Biography

Mr. Fingers is the main solo alias of Larry Heard, a musician from Chicago widely hailed as the creator of deep house. He started releasing instrumental singles as Mr. Fingers in 1985, fusing lush synth pads with sparse four-to-the-floor beat patterns, often featuring acid basslines or jazzy keyboards. He also issued song-based material with vocalists Robert Owens and Ron Wilson as Fingers Inc. Heard's most recognizable composition, the life-affirming "Can You Feel It," saw release under both projects, first in 1986 as a Mr. Fingers track and then as a Fingers Inc. single in 1988. Mr. Fingers then released two smooth, R&B-leaning full-lengths, Introduction (1992) and Back to Love (1994), before Heard largely abandoned the alias and released numerous albums under his own name. He revived Mr. Fingers during the 2010s, releasing the expansive Cerebral Hemispheres in 2018, followed by Around the Sun, Pt. 1 in 2022. Larry Heard began playing several instruments at a young age, and since he was 17 has performed in various bands, from R&B and reggae to jazz fusion and progressive rock. He stopped playing in groups due to lack of creative input, and in 1984, he bought a keyboard and drum machine and started recording dance tracks. "Mystery of Love" was self-released as an instrumental in 1985, then re-recorded with Robert Owens and released by DJ International as a Fingers Inc. record in 1986. A three-song 12" with the acid track "Washing Machine" and the sublime "Can You Feel It" appeared on Trax Records in 1986. DJs commonly laid Chuck Roberts' "In the beginning there was Jack" sermon (from Rhythm Controll's "My House") or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech over "Can You Feel It," and the track was released as a Fingers Inc. single with both vocal tracks present (and King on the cover) in 1988. Mr. Fingers continued releasing records through Heard's label, now known as Alleviated Records, and Fingers Inc.'s full-length, Another Side, appeared on U.K. label Jack Trax in 1988; the group disbanded the same year. The same label rounded up Mr. Fingers tracks, without Heard's permission, as Ammnesia in 1989. Mr. Fingers' vocal-driven 1989 single "What About This Love" was licensed to FFRR in 1990, and the artist signed to MCA Records, delivering the smooth, sophisticated full-length Introduction in 1992. Back to Love, a mixture of jazzy house and New Jack Swing-style R&B, followed on Black Market International in 1994. Heard's first album under his own name, Sceneries Not Songs, Vol. 1, appeared the same year, and he abandoned the more commercial sound of his Fingers work in favor of this more experimental direction. Classic Fingers, a generous anthology of tracks from several Heard projects, was released in 1995. Heard digitally issued much of his Mr. Fingers material through Alleviated Records during the 2010s. The tracks "Fingers Attack" and "Cosmic" appeared under the name, and the Outer Acid EP was released to much acclaim in 2016, particularly for the Neil deGrasse Tyson-sampling "Qwazars." All four songs from the EP were included on 2018's 100-minute Cerebral Hemispheres, the first Mr. Fingers album in 24 years, which included spacy house tracks as well as jazzy downtempo tunes. Following a series of remix EPs, and an appearance on Dua Lipa's Club Future Nostalgia remix album, the archival EP Vault Sessions 1 was released in 2021. Around the Sun, Pt. 1, a characteristically atmospheric Mr. Fingers full-length, surfaced in 2022. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi