Hailing from Burlington, Ontario, the musicians who formed alternative metal outfit Finger Eleven first assembled while still in high school under the funk-oriented name Rainbow Butt Monkeys. The original roster included vocalist Scott Anderson, bassist Sean Anderson, drummer Rob Gommerman, and guitarists James Black and Rick Jackett. Victory in a local radio rock band search supplied the funds for their debut release, 1995’s Letters from Chutney. Gommerman exited soon afterward, with Rich Beddoe stepping in on drums. Rebranded as Finger Eleven, the five-piece issued Tip on Mercury Records in Canada, where the music pivoted toward a heavier direction; Wind-Up Records, headquartered in New York City, reissued the album in September 1998. Exposure remained modest, limited mainly to MuchMusic airplay and the accompanying videos for “Above” and “Tip,” which raised the band’s profile domestically, yet U.S. listeners took several more years to respond. The Greyest of Blue Skies arrived in summer 2000, followed three years later by the self-titled third album. That record eventually earned gold certification, fueled by the brooding Top 40 single “One Thing.” After extensive touring, the members wrote their next Wind-Up project together. Them vs. You vs. Me surfaced in March 2007 and introduced a wider palette of instrumentation and influences, among them dance, funk, and country, in contrast to the chugging metallic guitars of earlier efforts. The band supported the album with U.S. dates alongside Evanescence and Chevelle. In Canada, Them vs. You vs. Me captured the Juno for Rock Album of the Year in 2008, heightening anticipation for the Juno-nominated Life Turns Electric, which appeared in fall 2010. The seventh studio album, Five Crooked Lines, followed in 2015 behind the advance single “Wolves and Doors.”
