[1] He became interested in performing after seeing his cousin Morgan Fisher onstage as keyboardist for Mott the Hoople, feeling it looked like "much more fun than doing four hours of piano scales every day".

[3] In late 1983, Conti joined Prefab Sprout as drummer after hearing Paddy McAloon being interviewed on Richard Skinner's show on BBC Radio 1 and calling the office of Kitchenware Records to offer his services.

[3] He remained a member of the band for the next decade and featured on their successful studio albums Steve McQueen, From Langley Park to Memphis, Protest Songs and Jordan: The Comeback.

[2] In 1989 Neil Conti and Raye Cosbert (who later become promoter of Massive Attack and manager of Amy Winehouse) started "Backstage", a live bi-weekly music club for artists to meet and jam together.

The club spawned many imitations in the Soho area and became a hotbed of talent and A&R men, launching the careers of Ronnie Jordan, Seal, Keziah Jones, Juliet Roberts and D-Influence among others.