A Guy Called Gerald - ProfilesArchive

About Me

TIMEWARP ME
LATEST RELEASES
31st April 07 - A. Cassy - Somelightuntothenight / B. A Guy Called Gerald - Bodecka (Beatstreet 01)
25th May 07 - Proto Acid 12" No. 2 (Laboratory Instinct LI012)
A Guy Called Gerald
New Album : Proto Acid - The Berlin Sessions
Released 12th AUGUST 2006 (Laboratory Instinct)
Earlier this year, A Guy Called Gerald (Gerald Simpson) made his Laboratory Instinct debut with a drop-tech infusion mix of Dell & Fl..gels Superstructure that appeared on the duos Study For A Skyscraper EP. Now the British acid house pioneer and drumnbass legend issues his own superb full-length on the German imprint, the appropriately-titled Proto Acid - The Berlin Sessions. Having literally influenced generations of music-makers with an incredible discography thats grown incrementally deeper since the 80s, the Manchester UK native and now Berlin resident executes the infectious 71-minute jam with a masterful meticulousness.
Drenching Detroit-styled techno in sparkling electro, the set, recorded live in one session using two laptops and a DJ mixer at Geralds Diehold Studio on February 11th, 2006, flows with a relaxed ease. With one exception (Auto Rebuild, the third track, is a remake of 1990s Automannik), the albums 24 raw, club-oriented tracks are all new and were created over the last year in Berlin. The collection departs from the style of his last full-length, To All Things What They Need, in many ways, the most obvious being the absence of singing. Asked why he decided to make Proto Acid The Berlin Sessions wholly instrumental, Simpson doesnt mince words. "On my last two albums, I felt pressured to include vocals", he replies. "Nowadays, I feel singers should be put on a bale of hay with a piece of straw hanging out of their mouths while playing acoustic guitarkeeping it real, if you know what I mean. I want to make music for clubs and sometimes you just have to get down and dirty into the machines and, to take it there, you cant hold anyones hand. Some things just dont need a vocal. What Im trying to do is keep myself entertained as well as give the punters something new."
Asked to describe the albums sound, Simpson says, To me its proto acid; its how I feel house/techno music would have sounded if the whole rave thing hadnt happened in England. When I was younger, I would go to soul and funk clubs and you could easily mix a techno/house track into your set without spoiling the environment. Could you imagine playing a techno track at an rnb club today? Things have splintered and fragmented and floated so far apart that funk seems to have dropped through the cracks. Im one of those preserved creatures that basically loves to use genres as a palette. So when I say proto acid Im saying this stuff has direct lineage to Chicago and Detroit in the mid-to-late 80s. Dont think that, for Simpson, acids definition is limited to something as obvious as the 303 either. "I find it really interesting how the TB303 has come to be fetishised as an acid machine", he says. "For me, acid was all about the tweaking of synths and riding a groove, you know what I mean? Like, before the masses thought the Transistor Bass machine was a special tool for doing acid house music, I was already bored with it and had moved on to tweaking envelopes on other Roland machinery, so I never really possessed that value for the 303 like everybody else did. I feel like I followed my own path and was inspired by what was going on in Detroit and Chicago but always did my own thing. To me, the new album is acid and acids a part of everything I do."
On the disc itself, Simpson doesnt waste a moment but immediately invigorates the set with the pumping tribal groove of Marching Powder before moving on to the steely funk-throb of The Strip. The mixs strutting electro strain makes its first appearance in Auto Rebuild and dominates thereafter, though its presence is subtly modulated from one cut to the next, at one moment oozing a house vibe and the next techno. While differences distinguish one track from the next (though Simpson avows that his influences are more machines than particular artists, a seeming Drexciya influence emerges in Droid and the dark synth-driven Feel the Heat while dub rears its head in Xray and Bass-o-train), theres clearly a unified feel to the album. Skitzoid casts a mechano spell, Night Flight breezily rocks, and the jacking cut Voltar broils feverishly for almost eight minutes. Bringing the mix to a chilled close, Sweet You floats in a billowing haze of jazzy pianos and locomotive drum brushes before vaporizing in a cloud of cymbal accents.
At this stage in his career, one might assume that Simpson has covered every base imaginable, but apparently thats not so. Referring to the new release, he says, "Its the culmination of a dream Ive had since I started making music, and thats to take the studio into the club; this album is snapshot of those possibilities."
LISTEN TO PROTO ACID 12 " A-SIDE PREVIEW
INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEW - LITTLE DETROIT

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/19/2005
Band Website: aguycalledgerald.com
Band Members: A Guy Called Gerald
Influences:

Detroit (1989)

DOCUMENTARY

Part 1

Part 2

VIDEOS

Voodoo Ray (1988)

Fever Or A Flame
from Essence Album (!K7 2000)

