2012–2014: Maybe Rave
Jen Newton (vocals), PJ Shepherd (guitar, vocals), Harry Carter (bass), and George Powell (drums) formed Maybe Rave in 2013 in Auckland, New Zealand. They initially uploaded covers of songs by other artists, such as "Royals" by Lorde, to YouTube, [1] before posting a few original tracks on their Bandcamp page, including "Here Me Now" [2] and "First Time", [3] as well as the EP At Peace in Pieces. [4] In 2014, Newton left the band [5] and was replaced by Possum Plows. They toured Australia, [6] and in March 2015, they announced that they had changed their name to OpenSide, inspired by the sport Quidditch from the Harry Potter series, where one of the positions is Openside Chaser. [7] [8]
2015–2020: OpenSide
In March 2016, OpenSide signed with Warner Music NZ, [9] and later that year, they released their debut EP, Push Back, which peaked at no. 2 on the New Zealand Music Albums chart [10] and no. 12 on the New Zealand Album chart. [11] The single "Letting it Out" reached no. 2 on the New Zealand Heatseeker Chart. [12] In September 2016, they were chosen to open for Ellie Goulding, [13] All Time Low, [14] Ladyhawke, Fall Out Boy, [15] Twenty One Pilots, and Panic! at the Disco. [16] In August 2017, the band issued the single "I Feel Nothing". [17] In April 2018, they followed it with "No Going Back", which peaked at no. 1 on the New Zealand Hot Singles Chart. [18] They subsequently toured New Zealand. [19]
In early October 2018, OpenSide released the single "Character Flaws", which peaked at no. 2 on the New Zealand Music Hot Singles Chart and no. 23 on the New Zealand Hot Singles Chart. [20] The band later announced that they would be releasing a comic book at the 2018 Auckland Armageddon. [21] The single was followed by the EP Episode One: Character Flaws. In December, the band performed at the Rhythm & Vines music festival. [22]
In February 2019, OpenSide performed at Big Gay Out. [23] In March, they released the single "Waiting for Love", from the EP Episode Two: Waiting for Love, which followed in May.
On 16 January 2020, OpenSide announced their breakup via Facebook. [24]
2021–2023: Cellarr
In May 2021, the former members of OpenSide, not including Plows, reunited under the name Cellarr and released the single "LUV". [25] In September 2022, they issued their first EP, Better (feat. Rhys Rich). [26] In February 2023, they released their second EP, Golden Minds Resort. [27] In September, they published the single "Everybody Else", [28] which reached no. 6 on the Hot 20 Aotearoa Singles chart. [29]
