The Strawberry Thieves StoryThe story of the Strawberry Thieves begins in 1996 at Leeds College of Music in a vocal ensemble where lyricist, Simon Donovan, met Oliver Whawell. In a strange quirk of fate Oliver had been asking around, looking for someone who fancied writing words for songs, and Simon had been penning lyrics for the past two years just waiting to find them some music. A fertile week later and the first songs (including "Looking For A Way Out" and "Can We Do It Again?") were complete.
The partnership was further strengthened as they took every opportunity to perform their songs, with Simon singing and Oliver playing piano. A firm friendship was also formed and they were quick to exchange musical influences: Simon's mainly being George Michael, U2, Pet Shop Boys and Oliver very heavily into Roxy Music and The Velvet Underground. Their only real common ground at this time being a shared admiration for the songwriting of Neil Finn (Split Enz and Crowded House)
The band's name "The Strawberry Thieves" also comes from this period, when on a rather atypical night in a student house, Oliver was watching "University Challenge" (in a less than sober state) and then carried on watching BBC2 all evening (less than willing to get out of the chair to change channel!). A program came on about William Morris (godfather of interior design) and as they showed one of his most famous wallpaper patterns (The Strawberry Thief and the Honeysuckle) Oliver had a moment of clarity.
......fortunately Simon liked the name and "The Strawberry Thieves" were born.