Lost Souls London Mar 2008

Sounds Like:
PROTO ACID LIVE TOUR
@ The Warehouse Project
Manchester 2006

DISCOGRAPHY

ALBUMS
2006 Proto Acid / The Berlin Sessions (Laboratory Instinct)
2005 To All Things What They Need (K7)
2000 Essence (K7)
1995 Black Secret Technology (Juicebox)
1992 28 Gun Bad Boy (Juicebox)
1989 The John Peel Sessions (Strange Fruit)
1989 Automanikk (CBS/Sony)
1988 Hot Lemonade (Rham)

12 inches and SINGLES
2007 Cassy / A Guy Called Gerald (Beatstreet)
2007 Proto Acid 2 (Laboratory Instinct)
2006 Proto Acid 1 (Laboratory Instinct)
2005 Man In Danger (Protechshon)
2005 Flo-ride (Sugoi)
2005 First Try (!K7)
2000 Humanity Remixes (!K7)
2000 Humanity (!K7)
2000 Fever (!K7)
1998 Radar Systems / Fallen Prince Of Heaven (Juice Box (JB))
1996 The Curse Of Voodoo Ray (Promo Only) (JB)
1996 So Many Dreams Remixes (JB)
1995 Finley..s Rainbow Remixes (JB)
1995 Finley..s Rainbow (JB)
1993 Darker Than I Should Be / Gloc Remix (JB)
1993 Nazinji-Zaka (JB)
1993 The Glok / Ease The Pressure (JB)
1993 Too Fucked To Dance / Anything V2.1 (JB)
1992 Changing / Got A Feeling (JB)
1992 The Musical Magical Midi Machine / Like A Drug (JB)
1992 Ses Makes You Wise / King Of The Jungle (JB)
1992 Cops / 28 Gun Bad Boy (JB)
1992 Digital Bad Boy / A Storm Is Coming (JB)
1991 Disneyband / Anything (JB)
1990 Emotions Electric (JB)
1990 Automanikk (Live Gun Shot Mix) (CBS/Sony)
1990 Automanikk (Bass Overload Mix) (CBS/Sony)
1990 Automanikk (Just 4 U Gordon Mix) (CBS/Sony)
1990 The Peel Sessions EP USA (Strange Fruit)
1989 FX Elevation Mix (CBS/Sony)
1989 FX Mayday Mix (CBS/Sony)
1989 Trip City
1989 The Peel Sessions EP UK (Strange Fruit)
1988 Hot Lemonade Youth Remixes (Rham)
1988 Hot Lemonade (Rham)
1988 Voodoo Ray Remixes UK & Aust (Rham)
1988 Voodoo Ray Remixes USA (Rham)
1988 Voodoo Ray Single (Rham)
1988 Voodoo Ray EP (Rham)

ALIASES
As INERTIA
1993 Fragments / Anxiety (JB)
1993 Satisfaction (JB)
1991 Nowhere To Run (Retroactive)

As RICKY ROUGE
1993 Song For Every Man (JB)
1993 De Ja Vu / All Over The World (JB)
1993 When You Took My Love (JB)
1993 Strange Love Remixes (JB)
1993 Strange Love (JB)

As THE KGB 1993 I Feel The Magic (JB)

COLLABORATIONS
Original member of 808 STATE
2004 Prebuild (Rephlex)
1989 Newbuild (Creed)
1989 Pacific State (Creed / ZTT)
1988 Let Yourself Go (Creed)

with HERBIE HANCOCK / BILL LASWELL / A GUY CALLED GERALD
2001 Black Gravity .. from the album Future 2 Future

with THE TWO G..$ (A GUY CALLED GERALD AND GOLDIE)
1995 Energy / Reno (JB)

with US (A GUY CALLED GERALD / EDWARD BARTON / CHAPTER & THE VERSE)
1989 Born In The North

