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A Little History finger eleven was born in Burlington, Ontario, Canada in late 1991 under the name Stone Soul Picnic. At the time, the band consisted of two members, guitarist James Black and drummer Scott Anderson. The two heard of drummer Rob Gommerman trough friends and when he played with them, it worked brilliantly. Scott had done some singing for high school musicals, so James and Rob pushed him to become the band's vocalist. The three piece band learned a handful of cover songs, mostly consisting of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Tragically Hip songs. They played their only show asStone Soul Picnic for a high school Christmas concert. The show was only a 3 song set. When Scott's older brother Sean came into the picture as a bassist, and friend Rick Jackett showed interest as a guitarist, the band went for a change. The band adopted the new name, the Rainbow Butt Monkeys when James commented on the colorful back ends of mandril apes. With this new name, the band composed a demo for circulation around the Toronto, Burlington, and St. Catherines area in an attempt to get gigs. They also sent a copy of the demo tape to 97.7 HTZ FM for their New Rock Search contest. The Rainbow Butt Monkeys won the radio contest, and used the winnings to record their first full length album, letters from Chutney. Chutney was a wounded dog that Scott had found on the side of a road one day, and the band decided to pay homage to the canine by using it's name in the album title. letters from Chutney was a hit across Canada, largely due to the single "Circles." This song, along with "As Far As I Can Spit" and "Danananana" were popular both on the radio and in video form on Much Music. In 1996, after selling around 50,000 copies of their debut album in Canada, the band was nominated for a Juno award for Best New Group. It was a huge honour for the band to be recognized for their acomplishments in their home nation of Canada. The band also had the privelege of touring Canada in the line-up for Edgefest '96. The Rainbow Butt Monkeys went back to Burlington and began writing some new songs that were obviously an evolutionary step ahead, both musically and lyrically, of their previous effort. As the songs began to take form, the band could tell that they were dealing with something completely different. Inspired by a lyric in the early version of "Thin Spirits," they decided to change their name from the laughable Rainbow Butt Monkeys to the more respectable and mature finger eleven. They worked out their new songs and sound with producer Arnold Lanni, who had previously worked with Our Lady Peace. finger eleven released their first album under the new name in August of 1997. The album, tip, was welcomed with open arms by fans scross Canada, and the band enjoyed a successful tour with Our Lady Peace. They also rejoined the Edgefest tour for their '97 line-up, and played in the line-up for the Summersault '97 cross Canada tour. However, as the band's label, Mercury Records Canada, underwent a change in ownership, they decided to drop a few artists from their roster. Among those bands dropped was finger eleven. The band was now left with no label, and no idea where to turn. During the process of searching for a new label to promote their music, drummer Rob Gommerman dropped a near fatal bombshell. He quit the band in December of 1997 to return to pursuing his education. A quick auditioning of drummers produced Rich Beddoe. The band adjusted to the new drummer, and he learned easily in a small set of shows. The new finger eleven went out again in search of a record label, and had a few offers. The most appealing offer came from a new label called Wind-Up Entertainment, who's roster at the time consisted only of the Florida band Creed. The new label agreed to re-releasing ti," and with some minor adjustments, the album hit stores in September of 1998. The most noticeable of these adjustments come in the song "Consolation Day." The band added strings to the song, withheld the second verse, and changed its title to "Awake And Dreaming." "Above" also changed, as it gained an entirely new, louder vocal track. A video for "Above" was seen in both Canada and the U.S. To support the new version of tip, the band went out on tour with label-mates Creed, who by this time had gained a large amount of popularity in the United States. They toured extensively in 1998 and early 1999 throughout Canada and the U.S. with a variety of bands, including Fuel, Jimmy's Chicken Shack, and I Mother Earth. In 1999, the band once again toured across their home nation in the Edgefest '99 line-up. finger eleven returned to the studio in late 1999 with producer Arnold Lanni. They stayed there for six months working out new material, and in this time they released the song "Suffocate" on the soundtrack for the movie Scream 3, and a demo for their cover of Depeche Mode's song "Walking In My Shoes" that was available online. When the band had finally completed their stay in the studio, they emerged with the greyest of blue skies. The album, released in July of 2000, is a chronicle of their trip since first releasing tip. In both the music and the artwork, the band shows the ups and downs it has gone through, and proves that they can overcome any adversity. The first single, "Drag You Down," had a video that recieved airplay in Canada, but not in the U.S. The second single, "First Time," has is just about to be released, with a supporting video. The band once again went out on a lengthly tour, and once again they were touring with Creed. Sevendust also came along on this tour. The band joined up in the Summersault 2000 tour line-up, and travelled across Canada. They then went out with Serial Joe to tour Canada, and Fuel to tour the U.S. Although the band's dream tour is opening for either Tool or Faith No More, finger eleven has toured with a wide range of musicians, some immensely famous and popular, others virtually unknown. Some of these bands are Slurpymundae, Virgos Merlot, Liquid Car Crash, Tranzit, Rubber, Sum 41, Foo Fighters, Treble Charger, deftones, A Perfect Circle, Catherine Wheel, Eve 6, Isle Of Q, Elecstasy, DownCycle, Naive, and Crease. Their live performances have become bastions of extravagant sights and sounds, overpowering the already mind-numbing effects of listening to their cds.
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