Oceansize

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Oceansize
Left to right: Mark Heron, Steve Durose, Mike Vennart, Jon Ellis, Gambler.
Origin	Manchester
Country	England
Years active	1998–present
Genres	Progressive rock
Labels	Beggars Banquet Records
Members	Mike Vennart Steve Durose Gambler Steve (aka 'Syndrome') Mark Heron
Website(s)	oceansize.co.uk

Oceansize are a five-piece progressive rock group based in Manchester, England. Formed in 1998, Oceansize have gone on to release two full length albums; Effloresce (2003) and Everyone Into Position (2005), the EP Music For Nurses (2004), in addition to a number of minor EPs and singles.

Having toured with The Cooper Temple Clause, Cave In, People in Planes, Aereogramme, Mclusky, Biffy Clyro, Porcupine Tree and Serafin, Oceansize stand out from the mainstream rock scene of Manchester, and a recent increase in popularity has seen them distributed internationally, with some claiming them to be one of the most prevalent modern progressive rock bands of late. Influences range from The Beach Boys and Black Sabbath to Can, Cardiacs, Jane's Addiction, The Verve, Swervedriver, Tool and Tortoise. Some have compared their sound to Pink Floyd, another strong influence, as well as Mogwai and My Bloody Valentine.

Despite being labelled sometimes as a progressive band and sometimes as an indie band, Oceansize are in fact very varied in their music, with songs ranging from acoustic ballads to distorted heavy metal, frequently combining the two. The driving force behind the band is arguably the deeply poetic lyrics of frontman Vennart, although given his deliberately underwhelming studio vocals this is not immediately apparent.

On December 4th 2005, the band issued a press release, stating that bassist Jon Ellis was leaving the band, but would still contribute musically. On 28th January 2006, the band's frontman Mike Vennart issued a short post on an Oceansize messageboard detailing Ellis' "replacement", known only as Steve (who had been affiliated with the band for quite some time, most notably with the Oceansize side-project 'Kong' ). His first UK tour with the band was in support of the New Pin single, which - along with the fact that there are now two Steves in the band (a 100% increase in the amount of Steves in the band) - has led to him being dubbed "New Steve".

Along with their multitude of off-shoots and side projects, Oceansize are frequent collaborators - in 2005, while Vennart was at The Works Recording Studio in Manchester recording parts for Everyone Into Position, he famously ran into hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg and his entourage and did some guitar work for Snoop's demos.

Their song Meredith from the album Everyone Into Position was recently featured in the popular television drama The O.C., and Music For A Nurse from the same album became the soundtrack to an Orange advertising campaign entitled Fish during summer 2006.

They recently embarked on a tour supporting Fightstar. They have only toured the U.S. once, in support of their 2003 CD "Effloresce."

The band has not divulged the specifics of their latest record deal, but it is suspected to be one that will better support the band in terms of promotion and financial backing for international (e.g. U.S.) touring. Mike Vennart implied in a recent interview with a myspace user named "ThinkTank" that this record deal was contingent on the band writing two tracks "on order" for the company. These mp3s were released on the band's Myspace page around Xmas 2006 as a band-described gift to the fans. The songs are "Red Rag to a Bear," a nine+plus minute epic track harkening to their Music For Nurses EP, and "Siberian Bullshit," a ferocious effort which has been described by some fans as the heaviest Oceansize song to date.

In the posting of these mp3s, Vennart described these tracks as "warts an' all," and suggested that they would not show up on the new album. In a later interview in which the circumstances of these songs' compositions were divulged, Vennart expanded, saying that these songs did not represent a progression for the band, and that they could have "easily appeared on an earlier album like the Music for Nurses EP." It is thus expected by Oceansize fans that the next album will be another sea-change in the complexity and originality of their musical composition.

In Feb. 2007, as the band was undertaking the writing process for the next(untitled) album, Vennart posted an mp3 of a slow-moving recently recorded jam called 'Scribble Pad (Guide Dog)' on on Oceansize official message board on 3rd Feb 2007 [[1]]. It is unlikely that this work will appear anywhere, but was used solely as an appetizer for eager fans. Vennart can be quoted from the same messageboard as having described the next album as a "MOTHER-BITCH" of a new record. In the posting of this mp3, Vennart said that the band had decided to post several mp3s of the band "jamming" on new riffs and ideas for the upcoming CD. A second "jam" soon appeared on the messageboard, featuring a complex bassline polyrhythmically interlaid with the band's three guitarists and drummer, which the band rocks heavily around for approximately 5 minutes. This snippet alone has convinced listeners that the newest band member, bassist Steve ( ), will contribute substantially to the band's musical progression. The band has promised to supply these "jams of the week" periodically until the album's finished being written. As of 3/2/07, the third jam of the week has not been released.

Contrary to the first-released "Scribble-pad," which was an ambient piece with one of the bandmembers reciting horoscopes over a repeating, unstructured mesh of light, typical Oceansize soundscapes, the main riff of this jam is concrete and forceful in terms of composition, and is thus highly likely to appear on the next album.