in 1995, his friend dominic scott told him to make a band. the band was called "the lotus eaters". they asked richard hughes to play the drums. tom chaplin would play bass. rice-oxley and chaplin had been friends since they were children. in 1997, rice-oxley asked chaplin to sing. the band changed its name to "keane". when scott left the band in 2001, rice-oxley started playing piano again and recording bass separately. he still does that.