with THE HIT SQUAD
1987 Wax on the Melt

REMIXES AND PRODUCTION
2003 Roku - Wang (AGCG Mix)
2002 Clint Mansell - Body & Fear (AGCG Remix)
(Requiem For a Dream Soundtrack)
2002 Audrey Hannah .. Liquid Touch (AGCG Remix)
2000 DJ Spooky Vs The Freight Elevator Quartet ..
File Under Futurism (AGCG Jungle Mix)
2000 DJ Spooky Vs The Freight Elevator Quartet ..
File Under Futurism (AGCG Ambient Mix)
2000 Finley Quaye .. Spiritualized (AGCG/Finley Quaye Remix)
1998 Wunmi .. What A See (AGCG Remix)
1997 Finley Quaye .. Sunday Shining
1997 Finley Quaye .. Even After All (AGCG Remix)
1997 Can .. Tango Whiskeyman (AGCG Mix)
1997 David Bowie .. Telling Lies (Paradox Mix)
1997 Finley Quaye .. Lover A Need I (Sony Walkman Mix)
1997 Tricky .. Piano (The Green Stinky Mix)
1997 Cath Coffey .. Tell Me (AGCG Classified Mix)
1997 Cath Coffey .. Tell Me (AGCG Instrumental Mix)
1997 Espiritu .. You Send Me (Co-produced & Written by AGCG)
1997 Tamsin .. Go Higher (Junkie Remix by AGCG)
1996 David Bowie Vs A Guy Called Gerald Vs Adam F
Telling Lies (AGCG Mix)
1995 Lamb .. Cotton Wool (AGCG Mix)
1995 D*Note .. Criminal Justice (AGCG Remix)
1995 Lamb .. Cotton Wool (Erogenous Mix)
1995 The Orb .. Oxbow Lakes (Everglade Mix)
1995 Flora Purim .. What You See (Ghost Of Flora..s Dream)
1994 Project X - The Summit (AGCG Jungle Remix)
1993 Jane .. It..s A Fine Day
1992 Indo Aminata .. Love Will Be On Your Side (AGCG H17 Mix)
1992 Taste Of Paradise .. Reach Out
1990 Turntable Orchestra .. You..re Gonna Miss Me (Funky Sax Mix)
1990 Turntable Orchestra .. You..re Gonna Miss Me (Mangous Ye Mix)
1990 My Jealous God ..Everything About You (The Knowledge AGCG Remix)
1990 Black Uhuru .. Reggae Rock (Amazone Mix)
1990 Black Uhuru .. Reggae Rock (Amazone Beat Mix)
1990 Black Uhuru .. Reggae Rock (AGCG Dance Remix)
1989 Wild Weekend - Ignition (Bingo Bass Mix)
1989 Cabaret Voltaire .. Hypnotised (AGCG Music Mix)
1989 The Stone Roses .. Fools Gold (The Top Won Mix!)
1989 The Stone Roses .. Fools Gold (The Bottom Won Mix!)
1989 Suns Of Arqa .. Govinda..s Dream (Carnatic Mix)
1989 Suns Of Arqa .. Govinda..s Dream (Kirk..s Garage Mix)
1989 Suns Of Arqa .. Govinda..s Dream (Jabit Mix)

Record Label: SUGOI / PROTECHSHON / LAB INSTINCT / !K7 / SENDER
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

1520 Sedgwick : Save the birthplace of hip hop

Has anyone seen this? I think this deserves the support of every rapper or any artist that benefited from hip hop.http://www.save1520.org/It's crazy the amount of money New York must make from hip hop...
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Sun, 20 Jan 2008 02:52:00 PST

Inside the music in the club with Reason

I get a lot of questions about how I'm using Reason to DJ. Some people assume that I'm somehow synching the two laptops together. Question:I know that you can sync analog gear with midi. Creating a ma...
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 04:19:00 PST

Proto Acid Limited Edition T-shirt

PROTO ACID / THE BERLIN SESSIONSLimited Edition T-shirtsare back in stock!£25.00 each including postage.Buy Here...
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Sun, 16 Dec 2007 08:04:00 PST

btwn us moscow

moscowhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/btwn_us/sets/721576032507 65705/big thanks to roman and shanti
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:59:00 PST

London 4 / 5 December - The Ride and Bar Vinyl

On Tuesday 4th Dec The RiDe will be joined by Legendary DJ Producer originally from Manchester A Guy Called Gerald. He will be telling us what he's been up to since his move to Berlin as well as playi...
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Fri, 23 Nov 2007 03:52:00 PST

Jungle

I've made a myspace page purely for Jungle fans.http://www.myspace.com/aguycalledgeraldjungleLink up if you want updates on new releases from PROTECHSHON and find out about jungle gigs I'll be doing.G...
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:58:00 PST

Worth watching

History repeating: The Power Of Nightmareshttp://www.moviesfoundonline.com/power_of_nightmar es.htmThe Century Of Selfhttp://www.moviesfoundonline.com/century_of_the_self.htm
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:56:00 PST

Interview

Interview with Propellerheads' Reason http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZktF9Z-ejak
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:24:00 PST

Estonia / Berlin / London / Moscow

04 Sept DJ @ Eclectica Festival Estonia09 Sept DJ @ Sender Records Night Berlin06 Oct LIVE "Rebuild" A Guy Called Gerald + Graham Massey (808 State) @ Wang London13 Oct LIVE @ Arena Berlin15 Nov LIV...
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:19:00 PST

Upcoming Dates

A GUY CALLED GERALDPROTO ACID | THE BERLIN SESSIONS LIVE DATES18.05.07 ROME @ BRANCALEONE19.05.07 NEW YORK - TBC25.05.07 DETROIT @ MIXWORKS 6th ANNIVERSARY28.05.07 DETROIT @ DEMF FESTIVAL31.05.07 MADR...
Posted by A Guy Called Gerald on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 10:32:00 PST