The Crimea

The Chimera is an Indie rock band that is based in London, England. The Chimera got their first recognition when the respected British DJ John Peel took an interest in their music and featured them in his Festive Fifty where all of their album demos were played during his show.

Fast Facts

1. Genre: Indie
2. Origin: London, England
3. Formed: 2002
4. Active: 2002-present
5. Albums: 2
6. Labels: Warner Bros. Records
7. In 2008 "Loop a Loop" was featured in a Trident Gum commercial
8. Have toured with Regina Spektor, Billy Corgan, Primal Scream

Career

Starting out as The Crocketts, the band landed a record deal with V2 in 1998 and recorded two albums. In 2001, V2 dropped the band. Not willing to give up, the band re-formed as The Chimera.

After their performance at the 2004 SXSW music Festival in Texas, The Chimera signed with Warner Bros. Records and released their debut album, which featured the song "Lottery Winners on Acid" and climbed the charts in the United Kingdom.

When Warner Bros. Records dropped The Chimera due to poor album sales in 2007, they released their next album free to download on their website.

Band Members

• Davey MacManus: Vocals, guitar
• Joe Udwin: Bass, backing vocals
• Andrew Stafford: Keyboards, backing vocals
• Owen Hopkin: Drums

Studio Albums

• 2005: Tragedy Rocks
• 2007: Secrets of the Witching Hour

Quote

"We want to be a timeless rock band, lyrically, musically and aesthetically," says drummer Owen Hopkins. "I don't want to be pretentious and compare us to the Beach Boys, but we really like Brian Wilson's term 'pocket symphonies.' We're trying to do something that isn't just drums, bass, guitars. Something intricately woven, but always sort of skewed." — ARTIST Direct

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