Fancy Fingers speaks on the first time he met Bien and how he joined Sauti Sol

Sauti Sol’s Polycarp Otieno has recounted his first encounter with fellow band member Bien Aime-Baraza which happened in 2006.

Polycarp, popularly known as Fancy Fingers, revealed that Bien was the first he met out of the group, and that it was him who introduced him to the other members - Chimano and Savara.

“I met Bien in 2006, during my gap year after high school. The first interaction I have with us as Sauti Sol was Bien,” Fancy Fingers said in an interview with Cleaning The Airwaves, adding that in Bien he saw a similarity to himself.

He narrated that, before meeting Bien, he was usually used to being the only person within distance carrying a guitar on his back wherever he went, hence the fact that Bien also did the same piqued his interest.

“I am the only person carrying a guitar on my back in town, and I used to have this route that I used to pass everyday religiously. There was a music store just at the end of 20th Century that sold CDs,” said Polycarp.

“I used to listen to music for like 15 minutes then I go. So as I walk in I see someone else just as tall as me and carrying a guitar also on their back, we just glance at each other and we don’t even say hi.”

Just after they saw one another at the music shop, in what seemed like fate, Polycarp recounted that they ultimately ended up in the same audition room a little while later.

“We end up 30 minutes later in the same audition at Alliance Francaise for the Christmas Band that year,” he added. 

While they were casually chatting after the audition, Polycarp said they both felt they had a vibe together, and that that prompted Bien to invite him to meet the rest of the group.

“After a few minutes Bien says by the way I’m going to sing with my people at Uhuru Park, you wanna come? And I was like yea sure. We walk to Uhuru Park and there’s a tree they used to rehearse under,” he said.

“It was a 20-minute walk, got to the tree then I see these two other gentlemen, it was Chimano and Savara seated under the tree waiting…and Bien introduces me as the new member.”

Fifteen years later, Sauti Sol is still releasing hit after hit as a group and as solo artists, and is recognized as one of the most famous boy bands on the continent.