At the age of 19, New York multi-instrumentalist Kenny Siegal signed as a songwriter to Polygram Music. Eventually his band with drummer and longtime collaborator Brian Geltner, Hunk, signed to Geffen Records. They released a strong self-titled album in 1996, but because of the frustrations of the music industry and lack of widespread promotion, the band disbanded less than a year after their album came out.
By that time, Siegal and Geltner had already begun experimenting and writing songs on the side with Indian-trained musician Chris Rael in a project they called the Hand....