The Propellerheads formed in Bath in 1996, where Alex Gifford was gainfully employed at Peter Gabriel's Real World studios. A bassist, top session man and former member of post-house band The Grid, Gifford wanted to record his own material and enlisted Will White on drums and decks to tap into the new big beat sound that was pounding the nation's dancefloors at the time. Luckily for them, their first single 'Dive' (1996) was soon picked up for an Adidas ad and similar club success followed with the 'Take California' and 'Spybreak!' EPs. The band achieved a genuine crossover with their cover of the 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service theme' (recorded for a James Bond tribute compilation), leading to The Propellerheads contributing material to the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies. 1998's 'Decksanddrumsandrockandroll' and the Shirley Bassey-powered single 'History Repeating' were both successful, but the band have stuck mainly to production work since then.
