Feeder are a rock band formed in Newport, South Wales in 1992 by singer/songwriter/guitarist Grant Nicholas and drummer/guitarist Jon Lee. Although the bands early styles were associated with Kerrang! magazine, Feeder have also incorporated styles of indie and piano based rock into their sound, including the use of Moog synthesizers.
Feeder's founding members underwent several projects, before forming the band and getting signed in 1994. These consisted of a few bands they played in including a stint as sound engineers, before forming a rock band called 'Reel' and sacked their bass player before replacing him with Taka Hirose, who placed an advert in Loot. After getting signed the band already changed their name to 'Real', before switching to their permanent name of 'Feeder'. In 1996 the band recorded their critically acclaimed long-player album debut Polythene, for release in 1997. The band then released Yesterday Went Too Soon in 1999, but did not break into the UK mainstream music market until 2001 when their third album Echo Park, became their first ever certified seller and with the lead single "Buck Rogers", making the top ten of the singles chart for the first time in their career. The following year drummer and founding member Jon Lee died on 7 January 2002, after committing suicide in his Miami home. The group took time away from the public eye, such as the media and spent time apart while Grant spent time in a recording studio writing songs resulting from their loss. Later that year, the band having already decided to continue, played the Reading and Leeds festivals on the second stage and then released their fourth and best selling album, Comfort in Sound which was also their first platinum seller.
The band's next album, Pushing the Senses (2005), was not as well received in sales, and was their first album to reach the top three in the UK album charts, when it entered at number two. Feeder declined in awareness, with their release of their sixth and current album Silent Cry in 2008, which charted at number eight becoming their sixth top ten album, while being negatively received in overall sales. This has not however made the band quit, as Grant said in an interview that he is currently writing for their seventh studio album. Two years prior, the band shipped (as opposed to over the counter sales) over 500,000 copies of their compilation The Singles in the United Kingdom.
