Chris and Liam met as teenagers in the eighties, drawn together by their love for recording and bedroom studio experimentation. Those efforts produced the "Soul of Indiscretion" E.P., an early example of what became known as trip-hop. The mix of beats and acoustic folk sounds was further explored on two more E.P.s: "F.R.I.S.K." and "World as a Cone".
The limits of instrumental music soon became a source of frustration. Songs mean more to people than head nodding beats so with an old school friend, Ian Pickering, helping with lyrics they wrote the debut album "BECOMING X". They drafted in college friends Joe, a polymath chancer, David, a reconstructed jazz drummer, and vocalist Kelli Dayton who was discovered singing in a pub in her native Birmingham.
Thus was formed Sneaker Pimps, a band united only by their mutual mistrust. "This could be a laugh," they all secretly thought to themselves.
"If you can’t find it in your heart to love such brilliantly stupid, stupidly brilliant pop stars, the joke’s on you." Stephen Dalton NME
"If you’re still looking for a reason why Sneaker Pimps are set to become one of the greatest pop bands to emerge from Britain... then their love of pop culture and their contextual knowledge of pop’s finer workings must surely be it." Tobias Peggs, I-D
"...A stunning impersonation of Bill Drummond hijacking the rhetoric of early Manic Street Preachers after a week in a cupboard with the texts of Jacques Derrida." Roger Morton, NME
"...Total fucking liars..." The Guardian
The success of "BECOMING X" caught everyone by surprise. Not least the band members, who woke up in a haze, in America, after eighteen months of touring. Eighteen months of repetition. What do you do when a small idea becomes an international commodity? When the response to an idea far outweighs your expectations of it? If you are Sneaker Pimps you change things around a little.
The musical genre they had helped to introduce had become wallpaper, the soundtrack to every pizza café and cappucino bar in the world. Sneaker Pimps had fallen into a genre trap and only drastic action could help them escape. Over the course of a year the band put together "SPLINTER", an album that saw the four boys working together, sharing the tasks of programming and production with the door to the outside world firmly shut. It was music as therapy. Chris would sing the demos and then the exhaustive process of collage and deconstruction would begin. It soon became clear that Chris’ voice was the right voice for Sneaker Pimps and to the consternation of record companies and the music press, Kelli was asked to leave.
Every sound has a meaning.
All music is manufactured. Never believe anyone who talks about ‘keeping it real’.
Since "Splinter", Sneaker Pimps have hosted a cult concept club at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London called "Home Taping". Taking a stand against the taste tyranny of DJ’s, it attracted Madonna, amongst others, to its doors. They also started their own record label in 1999, Splinter Recordings - a launch pad for acts such as Robots in Disguise, Trash Money and The Servant.
They have worked recently with Maxim from the Prodigy, co-writing and producing a track for his album, and have remixed artists from completely different musical backgrounds such as Placebo, Natalie Imbruglia, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Eagle-Eye Cherry. Done at their own South London studio, projects such as these break the routine of touring and recording their own material. This is the band credited with kicking (Speed) Garage into the charts with the Armand van Helden remix of "Spin Spin Sugar".
In the summer of 2000, Sneaker Pimps walked away from what had become an unproductive recording contract with One Little Indian / Clean Up. That courage has been rewarded with starting-over enthusiasm. They packed a car and travelled to the centre of France to write and record material which has Chris Corner commanding the vocals - a marked difference to the standard white male indie voice. They returned with a third album that is as much informed by the contemporary edgy electronic production of Detroit and Berlin as by the pop of Prince and Roxy Music, the electronic howl of Cabaret Voltaire and the emotional clarity of Curtis Mayfield. Previewed during their twelve country tour of Europe with Placebo in the Spring of 2001, it should substantially add to their tally of 1.5 million records sold to date.
Sneaker Pimps have been touring the world with the "Bloodsport" album throughout 2001-2002 and are currently working on a brand new project which will include the release of their fourth, as yet untitled album.
In the meantime, on top of his producing credits, Chris is launching "I AM X". Musically the album is a cross between Detroit or Berlin techno escapades, Prince or Roxy Music's pop, and the electronic universe of Cabaret Voltaire. Chris' voice, of course, brings the production to another level.
1990 --- Liam & Chris form their first band(s)
1992 --- Liam & Chris (F.R.I.S.K.) experiment with dance music
1993 --- Liam & Chris become known as 'Line Of Flight'
1993 SEP - Line Of Flight's first release: "World As A Cone" - 5 Track EP
1994 --- Liam & Chris see Kelli performing in Birmingham
1995 --- Liam, Chris & Kelli complete an albums worth of songs
1996 APR - Debut Sneaker Pimps single release: "Tesco Suicide"
1996 JUN - Single release: "Roll On"
1996 AUG - Debut Sneaker Pimps album release: "Becoming X"
1996 SEP - Single release: "6Underground"
1997 FEB - Single release: "Spin Spin Sugar"
1997 MAY - Single re-release: "6 Underground"
1997 MAY - The band tour the US.
1997 JUN - The band play Glastonbury '97
1997 JUL - Single release: "Post Modern Sleaze"
1997 JUL - The band perform at the T In The Park and Pheonix festivals
1997 AUG - The band perform at the V97 festival
1998 MAR - Album release: "Becoming remiXed"
1999 FEB - The band kicks off their 'Home Taping' nights at the ICA, London
1999 AUG - The band do a small string of dates in the UK
1999 AUG - The band perform at the V99 festival
1999 AUG - Single release: "Low Five"
1999 SEP - Album release: "Splinter"
1999 OCT - Single release: "Ten To Twenty"
1999 OCT - Band begin tour of Universities in UK
2000 OCT - The band do several live dates, previewing new material
2000 NOV - The band play 3 'US Showcase' gigs
2001 MAR - The band are special guests on Placebo's European tour
2001 AUG - The band play festivals @ Sudoueste, Portugal & Benicassim, Spain.
2002 MAR - Single Release: "Sick"
2002 APR - Album Release: "Bloodsport"
2002 NOV - E.P Release: "Loretta Young Silks"
(Many thanks to Phantomlimbsting for this timeline)