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Ooberman!
Ooberman are:
Dan Popplewell (vocals, guitar, piano, violin, songs, production)
Andy Flett (guitars, vocals, songs, production)
Sophie Churney (vocals, keyboards)
Steve Flett (bass, re-mixing, web design)
Paul Walsham (drums)
Ooberman began with a meeting of Bradford-born Dan Popplewell and Andy Flett over a school piano in 1988. A long-term friendship clicked and they went on to form a fledgling band with Andy's younger brother Steve. When Dan moved to Liverpool, they pledged to re-unite one day and kept up an avid correspondence of ambitious plans.
In 1997 the Flett brothers moved to Liverpool and the ball started rolling. With the recruitment of angel-voiced Sophia Churney (keyboards and vocals), Ooberman first performed in Liverpool in June that year, instantly becoming a local talking point with their eccentric live shows and quirky demos (winning the 1997 BT Merseyside Arts Award for Best Newcomers). Meanwhile, by early 1998 their new demos invited the interest of the industry.
They released their debut vinyl single on Graham Coxon's Transcopic Label in early 1998, then a highly acclaimed self-produced mini album (The Shorley Wall EP, Tugboat Records) which received many accolades including Single of The Year in The Times. By the end of the year they signed a major deal with Independiente and completed their debut LP The Magic Treehouse with producer Stephen Street (Blur, The Smiths) in spring 1999.
Before it was released the album brought them excellent reviews, a top 40 single (Blossoms Falling), supports with Blur (in Paris), Travis and Gomez, three sell-out tours, Glastonbury and Reading festival appearances, live national radio sessions (John Peel and Steve Lamacq) and the growth of a hardcore fanbase centering around their website www.ooberman.com .
Despite selling 50,000 in the UK, a series of personnel changes and political issues at the label led to Ooberman parting with Independiente in April 2000.
They immediately set to work on their new album 'Hey Petrunko' in their Liverpool rehearsal room and set up their own independent label 'Rotodisc'.
The first long-play Ooberman release since 1999 will be their 'Running Girl' mini-album on October 29th 2001. Running Girl will be released as a vinyl-only single a week earlier.
Complete with new drummer Paul Walsham, Ooberman are finally back.
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