Born in the Armenian quarter of Iran, Blade came to London aged 7. Within months of arriving, he felt the effect of the Islamic revolution back home. Unable to send money out of the country, Blade’s family could no longer support him. So, with no money, no family, alone in a strange country, Blade’s self-reliance and determination were all he had to see him through. The microphone, the studio and the stage provided his only release The album’s first single, 'You Don’t See The Signs', was re-recorded with a guest appearance from Grant Nicholas of Feeder, who Mark & Blade toured with; crash-landing in the top 20, it earned them their first bona fide hit. But Mark B & Blade was always meant as a side project for both men. It was no surprise when they announced that they would be working on their own records in the future. Unfortunately, the label that had released The Unknown, the Virgin France-funded Source, wasn’t in a position to act. Internal restructuring meant that key people involved in the first record had left the company, and control of operations had reverted to the corporate parent. The only thing that was certain was that Blade and his new bosses did not see eye to eye and it was only a matter of time before they parted company. Unhappy with the situation at Virgin, Blade decided to go it alone yet again, this time putting everything he had at risk. When he first started in 1989, he had nothing to lose. This time the story was the opposite; he had everything to lose. He re-mortgaged his house to pay for the manufacturing, the press and radio campaign and the street team. The album was released in March 2004 and the signs were really good. There was very little radio and media support, but the sales were looking good. That is until the distributor he was signed to, 3MV, dropped a bombshell three weeks after the album was released ........ they declared bankruptcy. The albums were taken off the shelves at all the major chain stores and the tour cancelled. The biggest blow for Blade was that he was never going to see any of the money from the album sales already registered which meant he had to somehow make enough back to pay off the loan sharks and the people he hired to do the job, and to pay for the manufacturing, which was done on credit. Four days of complete silence through shock of the news, which for someone like Blade is unheard of, then the lion turns to the crew and says "WE'LL SURVIVE THIS". They called on many of their promoter friends and organised just under a hundred shows and kept things going. During this time, Blade met BABY J and began recording the album "GUERRILLA TACTICS".