page_title: Xavier & Ophelia
section_title: 2009-10: Founding
hierarchical_section_title: Xavier & Ophelia / History / 2009-10: Founding
caption_attribution_description: English: Dave Tough
context_page_description: Xavier and Ophelia is an American indie rock and electropop music duo based in Nashville, Tennessee. Formed in 2009, members include DeAnna Moore and Dave Tough. The band has released two albums including their debut Xavier & Ophelia, which had songs win industry awards. "Falling Down," a track from their 2012 sophomore album I Hate Birds, won Grand Prize at the 2013 John Lennon Songwriting Contest. Their songs have been placed in movies, television and commercials, and in 2013 their song "Heartbeat" was featured on Twisted.
  According to Raw Ramp, "their sounds combine easy-listening melodies with electronic pop elements...[and] the angelic voice of DeAnna Moore is always centre-stage." Much of their music utilizes both live instruments and electronic production. The duo often performs live with a backing band, with regular venues including The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.
context_section_description: Before co-founding the band Xavier and Ophelia with DeAnna Moore, American producer and musician Dave Tough had been writing music for television, film, and other artists for over a decade. Having studied under music engineers such as Bruce Swedien and Neil Citron, he had also been a voting member of The Recording Academy.
  Members Tough and Moore first met in 2009 over Myspace, when Tough was searching for vocalists for a demo. At the time Tough was still working as a producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, and just earlier that year had won his first Grand Prize at the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the country category. After meeting up in person, they discovered a shared fascination with older jazz standards and artists such as Fiona Apple, Goldfrapp and Edie Brickell. Stated Music and Musicians Magazine, "It was a lucky break when Dave Tough found DeAnna Moore on MySpace...in Moore he found a musical chameleon keen on jazz, New Wave and Kings of Leon."
  They soon formed the musical duo Xavier & Ophelia, with the band name originating from a pair of toy dolls. Also going by the moniker X&O, Moore contributes vocals while Tough handles production and instrumentals. Both members contribute to the songwriting process, and they began writing songs that variously integrated the genres of synthpop, electronica, pop, alternative rock, and indie rock. Early on the band was based in Cane Ridge, Tennessee and Antioch, Tennessee.
caption: Multi-instrumentalist and band co-founder Dave Tough
exif: {}