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Operator Please

Five kids who met in high school after a reconnaissance mission by vocalist/ guitarist Amandah Wilkinson (to fill numbers for a band competition), collated their collective musical quirks and somehow made the incongruous concoction work. “We rehearsed at lunch times in the practice room,” explains Wilkinson. “I picked people at random who I knew played an instrument, and they just said yes.” Those people were Tim Commandeur on drums, Sarah Gardiner on keyboards, Ashley McConnell on bass and Stephanie Joske on violin – who has since been replaced by the classically trained Taylor Henderson. “After ten years, classical training gets super boring,” she asserts. “I was on the verge of quitting when I got the call. To tell you the truth, violin in a band – I originally thought it would be yokel, not that there's anything wrong with that.” Operator Please released their critically acclaimed debut, Yes Yes Vindictive in 2007.