Buchanan were an Australian indie rock band formed in late 2009, the project of Josh Simons in collaboration with friends, including core member Jon Bara. Having risen to fame in 2010 after being featured on Triple J Unearthed, Buchanan spent periods in Melbourne, London, and Los Angeles, before retiring in 2019, on its tenth anniversary. They released two studio albums: Human Spring (2013) and Pressure in an Empty Space (2016), as well as three EPs. Simons went on to forge a career in business, founding the musician networking platform Vampr. Career 2009–2012: Early years and No Photo - EP
Buchanan was founded in Melbourne, Australia, by vocalist Josh Simons. Jon Bara was a core member in the early years.
They recorded their debut record The Safety Beach E.P. in April 2010. Featuring production by Tim Cross (former Mike Oldfield collaborator) the collection of demos was released on iTunes in May 2010. The band were shortly after invited to showcase for several record labels. Deciding to steel themselves and avoid hasty commitment, the band headed back to the studio to develop more material and record the follow-up.
Triple J debuted "Mr Keeperman" on Australian national radio on 19 September 2010."Mr Keeperman by Buchanan @ J Play", J Play, 20 September 2010, accessed 12 March 2011. The band would go on to be featured on the Triple J Unearthed page and podcast.
In November 2010, the band released a single called "Teachers" independently via TuneCore. The single was added to high rotation on Triple J and gained a five out of five star rating from Richard Kingsmill and multiple additions to The Hype Machine.
In early 2011, the band played their first full electric shows in Sydney and Melbourne, performing alongside Gypsy and the Cat, Kimbra, Georgia Fair and Alpine. In February 2011 the band won the Triple J Unearthed competition and were invited to play the Laneway Festival in Melbourne, playing alongside Foals, Two Door Cinema Club, Cut Copy, and Gotye.Thorose, Corina "New Acts and Tickets For Laneway Festival" , Beat Magazine, 10 January 2011, accessed 12 March 2011.
On 29 April 2011, the band released their first mass-produced physical record, No Photo - EP. Distributed via Inertia Records, Zoo Weekly gave the release four stars, comparing the songs to "Phoenix, with the emotional gravitas of Mumford & Sons and the instrumental dexterity of Sigur Rós." MX newspaper gave the release three and a half stars describing the music as "considered indie pop." The band held residency throughout the month of release at Northcote Social Club as well as supporting Tim & Jean to promote the release."New Signing: Buchanan" , Inertia Music 5 April 2011, accessed 6 April 2011."Buchanan - Northcote Social Club" , The Dwarf. 4 April 2011, accessed 6 April 2011."Buchanan to support Tim & Jean" , Beat Magazine. 13 April 2011, accessed 13 April 2011.
In June 2011, Buchanan embarked on their first national tour in support of second single "Mr Keeperman", playing shows in Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne including supports with Jinja Safari, Trial Kennedy and Papa Vs Pretty."Freshly Squeezed! Buchanan", theorangepress.net. 20 July 2011, accessed 27 July 2011."Papa Vs Pretty - ABC Melbourne Events" , ABC Online, 25 June 2011, accessed 27 July 2011. To promote the tour, the band appeared live on Triple J, Sea FM, Star FM, Joy FM, Channel 31 and on BalconyTV to perform acoustically."Joy 94.9", Twitter. 19 July 2011, accessed 27 July 2011."SYN 1700", Twitter. 20 July 2011, accessed 27 July 2011., BalconyTV 22 July 2011, accessed 7 August 2011. On 23 August 2011 the band's single "Mr Keeperman" debuted at number six on the Australian AMRAP community radio charts after being released to air as a single."Amrap's AirIT :: Charts", AMRAP. 23 August 2011, accessed 27 August 2011.
2012–2014: Human Spring
In March 2012, the band released single "Run Faster" ahead of their debut album."Buchanan Reviews", Triple J Unearthed 2 March 2012, accessed 26 May 2014. In May 2012, the song was added to rotation on Austereo's Radar Radio."Playlist Adds May 10" , Radar Radio 10 May 2012, accessed 11 May 2012. In July 2012, Buchanan won Austereo's Radar Unsigned Find, Austereo. 11 October 2012, accessed 13 October 2012. competition, marking the band as the first to be recognised nationally in unsigned competitions from both Triple J and Austereo. In August 2012, the song was added to high rotation on Triple J. The song spent nine consecutive weeks in the AIR Charts, reaching number 3 on the 100% Independent Radio Charts and number 12 on the Independent Label Radio Charts."20121022 AIR Charts", Australian Independent Record Labels Association. 22 October 2012, accessed 25 October 2012. The song was the 99th most played song on Triple J in 2012."100 Most Played Tracks Of 2012" , J Play. 1 January 2013, accessed 8 February 2013.
In October 2012, the band announced on their social media pages that they were embarking on a national tour of Australia throughout November and December. To coincide with the tour, the band offered a free download of a new B-side from their forthcoming debut album. The track, "When the Sun Comes Round Again", was made available for free from the band's official site."Buchanan Offer Single As Free Download", theMusic.com.au. 26 October 2012, accessed 26 October 2012.
