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 UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The band's singer

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 singer of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded Ellis-Bextor went solo and ach ...

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 themselve ...

, formerly of the

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

group Congregation. The group were fronted by

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

The Sundays The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in the late 1980s, which released three albums throughout the 1990s. The band's beginnings came with the meeting of singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin while attending ...

), 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 a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

, with two of four singles released reaching the Top 40 in the

. 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. In the United States, it i ...

, 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 artist-driven dance-pop music following the success of her collaboration with Spiller on " Groovejet (If This Ain't Love)" in 2000. Smith and Reeves were later involved with London

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...

band Friends of The Bride.

Discography

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 Britpop groups Sophie Ellis-Bextor