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A Guy Called Gerald Competition and Interview
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20-05-2011 2:52am#1Hi Folks
One and a half more sleeps to what we are anticipating to be one of the best club gigs of the year.
We have purposely packed this line up full of electronic music goodness to cater for just about all tastes, so we hope you will be satisfied
We have 2 more double passes and 5 single ones to giveaway to this show in The Twisted Pepper on Saturday.
Q. Who is Ceephax Acid Crew older brother
A. to bigdishgoconor@gmail.com
Winners will be notified by Saturday afternoon latest.
To get you in the mood check out this mix A Guy Called Gerald recorded especially for Fabric last week ahead of his show there Saturday just gone :
http://www.fabriclondon.com/blog/view/a-guy-called-gerald-presents-a-snapshot-of-his-live-set
You can also listen to his 84-88 True School set that got recorded at Bloc back in March :
http://www.blocweekend.com/feature/a-guy-called-gerald-2/
Here is the unedited version of the interview Laura Kelly Walshe kindly did for us with A Guy Called Gerald that is in the current addition of Connected Magazine, its a good read.
A GUY CALLED GERALD
For those of you who are old enough, you might remember when you first heard the classic Acid House track that is ‘Voodoo Ray’. Twenty-five years on the creator of this track, Mancunian legend and one of the founding member of 808 State, A Guy Called Gerald (aka Gerald Simpson) is still making tracks, paving the way forward as fresh and energetic as he always has.
Having launched Acid House in the Hacienda days, Simpson left 808 State to go solo, setting up his label Juice Box Records. Releasing tracks such as‘28 Gun Badboy’ LP in ’93 and equally seminal ‘Black Secret Technology’ in ’95, he set the template for the Jungle and Drum and Bass scene that was to come.
Since then he has still been releasing on labels such as Perlon, Sender, !K7 and Beatstreet. He released his 9th album ‘Tronic Jazz: The Berlin Sessions’ last year on specialist Berlin label Laboratory Instinct.
A Guy Called Gerald will be treating us to a very special 4 Hour live and DJ set at The Twisted Pepper on May 21st at BIGWAR 3 Live.
1. What spurred the push to delve back into the ‘True School’ style set that you played at BLOC and how was it received?
They asked me to do an acid house set but over the years I’ve realized what my version of acid house is and the new school’s version is totally different. When I try to explain my version I often have to go back to the roots of where I found electronic music. I remember being in a dome with loads of strange animals and super heros and sweat.
2. You were inspired by the early electro and hip-hop in the 80’s. What inspires you today? And how do you translate that into your live sets?
The thing that inspires me today is the ease of use of the technology. Back in the old days we had to understand binary just to get a bleep and a tweet and now the sky’s the limit!
3. So many producers state you as an influence, which ones have influenced your music?
Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Afrika Bambaataa, Roy Ayers, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Prince and countless other soldiers of the soul.
4. You studied Improvisational Jazz before you got into making music, how has this shaped your music?
I studied Impro Jazz Dance and it helped me to free flow the free form. One thing I discovered there is not many people who claim to be music producers who can compose and whistle a tune on the fly off the top of their head. This is improvising and is a must for a music producer.
5. How has dance culture changed since your early Hacienda days? Do you think the scene is as hedonistic today?
Well, Hacienda days were kind of the end of it. I would say since my early Legends days, dance music has changed from being something that a few amateurs enjoyed seriously on the dancefloor into something that was a trainspotter’s fetish and then it became kind of a superficial past-time for ****, supermodels and meglomaniac DJs. For me it wasn’t about the hedonism, I took my dance very seriously from an early age and the clubs were an escape from Thatcher’s 80s.
6. Is it just as important to you to stimulate the mind as well as the body when making tracks? How do you incorporate this provocation into your tracks?
Yes I think it’s important for people to experience something that maybe they don’t experience too often – that’s what living’s about isn’t it?
Within the frequencies of some of the tracks, for example on Black Secret Technology or To All Things What They Need I use a technique called heterodyning. It’s not an intellectual stimulation but more subliminal I’m going for. Words only work geographically, music is international.
7. What was your first record you ever bought?
Soundtrack to Star Wars.
8. What was the last track that really blew you away?
I don’t remember. I get blown away 3 or 4 times times a month by different music. These days if I go to find music I’m going for the sound and never go for the names. Nowadays people tend to go for labels, artists, names rather than the content. For me the content is the most important. I come from a time when no one knew the name of the DJ but we all knew the names of the dance moves. There was a time where it was the dancing that was blowing people away.
9. You have said before that you never want to be stereotyped into any particular genre of music. How do you think this holds artists back when producing tracks?
It’s started off as maybe 2 or 3 pigeon holes and now it’s an entire birdhouse. Well they tend to go for the genre that’s pulling in the most cred – usually the latest one that’s probably made of a few others. When you improvise the last thing you want is boundaries – it’s like swimming in a swimming pool full of broken glass.
10. You composed your latest album ‘Tronic Jazz’ in Berlin. What impact has moving there had on the development of your music?
Well, the weather’s not so clever, so there’s a lot of time spent indoors which is perfect for studio life.
11. Do you use a formula to put your live sets together and how do you keep the interaction with the crowd so emotive whilst flowing so seamlessly throughout the night?
I’ve got a lot of music that I wanted to let out for the last 20 odd years but there has always been barriers in the way until now where I can take a studio directly into the club. And I don’t have managers, record companies, A&R people, magazines, distributors, supermodels, etc etc in the way. There is no formula, I free-fall free-flow fly every gig and try to take it deeper and if there’s anyone open minded enough to come for a ride, they jump on.
12. What kind of new stuff are you listening to at the moment?
Hendrix.
13. What does it mean to you to be playing in Ireland? How do you find the crowds here?
Well, they’re kind of special. Places where there is a Gaelic root, for want of a better understanding, seem to be still in contact with their pagan ancestors. I can feel that and if I sense it I go off on one coz it’s tribal.
14. What do you think of the energy in our clubs in comparison to other countries?
Well it always changes so we’ll see this time. I’ve only played in Ireland maybe 5 or 6 times.
15. Why did you pack your label Juice Box in?
I decided I wanted to move to New York and start fresh.
16. In your opinion, what state is the House Music scene in at the moment? How has it evolved in the past 25 years?
It goes through cycles and at the moment we’re feeling soul.
17. What advice would you give to aspiring producers and DJ’s today?
Draw a continuous line – not straight – and never let the sides touch.
18. What was the ultimate highlight of your musical career?
Everytime I finish a tune.
19. Who is the most interesting artist that you have collaborated with and why?
A singer called Wendy Page. She comes from a folk background and it was a surprising fit with the music I was doing at the time.
20. What can people expect when they go to see you at Glastonbury?
Don’t expect – just come and experience.
21. And finally, what’s next for A Guy Called Gerald?
I’m working on secret experimental weapon with the US Government – it’s called Silent Spread Sound Spectrum (it’s a division of H.A.A.R.P.) That’s all I can reveal right now.
Laura Kelly-Walsh
Catch you Saturday, Peace
Big Dish Go & BIGWAR0
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