When ambitious young record store manager Oli Lazarus initiated his Reel People project back in 2000 he could only have dreamt of where those first tentative steps would lead him. Having immersed himself in the soulful house sounds of specialist record store Flying for the previous three years, Oli Lazurus had begun to feel that the musical education he had gained in-store was complete and that his tenure atthe shop was drawing to a natural end. Gaining a passion for dancefloor grooves and a valuable experience of the musicindustry whilst working with the store's sister label Chillifunk, Lazurus decided his future lay in music production. His ideal was to lead a fully-formed live ensemble in the finest traditions of Maze and Rufus, but with no songwriting, performance or studioskills under his belt at that stage, his dream appeared to be almost unattainable.These seemingly insurmountable obstacles were however not going to get in the way.