Last Updated 10 / 6 / 99

Band Status
The band has always been incomplete, but the two founding members - Kieron Casey and Chris Tracey are still together and will continue writing songs individually until the remainder of the band have joined (a drummer is still required). The temporary keyboard player has now joined the band, making a total of 3 members. The additional member who appears in the article 'About the Band' (James Sanderson) is a temporary member who will be playing in the band for the BedeStock '99 gig which will be held at their school (St. Bede's Grammar school) as a kind of leaving party for the pupils in their year.

The Beginning
Kieron Casey and Chris Tracey first became friends during 1997 when they both chose GCSE Music as one of their subject options at the end of school year 9, when they were both aged 14. As year 10 progressed it became clear that their love of all things musical would bring them together to form a band. At this period Chris had just taken up the guitar, however Kieron was already extremely adept at playing keyboards. Despite this, the circumstances were not ideal for them to form a band, but when Kieron saw an advert for a second-hand bass guitar and amp, he decided to play bass in addition to keyboards.

Early Band Practice
A few weeks passed and by this time Chris had enrolled his friend Jonathan Lambert into the band, despite never having heard him play. Jonathan was a guitarist who had been playing for a year or two longer than Chris, however when the trio finally had the chance to play together at Kieron's house, it became clear that Jonathan Lambert just wasn't good enough on guitar to be in the band. Using advanced evading techniques , Kieron and Chris had managed to leave Jonathan out of the band without even telling him. Now they could start practising properly. The first few 'jamming sessions' were held at Kieron's house in the front room, much to the annoyance of his neighbours. One advantage of this was the use of Kieron's electric organ, which is kept there.

The Tim Situation
After a month or two it was decided that they should look for a lead singer, but luckily on of their friends called Tim was more than willing to join. Also around this time Kieron managed to pick up a cheap four-track recorder which the band used on more than one occasion to record their jamming sessions, with poor yet hilarious results. After another month or two it became obvious that Kez was equally inept to Chris at choosing band members. Tim's voice left a lot to be desired even at the best of times, and he began to take the band into a phase consisting of Nirvana and Bush songs. Although Kez and Chris liked Nirvana, they did not like where Tim was taking the band, so something had to be done. Again, using their now patented evasive unwanted band member release system, Kez and Chris had succesfully managed to remove Tim from the band.

Being in a band with Kez and Chris had given Tim a taste for rockstardom. Because his dad was in a band also, Tim had access to guitars, amplifiers and microphones, and before he left the band his ego had caused him to play guitar in a vain attempt to follow on from Kurt Cobain, the dead lead singer of Nirvana. Unfortuantely, this resulted in Tim forming his own band, which included Kez on bass guitar, and the Sanderson brothers - William Sanderson on rhythm guitar and James Sanderson on drums. Kez was now in two bands, but he preferred to stick it out with Chris, as their musical knowledge and attitudes were more alike.

Things rolled along for about a year in much the same way, until Tim's mighty empire began to crumble. James Sanderson, the drummer, was growing tired of the constant Nirvana and Bush cover songs that their band were playing week in, week out. His brother William was also growing restless in the current situation, and in the space of a few weeks all hell broke loose. Tim inadvertantly kicked James out of the band, mainly because at this time he had also been playing with another band whom he had grown to favour slightly over Tim's band. This also meant that William, James' brother would quietly be nudged out of the band also. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, Kez quit the band on the grounds of 'artistic differences'. Despite all of this, however, Tim had managed to attract a new Guitarist and drummer for his band, and at this point the story of Tim's band looses it's relevance to the history of 'Royal Mail'.

Out of Trouble
So, the current situation was that Kez and Chris were back to square one, and James Sanderson had joined a band which would later be named 'Sibling 27'. All was quiet for quite a while, until, at the suggestion of their new music teacher Kez, Chris and the rest of the music class at St. Bede's decided to organise a fund-raising event to raise badly needed money for the school's music department. Suddenly, Kez and Chris needed to get their act together - literally. With only two band members they couldn't perform at the gig. Something had to be done.

Prelude to the First Gig
The first problem was coming up with a name. During a meeting with their music teacher, the music class had to submit their band names if they were to play at the gig. In under 24 hours Kez came up with the name 'Royal Mail' (a name which is still under much consideration). It stuck with Chris purely because of its novelty factor, and 'Royal Mail' were born. Despite knowing of James Sanderson's attachment to his new band, Kez asked him if he would play with 'Royal Mail' at their first gig. He agreed, but the ambition in both Kez and Chris caused them both to question whether their band was complete. They needed something to set them apart from all the other bands who were playing at the gig, and that something came in the form of Kez's long-time friend Matthew Cox. Coxy was a damn fine keyboard player who could fulfill the role which Kez would have chosen, had he been given four arms and two brains with which to play bass and keyboards at the same time. A practise with their new temporary band members was badly needed, but GCSEs stood in the way. Now, the story has reached the present day. GCSEs are underway, Kez has flu, and no-one has been in touch with school in weeks. What on earth is going to happen? Stay tuned, folks!