Operahouse were a five-piece

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 based in Camden, London. Operahouse released their debut single, "Man Next Door" in March 2007 on Glaze Records to great response, earning plaudits and airplay from such stations as

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

Xfm Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

, and

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show '' Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s and early 2010s, hosted his ow ...

. Their next single, "Born A Boy", was released on

Marrakesh Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

in January 2008 and in addition to getting even more airplay, scored rave reviews in the ''

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 ...

''. The follow-up "Diane" was released in May 2008, which was also well received. Their next single, "Change in Nature", marked a new milestone for the band. On the band's

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

, they claimed that they were "throwing off our

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

shackles" and that the music "has a slightly darker ... theme".

History

Singer and guitarist Johnny Lloyd was brought up on

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

. He started playing guitar at eight years old, then quit and took up the saxophone for a few years before deciding he preferred guitar. Originally from Newcastle, Lloyd went to London via Rugby where he played football at school with Jimmy Cratchley. Cratchley started playing guitar with Lloyd when they were about 15. He moved to London to study photography at Camberwell Arts College. When Lloyd was looking for people to join the band he asked Cratchley. As Lloyd and Alex Kaines were both playing guitar, and they needed someone on

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

, Cratchley took up the role. Kaines was introduced to Lloyd by a mutual friend in a café in south London, and the basis for Operahouse was formed. Aged 18, Ben Niblett who had been playing drums for five years, was also recruited. Dan White, the most recent member of the band (being the only member who joined after the band formed), was recruited to play the synthesizer and keyboard, and also played the xylophone beat in "Change in Nature". He appeared in the

videos Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) system ...

for "Change in Nature" and "Genius Child". In 2007, the band's first single attracted the attention of Dominic Hardisty, who signed

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...

. Hardisty signed the band to his UK based label Marrakesh Records. Their debut album was released in early 2009.Marrakesh Record

. Marrakesh Records website. Retrieved 8 July 2008. Operahouse announced their split on 6 July 2009. Johnny Lloyd, Jimmy Cratchley and Dan White have subsequently found new success in indie rock band Tribes (band), Tribes, while Alex Kaines (under his real name of Alex Robertshaw) moved on to become guitarist for

Everything Everything Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. Noted for their eclectic sound and complex, avant-garde-inspired lyrics, the band has released seven albums to date '' Man Alive (2010),'' '' Arc (2013 ...

Discography

Albums

*''Change in Nature'' EP (November 2008, Marrakesh Records) *''

Escape from the Sun ''Escape from the Sun'' is the debut album by the indie-rock band Operahouse. It was released in April 2009 on Marrakech Records. The album was well received, gaining positive reviews from '' Q'', ''The Sun'' and ''Clash Magazine ''Clash'' is ...

'' (April 2009, Marrakesh Records)

Singles

*"Man Next Door" (March 2007, Glaze Records) *"Born a Boy" (January 2008, Marrakesh Records) *"Diane" (May 2008, Marrakesh Records) *"Change in Nature" (November 2008, Marrakesh Records) *"Genius Child" (March 2009, Marrakesh Records)

References

External links

Official websiteOperahouse live set at Spanking New Sessions MTV2
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Change In Nature reviewed at Daily Music Guide
Indie rock groups from London Rock music groups from the London Borough of Camden Musical groups established in 2006 Musical groups disestablished in 2009