SongVault Artist Profile

Jellyfish’s Chris Manning produced and mixed Strangefinger’s debut album Into The Blue. Taking over five months to record and mix, the album was actually finished in 2005. The record finally made its way to SideBMusic in 2009.

Six years ago, virtually homeless and with a budget of Absolute Zero, band leader and principle songwriter Freddie Lemke had to hawk his Yamaha CP-70 keyboard to pay for basic track recordings of an album he was doubtful would ever be heard. He set about writing and recording on a digital 16-track recorder acquired from an anonymous patron saint.

Slowly but surely, Freddie formed a band with bass player Blake Engeldorf, guitarist Patrick Mercier and drummer Joaquin Spengemann. With fourteen tracks ready for mixing, the band was out of resources and feared that the album would die a stillbirth. But after an out of town show, the band was approached by Chris Manning, renowned Bay Area producer and former Jellyfish member.

Chris and Freddie set out to record the lead vocals and finish the final mix. Within a few months, Into The Blue was complete. With a finished record, Freddie moved to Los Angeles to further pursue his musical aspirations. Into The Blue was released by SideBMusic on July 28th, 2009.