LARRY HEARD AKA MR FINGERS
Larry Heard was born in Chicago on 31st May 1960.
He showed an interest in music from an early age and learned to play several different instruments.
He took a particular shine to the drums and, as a teenager, began playing in several bands, including Infinity, a cover group that played jazz fusion.
His interest in producing started in 1984 after he bought a synthesizer and drum machine. A few days later, he had produced his first three tracks; Can You Feel It, Mystery of Love, and Washing Machine.
These tracks are widely considered to be seminal tracks in the development of House music. Not bad for a few day's work!
Unlike other notable names in the Chicago House scene, Heard was not part of the club scene and made tracks with the simple aim of experimenting with sounds rather than with the sole intention of people dancing to them.
Heard began a collaboration with the singer and DJ Robert Owens in the mid-1980s, and along with another vocalist, Ron Wilson, they formed the group Fingers Inc.
Fingers Inc released only one album together, the critically acclaimed 'Another Side' in 1988.
The album is considered by many to be a House classic and is still held up as a shining light in the history of house music to this day.
In the late '80's Heard also began releasing solo material on Trax Records under the name 'Mr Fingers.'
Trax released a compilation of Heard's work named Amnesia in 1989, allegedly without his permission.
More recently, Heard and Owens have launched a lawsuit against Trax for unpaid royalties. They maintain that Trax took advantage of House artists who were desperate for a break in the business and retained copyright to the music they had no right to.
Heard finally released his solo album under the name 'Mr Fingers' in 1992.
The album was called 'Introduction' and enjoyed substantial critical acclaim.
However, Heard did not appreciate interference by the record company, so they soon parted ways.
He released his next album, 'Sceneries not Songs' Volume 1 in 1994 on the label BMI. He released this under his given name rather than as 'Mr Fingers.'
'Sceneries not Songs' was a departure from classic House and had a more ambient, new-age, and down-tempo feel. Again, making music to get people to dance to was not his aim. Experimenting with new sounds was.
His recording output dropped off considerably in the 2000s, although he did record intermittently, releasing an album in 2005 and a few singles after that.
In 2018 he burst onto the scene again with a new album 'Cerebral Hemispheres' which he released under the name Mr Fingers. His first album as Mr Fingers in 25 years!
'Cerebral Hemispheres' is a mixture of brand- new tracks and tracks from his archive that he breathed new life into for the album.
Heard continues to prove himself as a trailblazer in the House music world.