He first met sound engineer and producer Steve Christian when they both utilised the same rehearsal space in Ducie House in the Northern Quarter of Manchester.
In an interview with Pride of Manchester,[3] Rae said: We committed ourselves to promoting good music; hip-hop, soul, jazz, breakbeat, jungle, Jamaican reggae, house ... we work with everything.
At the same time as nurturing other acts on the Grand Central Records label, their production and remixes were utilised by (Lamb, The Pharcyde, Wai Wan) and mainstream stars such as Natalie Imbruglia, Simply Red and The Manic Street Preachers.
Their second album, Sleepwalking marked a change in approach, a movement towards more live instrumentation and more varied songwriting partnerships with veteran musicians such as Bobby Womack, Tania Maria and The Congos.
The album features the following guests: Ed Harcourt, Kate Rogers, DJ Jazzy Jeff, Masta Ace, Mystro, Jake Emlyn, Gita Langley, Diagrams, Mark Foster, Agent 86, Mel Uye Parker and Pete Simpson.