Interview The frontman of the Mercury Music Prize nominated group explains why they certainly aren't just another Travis or Coldplay…

Tim Rice-Oxley: We all met years ago and became friends straight away. We were at school together and used to hang out at the weekends. When we were about 14 we started getting into music in a big way and eventually decided to form our own band.

TC: Why the name Keane?

Tim Rice-Oxley: We were sitting in this pub in Dublin waiting to play a gig and were told that we needed a name. We hadn’t actually gotten round to choosing one at that point, it was just one of those things we kept putting off.

Anyway, we were all reminiscing about this old lady who used to look after us when we were younger, her name was Cherry Keane. So in the end we decided to name ourselves after her. Later on we decided to drop the ‘Cherry’ part and just be known as Keane. We thought it was a magical name, we really liked it.

TC: So it has some significance then?

Tim Rice-Oxley:Yeah definitely. She was one of those people who really encouraged us to follow our dreams and do the musical stuff we loved rather than worrying about whether we were going to get ‘proper’ jobs. She was always really nice to us – even when we sounded completely awful! She has a special place in our hearts.

Tim Rice-Oxley: ‘Our biggest hope is that our songs make a difference to people’s lives'

TC: Who writes your songs?

Tim Rice-Oxley: Me. Just me.

TC: Where does your inspiration come from?

Tim Rice-Oxley: I guess it comes from just by keeping my eyes open. I think we’re all quite romantic and emotional people. If you’re sensitive to what’s going on around you and about what people do and say, it’s amazing what inspiration you can get from it all. There are so many ideas out there. Just being honest is very important, if you do that the music and the words seem to flow quite naturally.

TC: So what was the debut single Somewhere Only We Know about?

Tim Rice-Oxley: Its meaning will be different for you as it would be for me. In general terms though, it’s about trying to take comfort in a place in your mind, like a memory or some experiences, or a particular place that you feel comfortable with when you’re not very happy. When things around you aren’t as good as they should be you can go into this other place as a way of making yourself feel better.

TC: A little untraditionally, you don’t have a guitarist – why the daring move?

Tim Rice-Oxley: I really hope people don’t think we need one, everyone usually assumes a band should have a guitarist. I think it does come as a bit of a surprise to people, but then again I think that a lot of people don’t even notice.

Obviously there aren’t lots of guitar solos, but I think the music is just as powerful. In the beginning we did have a guitarist, but he left in 2001 as he was feed up that we weren’t getting anywhere!

TC: What was it like having Somewhere Only We Know go to number three in the charts?

Tim Rice-Oxley: It was very weird. We really didn’t expect it at all, so it was a bit surreal. It's funny how you grow up watching Top of the Pops and listening to the charts on Radio 1 and think it must be such a big deal to get into the Top 10. But then suddenly we were at number three and we didn’t quite know what to think.

It’s only when other people say “Oh my God, number three!” that it sinks in. Just the fact that we were on the radio meant so much as suddenly people were hearing our music.

TC: So was it good when Steve Lamacq played your song as his record of the week on Radio 1?

Tim Rice-Oxley: Yeah! He chose Everybody’s Changing, which was the first single we released back in 2003. It was amazing and I think it was one of the most curial moments in our career so far. We’d had nothing for years and years and then we were suddenly record of the week. It made us feel like a ‘proper’ band and meant maybe we aren’t that crap after all!

TC: If you could do a joint headline tour with anyone at the moment who would you choose?

Tim Rice-Oxley: It would have to be The Strokes or Ash. From a song writing point of view it would have to be Rufus Wainwright, he’s in a league of his own. It would be great to watch him perform every night.

TC: So they’re your music influences then?

Tim Rice-Oxley: Yeah I suppose. We started off listening to the Beatles, then went onto Pet Shop Boys and The Smiths. Oasis and Paul Simon were also really big influences. But we do try and do our own thing, we don’t want to sound like anyone else.

TC: You’ve been compared to the likes of Travis and Coldplay, do you think that’s a fair comparison?

Tim Rice-Oxley:I don’t think we’re at all like Coldplay – we don’t use guitars for a start! Travis have been another huge influence and I really admire Fran as a songwriter. But I don’t think it’s particularly like our sound. But I do think they’re very open, emotional and passionate with their music and write great songs, so in that way I would say we are similar.

TC: How do you feel about being compared to other bands?

Tim Rice-Oxley: We’re used to it now, but I hope that when people listen to our album they realise that we have our own personal style. We make our own music that we like. I can appreciate that people need to compare you to other bands, I’d just hate to be labelled as a Travis-wannabe, we have our own style.

TC: Is there a particular song you have written that is about you and the rest of the bands experiences?

Tim Rice-Oxley: Lots of the songs I’ve written are about things we’ve all experienced. There’s a song on the album called She Has No Time, which I wrote about a girl that Tom fancied. At the time she was being a complete pain in the arse. I didn’t like her very much and I think that came across in the song. I saw the song as a message from me to Tom, and hoped it made him feel better.

Somewhere Only We Know is about experiences and places that we’ve hung out together over the years, summer evenings of sitting around drinking and smoking and playing football and music.

TC: Is there a song you wish you’d written?

Tim Rice-Oxley: There are many songs I wish I’d written! Most of the last Rufus Wainwright album I’d be quite happy with. That’s my favourite album at the moment. I wouldn’t mind having written something like River Man by Nick Drake or Song For The Asking by Paul Simon, they’re amazing songs. The thing I strive for most is to be judged on our songs rather than anything else.

TC: What are your ‘hopes and fears’ for the next few months?

Tim Rice-Oxley: I think our biggest hope is that our songs make a difference to people’s lives. I'm a great believer in music being a very powerful medium. I think it’s a very important form of communication. I hope our album can communicate with people and make them feel good or just feel alive. I just hope that the songs on the album mean as much to the public as they do to us.

TC: So do you worry about how your songs are perceived?

Tim Rice-Oxley: Yeah sometimes, but I don’t want to be too negative about it, there are too many other things in the world for us to worry about. I try to focus more on the hopes than the fears.

TC: What’s next for Keane?

Tim Rice-Oxley: We’re going to be touring all year, we’re quite happy to play anywhere. It’s a great time for us, every day we travel to new places, meet new people and play music – it’s a pretty good life really. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to make another album, but we’ll have to wait and see…