Fingertips

Everything happened towards the end of 2003 when a debut album from a new Portuguese band hit the stores. The Album was called “All Bout Smoke N’Mirrors” and the band Fingertips.
The band made up of Zé on vocals, Rui Saraiva on Bass, Domingos Alves on Piano, Alexis Dias on Guitar and Jorge Oliveira on Drums started out trying to make their way through the modern Portuguese music scene singing in English. The band worked hard to get in the limelight and nothing was left to chance as their intention was to win over the hearts of the Portuguese public and beyond.
All the lyrics on All “Bout Smoke N’Mirrors” were written by Zé who at the time was 16 years of age but already showed a poetic maturity which mixed his melodramatic, nostalgic, ironic and dreamer side of his personality. The music was composed by Rui Saraiva and H. Matos with the exception of “Lost In My Sleep” which was by Alexandre Almeida.
All ‘Bout Smoke N’Mirrors” was one of the biggest success stories of 2003 with both of its Singles topping Portuguese radio playlists “Mellancholic Ballad (For The Leftovers)” and “How Do You Know Me”.
It’s not just about the music with Fingertips. Their image also plays an important factor and the band used this to their advantage in photos and with the use of a stylist for their “Mellancholic Ballad (For The Leftovers) and “How Do You Know Me” videos. The video directed by João Menezes was selected for International Festivals in Torrelavega (Spain), Leicester & London (UK) and Clermont Ferrand (France).
“Mellancholic Ballad (For The Leftovers) was responsible for the huge buzz created across Portuguese radio and television in 2004. The song reached number one in the Airplay Charts and the band won Best Nacional Artist award on Radio. On TV the song was chosen for the soap Celebridade and nominated for two golden globe awards in the category of best song and best band. 2004 wasn’t just the year for “Mellancholic Ballad (For The Leftovers) as the Single “Picture Of My Own” was also chosen by a major Portuguese brand of beer for their marketing campaign.
In 2004 the band also supported The Corrs at the Municipal in Braga and the main stage at the Vilar de Mouros festival. To finish the year off they also supported Nelly Furtado on new years eve. Throughout the entire year the band also presented intimate N’Outros Lugares acoustic sets.
In January of 2005 soon after supporting Queen and Paul Rodgers the band recorded their first live performance for DVD based on an acoustic set recorded at the nightclub ACT in Porto. They started recording songs for their second album release in March 2006 entitled “Catharsis” (a Greek word meaning explosion of emotions).
The 27th March was the date chosen by Fingertips to showcase to Portugal what they had been up to during the months locked away in the studio. The result was “Catharsis” being the best disco pop Portuguese albums of 2006!
To follow up on the success of their debut album All “Bout Smoke ’N Mirrors” was always going to be difficult but the second album affirmed that the Fingertips were here to stay. Proof of this can be seen by the success of their Single “Cause To Love You” which is a ballad well suited to the Fingertips style of being mellancholic, passionate, intense and captive. Never before had the instrumental capabilities of the band been so in touch with the unmistakable voice of Zé Manuel. The way the vocals integrate with the instrumental phrasing in always complementing and building to a crescendo is only seen by the millimetre perfection of bigger international bands. Simplicity at its best.
In October of 2006 after a hot summer full of performances Fingertips released another single entitled “Move Faster” a song that promises to warm our souls. “Move Faster” makes us travel through time. The melody takes us back to the huge riffs of the 80’s with strong guitars, drum sounds and to finish off a riff that guides you to a memorable chorus.
“Move Faster” is one of those songs that you already sing and dance to on its second play. The ethereal keyboard sound and raw guitar sound is what will make this a song of reference coming soon to a quality dance floor near you. Without losing any further time Fingertips invited DJ Nuno Nobre aka Hydro, (Mau Mau, Quando Quando, Triplex and ACT) to remix “Move Faster” to make a connection between the 80’s sound with the sound of today’s dance scene. Nuno worked the song into a Rock/Electro/Dance remix with notable influences and it previewed at the Portugal Fashion Party at ACT in Porto.
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