Lads from the 'Strangeland'

TAIPEI, Taiwan — It’s half past noon and Richard Hughes just rolled out of bed to send me a grainy photo of the view from his hotel room. Keane had just landed the night before, and the guys from the band were jetlagged. “I went to sleep at around 4 a.m.” Richard explained while waiting for breakfast, “We have some interviews to do and then a show.”

Keane is on the Asian leg of their “Strangeland” world tour. This Tuesday, Oct. 2, will be their first show in Manila — Richard on drums, Tom Chaplin on lead vocals, Tim Rice-Oxley on the piano, and Jesse Quin on bass.

It’s been eight years since the band got plugged into the Pinoy consciousness. Their single Everybody’s Changing took up space in the local airwaves, followed by the emotive Somewhere Only We Know. Their sound, as Rolling Stone describes it, is “sad rock,” often maudlin and dripping with nostalgia. They’ve been often compared to Coldplay, an amusing analogy, considering Coldplay front man Chris Martin had offered Tim a spot in the band back in 1997.

Struggling indie band

“It would have sucked to lose Tim,” Richard says, thankful for Tim’s decision to stay. Tim has been there since Keane’s conception, when they were still a struggling indie band giving away free music in small pubs. Back then, the guys were juggling odd jobs. Richard did admin work for BBC. Tim and Tom got hired by a publishing company, with Tim testing DVDs and Tom working in the mailroom. “Tom also sold paintings door to door, although I don’t know if he ever actually sold any,” Richard joked.

“It was very hard to be different and get noticed, but in the end, Tim’s songs coupled with Tom’s voice and the use of the piano was what did it. We got lucky.”

Now that those days are far behind them, Richard says he sometimes misses it. “We had a great time driving ourselves around in a rental van, getting back to Sussex just as the sun was coming up, with Tim or me driving and Tom asleep on top of the piano in the back of the van… We slept on a lot of friends’ floors, and it’s cool to be able to invite those same friends to come to a big show or a festival, and try to pay them back for their generosity.”

Rehab

There was a time, at the height of their fame, that the UKtabloids weren’t so kind to the band. Tom had taken time off to check himself into rehab, a topic that the guys would rather not revisit. It’s all about moving forward. The decision is not a matter of keeping their image squeaky clean, Richard explains. “You hear about a lot of guys in the music industry who have a good reputation, but who turn out to be total d*cks, and I always find that disappointing, so I hope people come away from meeting us without being disappointed.”

 “I would much rather be known for being nice than an a**hole,” Richard continues, but explains that it’s different when it comes to their music, “I think our music has a lot more depth than it’s sometimes given credit for… There are songs about the struggles of life, and the world in which we live, that I wouldn’t describe as nice.” Richard’s favorite track, Atlantic, for example, is about enduring love after loss and death.

Keane isn’t a band of typical rock stars. They won’t smash up rooms and have groupies on either arm. Whether they would be willing to rough up their image given the opportunity, Richard says, “I think I’ll pass. We have fun together. Tim, Tom, and Jesse are probably the three funniest guys I have the pleasure of knowing. We have a lot of fun on the road and in the studio, but I’m not going to play the crazy anecdote game.”

Though it seems they get along really well, there are also down times. “That’s the benefit of friendship,” Richard says. He and Jesse have been friends for quite some time, and Tom and Tim since they were kids in school. Over the years, they’ve developed some kind of ESP. “We know that quite often there’s something else behind a bad mood or a bad day.”

Together the guys have recorded in Abbey Road, serenaded a massive crowd in Hyde Park for Live 8, played on the Great Wall of China for a Burberry campaign, and are now coming to Manila. When asked about what’s next for Keane, Richard could only quip, “I have no idea.”

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Keane Live in Manila will be held at the Mall Of Asia Arena, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m.