October, 1997
Six months prior to this date Mark Rae was a judge at the DMC UK final (DJ battle competition). He saw Parker there who was hungry to kick some ass. Sneaky had already been picked up from the Manchester club scene (a live musician + DJ improvision night called "Eardrum") and was working with Grand Centrals' live projects already for about 8 months. Parker came 3rd at the comp, it was the first one he'd entered so he'd never been seen before. At this time Sneaky was playing at various festivals with Grand Central and still playing at Eardrum on a saturday night! A few weeks later Parker was shopping for records in Fat City (Manchester) when Mark Rae strolled in and said he should have won the comp and did he want to work with Grand Centrals' live projects. Feeling extremely flattered he agreed.
So now we get to October! A rehearsal was organized for the Tony D live tour! He's an old school hip hop producer from New Jersey. Sneaky was there and on entrance Parker instantly recognized him from the Eardrum nights. Parker was quite nervously excited as he'd never been in this type of enviroment before! Sneaky however had been working live for years, playing jazz, funk, and even in his own band in school! They're both roughly the same age so they linked straight away. Sneak helped to calm a slightly nervous Parker. Anyway, during the rehearsal a coffee break was announced, resulting in everyone leaving the stage apart from two instrument obsessed characters! Sneaky and Parker! Well we're sure you can guess what happened next!
Sneak played a bassline, a sick one (actually, the Ffathead bassline) Parker was buzzing and instantly wanted to play over it with a turntable, and there it is kids! The birth of Fingathing!!!?!! Both of them were crapping themselves with excitement as this was new music to both of them. A bond was instantly formed through them buzzing off what the other was doing, Parker had never even met anyone who could play an instrument so well, let alone one as ill as a double bass; and in all his club work Sneak had never seen anyone literally "play" a turntable; the coolest thing was that this was the first day they met and everything was sorted for them to be around and play with each other on stage for the next month or so. With the travelling they connected on a personal level, finding that they were really like chalk and cheese in terms of background both socially and musically, but as the saying goes- "opposites attract"!
For the next month or so Parker started to learn about the true meaning of jazz and the love that Sneak had for it, and at the same time Sneak learned about what hip hop culture meant to a b-boy like Parker, both guys were already listening to these styles of music prior to this meeting, but it was only when they connected that they absorbed and appreciated the true value of the others love for the genres. Of course, both embraced each others enthusiasm and they naturally found a way to include this in their music. As time went on and the gigs kept on rolling; Sneak revealed a love too, of latin music, soul, and even grunge fron his teen years. At the same time Parker revealed a love of old stoner rock and 80's music that he had been raised on. This just made the melting pot even better as neither was afraid to reveal this in their music.
June, 98
Mark Rae decided that his group (a production team). Rae + Christian needed a live act to carry them further on the live circuit. He asked both Parker and Sneak to become members of what was to be a nine piece live band. Now this was alot more different! Rae + Christian were established as a much more mainstream act who could play to crowds twice as big; Mark had witnessed Sneak and Parkers live madness and asked themto actually perform this in front of people as part of the R + C show. What I think no one realised was the kind of reaction that they got after doing this mad stuff. Kids just went nuts, it was overwhelming; they did it wherever R + C's live show took them, England, Scotland, Ireland, Europe and even Australia. With the same reaction happening everywhere it was only a matter of time befor Mark Rae offered the pair a chance to make music at home with an aim to offer a recording contract with Grand Central Records...Now to a live act this was quite a mad opportunity, it meant that our music could be heard in places where we had'nt been yet. Saying that though, Parker and Sneak would be extremely strict about what they wanted to make, let's just say it was gonna be hard sounding; but Mark was great, he believed in us and let us do exactly what we wanted-we had complete freedom. Knowing this was definately an advancement in music itself and especially in turntable music the duo were adament on releasing the album real quick. The Two Player ep came first as an introduction to the group and also to see what critical reaction the music would receive. Sneaky and Parker are naturally different from any other band on earth and with one of their best friends and housemates being an exteremely fresh, talented artist in the form of the mighty Chris Drury, the three of them created a package of music and design unlike anything seen before. August 2000, critics loved it, and with excellent reviews it provided a great platform for the album to be released. With them wanting it out before the end of the year though, a phone call came to the house saying that they had about three weeks.
The month that followed turned out to be one of the maddest of their lives, but with the help of their good friend James Ford who engineered for them and everyone who supported them they managed it; and November 21st 2000 became the release date for the Fingathing LP "The Main Event". The rest is happening now!!!!!!?!?!!