Quench were an English

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

based in

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Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England. The band toured the UK and Europe and performed at festivals, including the UK's

Greenbelt festival Greenbelt Festival is a festival of arts, faith and justice held annually in England since 1974. Greenbelt has grown out of an evangelical Christian music festival with an audience of 1,500 young people into its current form, a more inclusive f ...

. Quench were quoted as "four piece rock band with solid mainstream appeal" according to independent industry magazine ''The Hit Sheet'', which featured Quench's ''Bring The Summer In'' on one of their compilation CDs.

History

Early years (1997–2000)

Quench grew out of folk/rock band Why?. Singer Jamie Hill and drummer Andy Davis then started a new rock project without the folk influences of Why? and joined by guitarist Kevin Sefton and bassist Ron Knights, they formed Quench (originally under the working title of ''4 Real'').

''The Quench EP'' (2001)

The ''Quench EP'' was released shortly after the band signed to Elevation Records, the rock subsidiary of ICC Records, who signed Quench on the strength of their early showcase gigs in April 2001. In 2002, guitarist Kevin Sefton left the band and Mark Hamilton was recruited to replace him. Mark brought a harder edge to the band which drew them away from their early Punk/Pop influences into a more guitar-heavy

Emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...

direction, drawing influence from bands like

Jimmy Eat World Jimmy Eat World is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Mesa, Arizona. The band is composed of lead vocalist and lead guitarist Jim Adkins, rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist Tom Linton, bassist Rick Burch, and drummer Zach Lind. They h ...

, Story Of The Year, My Chemical Romance and

Finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

in their new sound.

''Afterglow'' (2003–2006)

''Afterglow'' was recorded with producers Trevor Michael and Dave Lynch at Chapel Lane Studios in Hereford and ICC Studios in Eastbourne. The album was almost entirely arranged in the studio and the process of arranging, recording and mixing was achieved in just over three weeks. Upon its release in 2003, ''Afterglow'' received rave reviews from the music press including a 10/10 rating in Cross Rhythms Magazine. The album also won the Best UK Album award at the 2003 UK UCAM Awards.

Track listing

# Beautiful – (Jamie Hill) # Lost – ( Mark Hamilton) # Think About It – (Andy Davis) # Bring The Summer In – (Hill) # I Can't Hear You – (Davis) # Underwhelmed – (Hill) # Alright – (Hill) # Siren – (Hamilton # Turn The Summer Off # Gollum – (Hamilton) # Time For Change – (Davis) # Afterglow – (Hamilton)

''Reality Radio'' (2007–2009)

2007 saw Quench's return to record a new 4 track EP with rock producer Joe Gibb (Jane's Addiction, 3 Colours Red, Funeral For A Friend, Brigade, etc.). The new EP was recorded in one week in January 2007 at ''Mighty Atom'' studios in Wales and mastered by Pete Maher at Topfloor Music. The ''Reality Radio EP'' was released in August 2008 exclusively as an iTunes download. ''Reality Radio'' has been released and scored an excellent review from media outlet Cross Rhythms and CCM website Louder than the Music.

2009 Breakup

On 29 July 2009 Quench announced on their official Myspace site that the band was splitting up. They played their last gig at

Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

on 29 August 2009.

Band members

Current members * Jamie Hill – lead vocals, additional rhythm guitar, (keyboards 2001–2002) * Mark Hamilton (a.k.a. Mark C) – lead guitar, backing vocals * Andy Davis – drums, backing vocals * Ed Powell – bass guitar, backing vocals (2005–present) Former members * Kevin Sefton – guitar (2001–2002) * Ron Knights – bass guitar (2001–2005) * Chris Lane - guitar (2008-2009)

Discography

* ''Reality Radio'' (distributed by Elevation) (2008) * ''Afterglow'' (Elevation) (2003) * ''Quench EP'' (Elevation) (2002) Several Quench songs have also featured on

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s including ''The Hit Sheet'' and ''Lemonaid''.

References

External links

Quench's Official WebsiteQuench's Myspace PageYouTube Channel featuring Quench VideosQuench Official Facebook ProfileAn online review of 'Reality Radio'
{{Authority control English rock music groups English Christian rock groups Musical groups established in 2001