Artist Biography
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Taking cues from
Suede and
Smiths, as well as
the Byrds and
the Lovin' Spoonful,
Geneva carved out a distinctive, idiosyncratic niche in the post-Brit-pop territory of late '90s British indie-rock.
Geneva formed in 1992 in Aberdeen, Scotland when
Andrew Montgomery (vocals) and
Steven Dora
(guitar) met and began writing songs together. Montgomery was then
working as a journalist for the Sunday Post and Dora was studying marine
biology at university, and neither had previously been in a band
before. Eventually, they recruited guitarist
Stuart Evans and bassist
Keith Graham and, after spending some time working with a drum machine, drummer
Douglas Caskie.
Playing both originals and '60s folk-rock standards, the band began
rehearsing under the name Sunfish and started playing Scottish clubs as
of 1992. Over the course of the next year, their enthusiasm began to
wear out, and they eventually stopped sending out demos. Nevertheless,
they continued playing and writing new songs that were more individual
than their previous material, using this new material as leverage for a
gig in London. One of these new demos made its way toward Nude Records,
who signed the band after witnessing one rehearsal. Changing their name
from Sunfish to
Geneva,
the band released their debut single "No One Speaks" to considerable
praise in the latter half of 1996. It was followed in early 1997 by
"Into the Blue," and by its release, the UK weekly music press had
divided into factions that supported
Geneva and critics who believed they were a manufactured band.
Geneva released their full-length debut album,
Further, early in the summer of 1997. Their sophomore effort,
Weather Underground, arrived three years later.