In April 2013, the band announced their debut studio album, Human Spring, would go on sale in Australia and New Zealand on 10 May 2013. The album, released under Simons' own label Raw Imagination People Expect, received positive reviews."Human Spring Reviews", Facebook. 3 July 2013, accessed 9 August 2016. Tone Deaf gave the album 9/10 calling it a "tremendous debut" while Zoo Weekly gave the album an 8/10., Tone Deaf. 12 June 2013, accessed 20 July 2013. The album was produced by Catherine Marks with additional production by frequent collaborator Tim Cross. It was recorded at various studios in Australia and the UK over the past 18 months. Andy Baldwin was hired to mix the record with the band choosing to master the album at Abbey Road with Geoff Pesche. The band released the title track, "Human Spring", on 12 April as the second single off the album. Triple J added the single to high rotation immediately. The song reached number 10 on the AIR 100% Independent Radio Charts where it spent three weeks."20130617 AIR Charts", Australian Independent Record Labels Association. 17 June 2013, accessed 20 June 2013.
In June 2013, the band performed live on Triple J for Like a Version, performing a cover of Frank Ocean's "Thinkin Bout You"."Like A Version: Buchanan - Thinkin' Bout You" , ABC. 7 June 2013, accessed 20 July 2013. In July, the band released a new single from the album, "Par Avion", to coincide with a national headline tour of Australia."Buchanan set for east coast tour in June and July!", the AU review. 5 June 2013, accessed 20 July 2013. The band was also announced as part of the BIGSOUND Festival lineup for September 2013."BIGSOUND 2013 - Artists" , QMusic. 2 July 2013, accessed 20 July 2013. The music video for "Par Avion" premiered on Yahoo! Music following the band's set at BIGSOUND."Exclusive! Australian Indie Rockers Buchanan Premiere Video for ‘Par Avion’", Yahoo!. 24 September 2013, accessed 31 January 2015.
In August 2013, both the band's single and album of the same name, "Human Spring", debuted at number 10 on the FMQB Sub-modern radio charts in North America, peaking at number 8."FMQB: Radio Industry News" , FMQB. 28 August 2013, accessed 30 August 2013. In April 2014 the band announced the release of the album worldwide, putting out a single from the album every three weeks in the lead up to its release."Buchanan Join 123 Agency Roster" , Tone Deaf. 23 April 2014, accessed 24 April 2014. "Temperamentally" hit number 30 on the iTunes US Alternative charts following the release of the single's lyric video online."OurSpeakers" , TEDxMacquarieUniversity. 18 August 2015, accessed 30 October 2015. The album was made available for purchase worldwide on 9 July 2014."Human Spring by Buchanan", iTunes. 9 July 2014, accessed 15 July 2014.
2014–2016: Pressure in an Empty Space
The band relocated to London to commence work on their second studio album with producer Simon Duffy."Buchanan - Coming Down - Raw Imagination People Expect", Kings of Spins. 18 July 2014, accessed 21 July 2014. They released a video on social media for a new single called "Coming Down" on 21 July 2014. The track received radio and club airplay in the United Kingdom and Ibiza, debuting at No. 29 on the Music Week Commercial Pop Charts."Chart Pack" , Music Week. 10 October 2014, accessed 12 October 2014. The song was also nominated as a semi-finalist in the 2014 International Songwriting Competition.
On 26 September 2015 the band headlined the TEDx Macquarie University conference, which was streamed live worldwide, debuting several tracks from the new album."Get Psyched For All The Ideas At Macquarie University's Fifth TEDx Talk", Pedestrian TV. 24 September 2015, accessed 7 October 2015. On 27 October, Simons' birthday, the band put up a post on social media revealing the album would be called Pressure in an Empty Space."Buchanan", Facebook. 27 October 2015, accessed 30 October 2015.
On 16 November 2015 the band released an EP, Living a Lie, which was a precursor to the then upcoming second studio album."Premiere: Buchanan Drops Sparkling Alt-Pop Gem Living A Lie", Tone Deaf. 16 November 2015, accessed 16 November 2015. A national tour of Australia in support of the release was also announced for February 2016. Apple Music promoted several promotional videos from the EP on the homepage of its service worldwide.
Following the tour, the band released two further singles from the album, title track "Pressure in an Empty Space" and "Learn to Love Again", hinting at an April release date during an appearance on SYN FM."THE HOIST: Buchanan IV with Abbey + Becs" , SYN. 15 March 2016, accessed 7 April 2016. The release date was later confirmed to be 29 April."Buchanan Release “Learn to Love again” Single Ahead of Album Launch", Sounds of Oz. 30 March 2016, accessed 7 April 2016. The title track was later shortlisted in the Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition."A bunch of awesome Aussies among finalists for $50,000 songwriting competition", Triple J. 3 October 2016, accessed 22 April 2023.
On the week of the album release FasterLouder premiered a videoclip for the song "Stop!""Video premiere: Buchanan - 'Stop!'", FasterLouder. 27 April 2016, accessed 29 April 2016. The album debuted at 42 on the iTunes Australia charts and has taken the band past the million units streamed worldwide milestone."Vampr app aims to become the musicians' equivalent to Tinder", The Age. 19 May 2016, accessed 22 May 2016. The album was mastered at Metropolis Studios in West London by John Davis and received favourable reviews from music publications."Pressure in an Empty Space by Buchanan", iTunes Store. 29 April 2016, accessed 22 May 2016."Pressure in an Empty Space Reviews", Facebook. 9 June 2016, accessed 9 August 2016. The album follows Simons during the compounding experiences of the breakdown of a committed relationship whilst dealing with an obscure form of cancer in 2014, which Tone Deaf described as "a stunning and incredibly moving piece of work.""Track By Track: Get Inside Buchanan's Stunning New Album", Tone Deaf. 29 April 2016, accessed 13 July 2016.
The band premiered the video for the title track "Pressure in an Empty Space" on a new social-professional network for musicians called Vampr. Simons developed the app in collaboration with Hunters & Collectors' guitarist Barry Palmer, and was released in May 2016.