45 Dip

Mark Daniels and Christopher Bemand first teamed up in 1994 as part of the seminal British acid jazz band, Marden Hill. Their provocative first single, "Come On" (described by one zealous reviewer as a '"Green Onions" for the '90s'), was quickly snagged by the nascent label Mo'Wax, becoming one of the label's first commercial successes. The song was also included on the band's debut album, Blown Away (re-released one year later in the United States as Hijacked), an eclectic affair released on the On Delancey Street label. The album earned strong critical appraisals, and spawned, as a description for the music, perhaps one of the most influential terms of the mid-'90s music scene: trip-hop.

After Marden Hill went their separate ways in 1997, Daniels and Bemand struck out on their own to experiment with a multimedia concept built around two lowlife cartoon alter egos, Beamish & Fly. Under this banner, the duo released a series of efforts that anticipated the then-emerging big beat sound. During this time the two also worked on their own separate projects, with Daniels forming his own animation company and Bemand writing, producing, and mixing for artists such as Massive Attack, UNKLE, Brand New Heavies, and DJ Krush, as well as working on various film and television projects. The duo reentered the studio together in 1999 with a plethora of musician friends and re-emerged in the guise of 45 Dip, again combining music, animation, and multimedia. 2000 saw the release of their first album, The Acid Lounge, on Platform Records.