Keith Palmer (born 26 July, 1967), best known as Maxim or Maxim Reality, is an MC of the British electronica/rave band The Prodigy. He is known for his fierce style of appearance in both music videos and live shows, often wearing scary contact lenses and kilts. His fierce style is also vibrant in the lyrical sense; in live shows he is known to scream and shout to hype up the audience.
Pre-Prodigy history
Maxim was born in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England and went to the Jack Hunt secondary school , also in Peterborough. He enjoyed writing poetry and verse and began MC-ing around the age of 14. He gained inspiration from his ten year older MC brother, MC Starky Ban Tan , who introduced him into the Peterborough Reggae Soundsystem Scene. At the age of 17 he had his first gig in Basingstoke. Ian Sherwood , a fellow musician from Nottingham teamed up with Maxim and they formed Maxim Reality and Sheik Yan Groove, where Sherwood made the music and Maxim contributed with lyrics. After recording some tracks together and not getting any attention from the record industries, Maxim decided to disband and went on a three month travel throughout Europe and North Africa. Upon returning to England he moved to London to get more into the music and reggae scene of the metropol. Through a friend, Zippy, he was offered a gig with a band called The Prodigy, which he accepted. He was planning to do just a few gigs with the band, but he later decided to stay. His maniac appearance and intense performance made him popular in the rave scene.
MC of The Prodigy
Originally joining The Prodigy to make the live shows become more alive, Maxim's lyrical talents were later incorporated in the studio works of the albums after The Prodigy Experience from 1992 (although his vocal contributions were heard in the live track "Death of the Prodigy Dancers" on Experience). Maxim provided lyrics in the single "Poison" from Music For the Jilted Generation (1994), as well as in the breakthrough singles "Firestarter" and "Breathe" from the upcoming The Fat of the Land (1997). However, on the Prodigy album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned from 2004, his vocal works were completely absent. He is still a full member of the band, though, performing in the live shows and, according to their official web site, recording material with Liam Howlett.
Solo projects
Due to the almost constant touring and recording with The Prodigy, Maxim rarely had a chance to make his own solo material. After the band started to take it more easy after the intense touring to support The Fat of the Land in late 1998, he finally had the spare time to work and finish some of his projects. That year he released "Dog Day" on the XL promo Against the Grain, which also featured Howlett's "Dirtchamber Remix" of "Diesel Power" (from The Fat of the Land) and Maxim's cover version of the Rolling Stones' "Factory Girl". On 9 August 1999 Maxim released the EP My Web , which contained five tracks. In 2000 Maxim had a collaboration with Skin from Skunk Anansie on the song "Carmen Queasy", which remains his biggest solo success. A second single, "Scheming", was released September 11, and finally the full-length album Hell's Kitchen , was released on 2 October 2000.
Discography
Albums
- 2000 Hell's Kitchen (released 2 October)
- 2005 Fallen Angel (to be released 29 March)
Singles and EPs
External links
