and

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

's Philip Selway during the tour to promote the album.

Backing Frank Turner

In 2006 Lloyd, Powell and Anderson recorded as

's studio band for his first solo release " Campfire Punkrock". The record was recorded in Dive Dive's studio in the basement of bassist Tarrant Anderson's Oxford home, and released on Xtra Mile Recordings in September 2006. In January 2007, Dive Dive appeared as Frank Turner's backing band on his first full band tour of the UK. On subsequent Frank Turner tours, Stuart dropped out of the line up due to other commitments, however until late 2020, Lloyd, Powell and Anderson still made up three quarters of his backing band. Lloyd and Powell contributed to Frank Turner's first two albums (''

Sleep Is For The Week ''Sleep Is for the Week'' is the debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter Frank Turner, released on 15 January 2007 on Xtra Mile Recordings. The album was produced by Turner's guitarist Ben Lloyd, and recorded between August and Septemb ...

'' and '' Love, Ire and Song''), Lloyd as

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

and

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

and Powell as

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

and

keyboardist A keyboardist or keyboard player is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instru ...

. Tarrant was present as

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

for all full band touring, and contributed as a recording musician to 2009's '' Poetry of the Deed'' album.

Second album

Dive Dive's second album, ''Revenge of the Mechanical Dog'', was recorded during 2007 in gaps between touring as Turner's live band. It was released on the band's own label, Land Speed Records, in conjunction with the Oxford indie label Truck Records and Pinnacle Distribution.

Third album

Lloyd, Powell and Anderson's commitments in Turner's band have meant Dive Dive live shows have been sparse since 2007, however the band recorded their third album, ''Potential'', in 2010 and this was released on Xtra Mile Recordings on 17 January 2011, preceded by single "Liar" on 13 December 2010.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Tilting at Windmills'' (2005) * ''Revenge of the Mechanical Dog'' (2007) * ''Potential'' (2011) * ''The Waves Behind'' (2019)

EPs

* ''Liar'' (2010)

Singles

* "Good Show" (2004) * "555 for Film Stars" UK Indie No. 6, UK Chart No. 48 (2005) * "The Sorry Suitor" UK Indie No. 10, UK Chart No. 54 (2005) * "The Game" (2007)

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control English rock music groups Musical groups from Oxford