Formed in March 2005 as a result of lead singer & guitarist Richard McLester (aka Mr Hair) and keyboard wizard Sam Hanson (aka Mr Brain) playing together for some ongoing concerts, work began in earnest for Oposium at the end of 2006 when the band released their first single Behind The Rain. This track won Oposium a national award and endorsement deal from keyboard and electronics manufacturer Roland.
In Easter 2007, the band sailed their psychadelic blue piano out to sea off Branksome Chine beach, Poole. The then Mayor of Poole, Councillor Mrs Judy Butt gave a farewell speech to the piano and Sam Hanson gave a performance of Grieg’s “The Holberg Suite” on the now sea worthy piano. As a result of the fantastic way Oposium’s Piano In The Sea turned out, BBC South Today reporter Freddie Rostand interviewed both Richard and Sam in a behind the scenes feature at the Oposium studios. This interview was aired at the end of January 2008.
On December 29th 2007, Oposium put together a large scale concert in aid of local Poole-based charity Routes To Roots. The event featured Oposium as headliners with other local bands and musicians performing in a huge church which the band,
using sponsorship from local businesses allowing for a massive lighting display, spent 3 days transforming.
The Mayor of Poole again turned up to lend his support to the cause and Oposium were able to raise a substantial amount for the charity. This was the beginning of a relationship between Routes To Roots and Oposium in which the band agreed to help promote the charity’s cause alongwith any exposure that Oposium receive.
This concert set the trend with Oposium for the next 18 months and saw the band perform several large concerts in different churches throughout Poole, Bournemouth and Yeovil. Bassist Scott Blandford (aka Doctor One) and drummer David Waller (aka Professor StiX) joined up with Oposium.
After finishing their track ‘Behind The Rain’, Oposium then set about completing their 5 track EP called ‘Life Under The Sun’. That EP included tracks such as ‘When Love Steps In’, ‘Can You’ and the anthemic ‘I Will Wait For You’.
Oposium also began producing innovative short films to their tracks. With Behind The Rain proving a great success with the piano in the sea concept, the next video to be shot was ‘When Love Steps In’. This involved Richard & Sam being coming very close to getting arrested in London after “illegally” filming in both Canary Wharf and Trafalgar Square. The video for ‘Come Awake’ involved an all night church film shoot for which Richard grew his hair to massive proportions and the band also spent one of the wettest days of 2008 exploding two pianos they managed to acquire.
Shortly after completing their 5 track EP, the band decided that five tracks left the project unfinished. A further 8 months in the studio brought about the finished ‘Life Under The Sun’ 12 track debut album.
‘Life Under The Sun’ was released through independent label Conical Sphere Records onto all digital distribution vendors including Itunes as well as being physically released in HMV in 2009. The band continued to promote and perform the album to the end of that year.
2010 saw Oposium take a 12 month break with only sporadic low key acoustic sets. After refocusing the band with a new lineup, Oposium are now embarking on a five date summer tour in 2011. With new music and even a new piano, the band are extremely excited to be back out and playing music.
We look forward to seeing you over the summer!
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