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A Guy Called Gerald | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Gerald Simpson |
Born | 16 February 1967 |
Origin | Moss Side, Manchester, England |
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Instruments |
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Website | guycalledgerald |
Gerald Rydel Simpson (born 16 February 1967), better known as A Guy Called Gerald, is a British record producer and musician. He was an early member of the electronic group 808 State, contributing to their debut LP Newbuild (1988) and hit single "Pacific State" (1989). He also achieved solo success with his 1988 hit single "Voodoo Ray", which became a touchstone of Manchester's acid house scene and reached No. 12 in the UK charts. [1] He embraced breakbeat production in the 1990s, with his 1995 album Black Secret Technology becoming a "much-touted candidate for 'best jungle album ever.'" [2] He also ran the London-based independent record label Juice Box Records from 1991 to 1998.
Simpson was influenced by his Jamaican roots; his father's blue beat, ska and Trojan reggae record collection, his mother's Pentecostal church sessions and the Jamaican sound system parties in Manchester's Moss Side area where he grew up. [3]
He absorbed jazz fusion and electro funk at clubs, youth clubs [4] and shebeens such as Legends, St.Alfonso's, British Legion and the Reno in Manchester, where the dancefloor in the early 1980s inspired him to study contemporary dance. Manchester was a hotbed of dance music with black club nights open every night of the week and Simpson spent his time joining in the vibe. [5] Simpson was principally influenced by dancers such as Foot Patrol and the Jazz Defektors, regulars in the North of England black club scene. [6] [7] [8]
Around 1983 with electro booming and early hip hop, breakdancing and b-boy culture from Detroit and Chicago – from producers such as Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson was being played by Stu Allan on Piccadilly Radio and imported directly into Manchester's specialist record shops.[ citation needed ]
Inspired, Simpson began experimenting with tape editing and drum machines and the regular jams in the attic of his house led to forming the Scratchbeat Masters. [9] Using cut up beats, samples and turntables they would challenge other bands and their sound systems. They released a 12" single called "Wax on the Melt", [10] a collaboration between a number of crews and Graham Massey and Martin Price together with whom he would later form 808 State. [9] Their first album, Newbuild , was released in 1988, but he soon left the group to concentrate on his solo work. [9]
The result of heading back into his bedroom studio was "Voodoo Ray", played first at the Hacienda in 1988, [6] and then the underground clubs before entering the UK Singles Chart a year later. It was the first acid house track produced in the UK, and released on a small Merseyside independent label (Rham! Records) based in Wallasey. "Voodoo Ray" entered the UK chart in 1989 rising to number 12. [11]
At the same time a track Simpson started before leaving 808 State, "Pacific State", was released and hit the charts. However, according to Simpson, they had finished and released the track without his permission. Although Simpson was credited on its first release on the album Quadrastate both as a writer and co-producer, the dispute escalated as Simpson claimed to have written the entire track. [9]
Gerald subsequently signed with Sony Music and released the albums Hot Lemonade (1989) and Automanikk (1990) to moderate commercial success. [12] He was subsequently allowed to leave his Sony contract after the label refused to release his intended follow-up album High Life, Low Profile. [12] The album was reportedly rejected for being too song-oriented. [13]
Juice Box Records | |
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Founded | 1991 |
Founder | Gerald Simpson |
Defunct | 1998 |
Genre | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Location | Manchester, England |
In 1991, he started his own label, Juice Box Records, [9] releasing a string of 12" singles – the seeds of what became known as jungle and later drum and bass. [14] The first singles were compiled and released on his third album 28 Gun Bad Boy (1992). [9] In 1995, his next album, Black Secret Technology was released. [9] A remastered version was re-issued in June 2008.
