Oceansize

Oceansize
Oceansize playing in Fremantle (2009)
Background information
Origin	Manchester
Genres	progressive rock, post-rock, space rock, experimental rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, post-hardcore
Years active	1998–2011
Labels	Superball, Beggars Banquet
Associated acts	British Theatre, Kong, Pocketknife, Biffy Clyro
Website	oceansize.co.uk
Past members	Mike Vennart Steve Durose Richard "Gambler" Ingram Mark Heron Steven Hodson Jon Ellis
Notable instruments
guitar, bass, drums, keyboards, vocals

Oceansize were an English rock band from Manchester, formed in 1998. The band consisted of Mike Vennart (vocals, guitar), Steve Durose (guitar, backing vocals), Richard "Gambler" Ingram (guitar, keyboards), Mark Heron (drums) and Jon Ellis (bass guitar) for the majority of its career, with Steve Hodson replacing Ellis on bass guitar in 2006.

The band released four studio albums, in addition to a number of minor EPs and singles, displaying a wide array of influences from several genres including post-rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, space rock, and post-hardcore. Following a twelve-year career, Oceansize announced their split in February 2011, with the members moving on to different projects.

The band members met each other while attending music college in Salford, where the various members performed in a range of different musical acts very stylistically different from the band they would go on to create. "[The bands were] pretty terrible," said Mike Vennart. "We were in a grunge band. When I met Steve I asked him to be the new guitarist. I wanted to be experimental and unusual and still write pop songs. We were terrible at it. We didn't go anywhere for a while. When we got a new rhythm section, we re-thought what we were doing and got better. We had more vision. Although we don't all like the same music and have different tastes, we can see clearly where our music needs the most work."

Though known as a Manchester band, Vennart, Gambler and Ellis are originally from Yorkshire, DuRose from Birmingham, and Mark Heron is Scottish. Steven Hodson, who joined the band later, is the only member of Oceansize to hail from the Manchester area.

The band subsequently named themselves after Jane's Addiction song, "Ocean Size". According to guitarist Gambler, the band's then-bassist Jon Ellis came up with the name: "I think, at the time, he was thinking what we would sound like. Jane’s Nothing's Shocking album, which has the track "Ocean Size" on it, was definitely a big influence."