Boy on a Dolphin

Boy on a Dolphin

Boy on a Dolphin is a band from Sheffield, England. The line-up includes John Reilly on lead vocals, acoustic guitar and lyrics, Andy Needham on bass guitar, Pete Hiley on lead Spanish and electric guitars, Darren Ford on drums, and James Jarwardana on piano and keys, who joins in October 2005. Reilly describes the group as acoustic-based, melodic, warm, moving, intimate and personal.

Formation and early work

In the early 1990s, Reilly is training and riding dolphins at the Tibshull Aquatic Centre while also playing with Sheffield band Ministers of Inspiration. He forms Boy on a Dolphin with Andy Needham, taking the name from Reilly’s own nickname, Dolphin Boy. Hiley and Ford then join the band, and the group spends the following year writing and performing intensively, building a following through their demos.

Without the band’s knowledge, one of their songs is entered for the British and International Songwriters Award. It reaches the final 10, the band wins, and the money helps fund a trip to Vancouver for Reilly to take demos to the Juno Awards. There he finds support from Sam Feldman, whose interest leads to plans for the full band to travel to Vancouver and showcase live.

Atlantic Records and Words Inside

The band performs in Sheffield at The Pheasant before travelling to Vancouver, where they develop a strong following. They sign to Atlantic and record their debut album, Words Inside, in England with producers Kevin Bacon and Jon Quarmby. The album is completed and mixed on the SSL desk in Bryan Adams’s house overlooking West Vancouver bay.

Boy on a Dolphin tours extensively in the United States and Canada with the album. Their live line-up includes Steve Beighton, known for playing saxophone with Paul Carrack, and Colin Elliot on percussion, who later works with Richard Hawley. The band also performs on television, including MTV, MuchMusic and MusiquePlus, and two half-hour specials are made by BCTV.

The song Fire becomes the most played non-Canadian song on radio at one stage. Other tracks from the album appear in the film Tokyo Cowboy and the television series Neon Rider, Due South and Dawson Creek. Despite the band’s profile in Canada and elsewhere, the album is not released in the UK, leading fans there to buy imported copies.

Hiatus, collaborations and independent work

After changes at Atlantic, the band loses support and enters a period of contractual limbo. During this time Reilly takes part in a songwriting tour of the United States and Canada organised by Canada’s biggest independent publisher, co-writing with Jim Vallance, Bill Henderson and Nashville writer Daryl Burgess, as well as with Canadian artists Annette Ducharme and Kim Kuzma.

Meanwhile, Needham works with Geoff Barrowdale in Seafruit, gaining experience in more experimental writing. Reilly later returns to England and performs with session musicians including Cary Baylis, Marcus Axelby, Darren Ford and Steve Beighton. At one of these shows, Needham and Pete Hiley join in, and the original Boy on a Dolphin line-up plays again after more than two years away from the stage.

Independent releases and live activity

By 2002, the band decides to work independently, avoiding labels and publishers. In Sheffield, they move from smaller venues such as The Boardwalk to larger rooms including The Memorial Hall and The Leadmill, then become the first fully independent band to sell out Sheffield City Hall, a feat they repeat six times. They also sell out London venues including The Borderline and Ronnie Scott’s.

The release Treetalk collects previously unreleased tracks and live recordings from The Leadmill. An EP titled Life’s a Blast follows; its title track is adopted by women’s movements around the world because of its message of strength and hope for women in abusive relationships.