A Guy Called Gerald London, United Kingdom Transmat
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A Guy Called Gerald has been an iconic name in the electronic music scene worldwide for over 20 years. One of the founding members of 808 State, GCG kick started the UK’s acid house frenzy with his ’88 classic ‘Voodoo Ray’ and 808 State's 'Pacific State' – gatecrashing the charts in the process – and went on to lay down the blueprint for jungle / drum n bass in the early 90's.
One of Manchester’s finest, most... Read more
A Guy Called Gerald has been an iconic name in the electronic music scene worldwide for over 20 years. One of the founding members of 808 State, GCG kick started the UK’s acid house frenzy with his ’88 classic ‘Voodoo Ray’ and 808 State's 'Pacific State' – gatecrashing the charts in the process – and went on to lay down the blueprint for jungle / drum n bass in the early 90's.
One of Manchester’s finest, most respected, innovative and forward thinking home-grown techno producers, A Guy Called Gerald’s fame spread outwards from global 88 hit he will never escape “Voodoo Ray”, arguably the first British house record to simulate and soundtrack the atmosphere of that period at The Hacienda.
Born in Moss Side, raised in the Spin Inn and given his stage name by Stu Allen who used to play his tapes on his massively influential Sunday night radio show, “This one’s by......a guy called......Gerald”, Voodoo Ray was the record that was to take him out of his day job at McDonald’s in Market Street and into the career that has taken him all over the world and lasted some 23 years.
Well travelled and much in demand across the US, South America, Europe and Asia and from his present base in the European techno capital Berlin, GCG’s production career began when he decided to leave DJing behind in the mid 80’s and began working on cheap analogue synths and drum machines.
From the springboard which was that record, supported and played to death by Radio One’s John Peel for whom GCG recorded a Peel Session in 1990, GCG’s album career began with “Hot Lemonade” and then signing to Sony Music with Automannik, whose lead single FX was remixed by one of GCG’s then heroes, Derrick May. Like many diverse talented, self-willed artists. GCG’s major label experience was not good as the label leaned on him for another pop hit while his interests remained with the underground and his music was never going to fit into their system. Beginning his excursion into breakbeat with 1991’s “28 Gun Bad Boy” on his Juicebox imprint, GCG became one of the prime movers on the late rave and emerging jungle scene in the early 90’s, breaking his mate Finley Quaye’s career with “Finley’s Rainbow” and setting the blueprint for the emerging sound with 95’s seminal album “Black Secret Technology” which when reissued in 2008, proved that it still sounds as groundbreaking today as it did then.
Moving to New York in 1997 and recording "Essence" album for Berlin’s respected Studio !K7 label in 2000, GCG returned to the UK in the aftermath of September 11, living in London for a couple of years and then decamping to Berlin, where he continues to be based, immersed in the city’s techno scene and vibes. "To All Things What They Need" was quietly released on !K7 in 2004. His two most recent albums, “Proto Acid” and “Tronic Jazz” (his eighth studio album released in 2010), both part of the The Berlin Sessions series, showcases his production skills and class, have shown his development as a complete artist on par with the early legends that inspired him. Show less
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