Juice Box Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom, based at Riverside Studios in West London. It was established by Simpson in 1991, after he left SME Records, [15] and closed in 1998. It took its name from the sound system that Simpson operated with MC Tunes. [16] The label provided an outlet for seven years for Simpson's work, with thirty three titles released under various other pseudonyms such as The K.G.B. and Ricky Rouge, and collaborations between Simpson and artists including Lisa May, DJ Tamsin, Goldie (as 'The 2 G's'), and Finley Quaye. [17]
The label has been identified as being responsible for influential releases that provided the blueprint for what was to become jungle then drum and bass, [15] with early singles on the label described as "genre-defining". [18] The early singles on the label were compiled on the LP 28 Gun Bad Boy , of which Simon Reynolds of Melody Maker stated in a review of the album, "If there was a blueprint for what would transform rave into jungle/techno, then this is it.". [18] It is regarded as the first full-length jungle album ever released.
Reynolds also stated in a Melody Maker article in October 1994, about Simpson's Juice Box-era music, "Gerald's tracks take the jungle mesh of polyrhythms, cross-rhythms and counter-rhythms to new levels of insane detail." [19] Gerald's Black Secret Technology LP was released in 1995 and reached the UK Albums Chart at number 64, [11] including contributions from Goldie and Finley Quaye, [18] [20] In 1998, the label closed, with Simpson relocating to New York.
In 1997, he moved to New York and, in 2000, released Essence on the independent label !K7 Records. Essence was Simpson's first song-based rather than dance/club album, featuring guests such as Lou Rhodes, David Simpson, Lady Miss Kier and Wendy Page. In January 2005, he released a more ambient album To All Things What They Need, also on !K7 Records.
In August 2006, Proto Acid / The Berlin Sessions was released on the German label, Laboratory Instinct. A continuous mix album, it was recorded live in Berlin. The second album in The Berlin Sessions series was released in 2010: Tronic Jazz / The Berlin Sessions.
"How Long Is Now" EP was released on Bosconi Records in 2012.
In 2013, the album Silent Spread Sound Spectrum was released on the Society of Sound – a subscription based music retail project by Bowers & Wilkins audio equipment company. Subscribers receive two albums per month curated by Peter Gabriel and the London Symphony Orchestra.
"The entire track was performed by Gerald live (in the Big Room at Real World Studios) from two laptops captured into a Pro Tools HD system. Audio resolution was high throughout this project with a 24 bit resolution and a 96kHz sampling rate maintained from creation through to capturing the performance. A few additional sounds made it onto this album that were taken from 1986 – sampled from a vinyl release and incorporated into this composition." [21]
"I am fascinated by the science of sound. Silent Sound Spread Spectrum (SSSS) or S-Quad or Squad is allegedly a technology used by the US Department of Defence that uses subliminal programming carried over ultra-high frequency broadcast waves. With this system, planting inaudible messages directly into the subconscious becomes very easy to do and everyone is susceptible. This composition is about 50 mins and it follows no specific style. It should leave the listener refreshed and relaxed." – A Guy Called Gerald [21]
Simpson has been touring steadily worldwide preferring to perform his own productions Live in Session.
On 2015, Simpson is concentrating on a new album and developing a "Live in Session" experience – "a new way to present the music live based around the idea of being in the centre of the dancefloor and at eye level... I am looking to create a space which mimics the studio environment – not only that – because I would be in the centre of the dancefloor so I can monitor everything around me and be at the same level – eye-level with the presumed dancer. This way it makes it easy for me to create the atmosphere and the rhythm suitable for the individual dancefloor. Kind of like an open kitchen in a restaurant – it's an open kitchen in a club bringing the food to the people instantly – as soon as it's produced it's already on the dancefloor. What I'm looking for in 2015 is sound reproduction in the clubs being taken a lot more seriously than in the past." [22]
Jungle is a genre of electronic music that developed out of the UK rave scene and Jamaican sound system culture in the 1990s. Emerging from breakbeat hardcore, the style is characterised by rapid breakbeats, heavily syncopated percussive loops, samples, and synthesised effects, combined with the deep basslines, melodies, and vocal samples found in dub, reggae and dancehall, as well as hip hop and funk. Many producers frequently sampled the "Amen break" or other breakbeats from funk and jazz recordings. Jungle was a direct precursor to the drum and bass genre which emerged in the mid-1990s.
