Artful Dodger (duo)

History

Mark Hill entered the school of music at the University of Southampton as a teenage percussionist. During his second year at university, Hill joined a jazz-funk band and, having ample free time due to few contact hours, started a recording studio with fellow student and bandmate Neil Kerr.

Kerr's father provided seed capital, and the pair secured a £20,000 bank loan guaranteed by Kerr's father. The business later attracted further investment from 3MV. The Guardian described the studio as a soundproofed room next to a radio station in Southampton, a location said to have influenced the commercial vibe of their output.

Pete Devereux holds a Grade 8 in piano and had played in grunge rock bands, performed classical violin, and DJ-ed before Artful Dodger. He found his way to Hill after discovering Hill and Kerr's studio in the Yellow Pages and booking time there. The duo's origins trace to an R&B remix crew called Back to the Future, which included Hill and Devereux but disbanded due to lack of financial success. In 1997, Hill and Devereux created bootleg editions of tracks including Dreams by Gabrielle, You're Not Alone by Olive, and If You Love Me by Brownstone, releasing them under the Artful Dodger name on Fagin Records.

Both Artful Dodger and Fagin were disposable aliases intended to protect their identities from potential lawsuits over unauthorised sampling. The name Artful Dodger was chosen over coffee in Southampton, after considering Dick Turpin and Robin Hood; it was favoured for its association with London, regarded as the capital of the garage sound.