Coley formed back in 2001, following the break-up of The Fifth Elephant…A band along the lines of the Charlatans with Hammond Organ/guitar driven rock. Dan and Andrew, who were the creative team behind The Fifth Elephant, decided that the time was ripe to pursue a more accessible and more acoustic direction. Under the watchful eye of Dan's brother, also a musician (www.markwright.co.uk), Dan and Andrew put together sets for their first ever gig at the 12-Bar Club, Soho. Both sets of brothers (Jon and Mark) joined the embryonic Coley onstage in a gig that was well received. Since then, Coley have picked up a drummer/percussionist/guitarist in Matt; a rhythm guitarist in Will; and, a lead guitarist in Jon. (For a short time, Todd Williams joined as singer/guitarist before forming his own band Flow (www.flowtime.co.uk), which was formed around 2004/05.) The band is influenced by a wide-ranging plethora of music and bands such as: blur, nick drake, turin brakes, simon & garfunkel and the beatles. Coley play a mixture of both their own, original compositions, as well as the odd cover (some are rather odd indeed - 'Take On Me' by A-ha. Plus, Dan had a sore throat that night; by the end of it he'd also had a sambuca-depth-charge…silly boy). In their time, Dan & Andrew, along with Matt, Will and Jon have written in excess of 30 songs and are currently adding some more tunes to their set-list, as well as digging-out some tunes from their Fifth Elephant days. Funky and folky are two words to describe their music. It also goes down exceedingly well with the punters…The band have collected a small, yet perfectly formed following over the past couple of years who go wild for such catchy tunes as: Don't Care, A Funk, Wakes Me Up, Rest Tonight and that old favourite…Do What You Feel (which you can hear online along with Just Give Me One More Night at MySpace). Coley are currently one of the bands taking residence at The Crazy Horse venue in Stanmore. They are due to start gigging once more back at Jazz After Dark, Soho. www.coleyacoustic.co.uk | www.dowhatyoufeel.co.uk | www.myspace.com/coleyacoustic