808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. Taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the "state of mind" the members shared, they released their debut album Newbuild in September 1988 and secured commercial success in 1989, when their song "Pacific State" was picked up by BBC Radio 1 DJ Gary Davies and charted for 11 weeks in the UK.
Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie dance saw its artists merging indie rock with elements of acid house, psychedelia, and 1960s pop.
Kruder & Dorfmeister, named after members Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister, is an Austrian duo, known for their trip hop/downtempo remixes of pop, hip hop and drum and bass songs.
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Rockers Hi-Fi were an electronic dub/dance outfit formed in Birmingham, England in 1991 as Original Rockers. In 1994, they changed their name to Rockers Hi-Fi. Their music was quite popular across Europe as an extension and continuation of the dub music genre.
"Voodoo Ray" is the debut single by British electronic musician Gerald Simpson, recording under the name A Guy Called Gerald. The single was released in the UK in 1988 on the 7" and 12" vinyl formats, on the Rham! label. A version of the track appeared on A Guy Called Gerald's 1988 album Hot Lemonade, and the original single was later released in the United States in 1989 by Warlock Records.
FFRR Records is a dance music label founded as a subsidiary of London Records in 1986, with A&R run by the British DJ Pete Tong. Originally a part of London Records' label roster, FFRR is currently a sublabel of Parlophone, a division of Warner Music Group. Its activities were mostly halted in the early 2000s, until the label was revived in 2011. Its catalog was sold off in 2017, but the label was revived a second time in 2021, this time with a new identity.
!K7 Music is a music company based in Berlin, Germany that focuses mostly on electronic music. The name is an abbreviation of the company's original Berlin address, Kaiserdamm 7. !K7 has since opened branch offices in New York City and London. The company now operates an artist management division, managing a roster of artists including the British musician Tricky. !K7 Music also runs a successful Label Services and Synch and Licensing department.
Smith & Mighty are an English trip hop group from Bristol, England, consisting of Rob Smith, Ray Mighty and Peter D Rose. They pioneered the Bristol sound producing Massive Attack's "Any Love". The Bristol sound being a precursor to trip hop. As well as producing for others, they produced their own work, and various solo projects and collaborations.
Now Is Early is the debut studio album by Scottish singer Nicolette, produced by English electronic duo Shut Up and Dance and released in April 1992 by the duo's label of the same name. It follows a string of popular underground singles in the early 1990s that applied the singer's jazz-styled vocals to Shut Up and Dance's early experiments in breakbeat hardcore, with songs from these singles featuring on the record. Stylistically, the record profiles Shut Up and Dance's spacious, breakbeat-driven sound, contrasted with Nicolette's smooth scat-style singing. For the album, the singer wrote torch songs in a stream of consciousness style and explored universal themes.
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Black Secret Technology is the fourth album by UK electronic producer A Guy Called Gerald, released in February 1995 to widespread critical acclaim. It has since been described as the best jungle album of all time by publications such as Fact, Pitchfork and Freaky Trigger.
Drum and bass is an electronic music genre that originated in the UK rave scene having developed from breakbeat hardcore. The genre would go on to become one of the most popular genres of electronic dance music, becoming international and spawning multiple different derivatives and subgenres.
Curtis Eugene Cross, better known by his stage name Black Milk, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer.
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Opera Multi Steel, often abbreviated as OMS, is a French minimal synth and coldwave band, originally founded in Bourges in 1983 by Franck Lopez, Patrick L. Robin and Catherine Marie.
Kelley Hand, known professionally as Kelli Hand and K-HAND, was a musician and DJ from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Hand was widely credited with opening the door for Black women's participation in the previously male-dominated techno and electronic music communities during the 1990s and was known as the "First Lady of Detroit techno". A prolific DJ with an "impossibly deep catalogue", Hand continued to produce and perform music up until her death in 2021.
Essence is the fifth studio album by electronic producer A Guy Called Gerald, which was released on August 14, 2000, through Studio !K7. The album, which initially was intended to be released as Aquarius Rising, is noted for its usage of vocals, something rarely utilized in his previous recordings. According to Gerald Simpson, the album is an attempt for him to focus on melody and songwriting compared to his previous album Black Secret Technology.