|
LEAVE IT TO A GUY CALLED GERALD TO DEFINE THE
VERY ESSENCE OF SOUL
WORDS: ADRIENNE DAY ■ PICTURE: FIREFLIES
A Guy Called Gerald is hanging out at a sports bar located downstairs from
his Manhattan-owned record label. Hunched over on a stool, a black
baseball hat topping off his meek smile and slightly reddened eyes, A Guy
Called Gerald looks every part the early afternoon boozer. But it's pretty
obvious, even from the initial pleasantries, that Gerald's not quite what
you'd expect him to he. For one, he appears to he stunned by the massive
shot of bourbon the bartender's just poured him - the equivalent of a U.K.
triple. "I hope I get home in one piece!" he exclaims, taking a tentative
sip.
Luckily for him, the trip home involves crossing a more modest body of
water than the Atlantic. For the past couple of years, the British born
techno/acid house/drum 'n' bass producer Gerald Simpson, 32, has made his
home and studio space in an old warehouse in a former industrial zone in
Brooklyn, New York. He first made the transatlantic leap to Manhattan in
'98, before realizing some analog synths are larger than your average
Manhattan-sized apartment, but not before spending five years helping to
define London's budding drum ‘n' bass scene, "I like to move around,"
Gerald explains. "It gives me perspective."
 Migration
aside, Gerald's set to release his fifth full length, Essence. Recruiting
the vocal cords of Louise Rhodes (of Lamb); Lady Miss Kier (Deee Lite);
songwriter Wendy Page; and even his own brother, David Simpson, Gerald has
crafted a lovely, intensely melodic journey through the world of drum 'n'
bass. Essence explores many different genres of music - even touching on
old-school electro, ragga, and scat - fleshing out a freeform, soulful,
snare dusted symphony of earthy delights.
What makes Gerald a unique producer in this age of ubiquitous bedroom DJs
is his commitment to pushing himself beyond the ornery limitation of one
particular subject - changing styles as fluidly as flipping a 12-inch.
Back in Manchester, the nimble fingered youth taught himself to build his
own sound system. "I was basically a kid with one hand on Pause, the other
on Record, and the radio going," he laughs. But keep in mind the kind of
airwaves being propelled through Manchester in the mid-80s. "It was like a
port - we were getting house music over a year before London was," he
says. "I heard Cybotron's 'Clear' back in '85, and it blew my mind."
Gerald put out his first record at 20, and his first full-length, Hot
Lemonade, on the Liverpool-based Rham Records a year later. Though not
given credit until much later, he also teamed up with Graham Massey of 808
State to produce the pioneering acid house EP Newbuild way back in 1988.
But it was his classic, electro-outfitted house track "Voodoo Ray" that
caught on in more than just the chubs — it got Gerald signed to a deal
with Sony that, after just one release, Automanikk, turned sour.
"They were really slow," he explains. "I would try to explain the whole
deal with white labels and plates, and they were like, 'What? Give someone
your master before it's released!' They couldn't gel their heads around
that." So Gerald went solo again, forming his own Juice Box label and
releasing a critically acclaimed LP, Black Secret Technology, and a slew
of 12-inches before concentrating solely on Essence.
For those who like drum 'n' bass to approximate pounding nails with one's
forehead, Essence may not be their cup of chai. "I used to use a lot of
bass tones - it was almost like I was trying to conjure up Satan," Gerald
laughs. "Then I read a book called Sacred Sounds, and started analyzing
what I was doing." He pauses. "You have seven chakras along your body, and
each one responds to a different note – if the right one hits you in the
right spot, it can level out the way that you feel. Learning this was like
a spiritual awakening."
The metaphysics might alien-ate some listeners, but Gerald gives his words
aural ballast. "The word 'spirit' is an old word meaning 'air,'" he
explains. "Something you can't see. With music you know it's there, but
you can't see it, so it is a spiritual thing." And Essence, with its
all-encompassing Zen-like embrace, is nothing if not spiritual - hitting
all the right chakras, warming all the right places. And made to last,
too. "The way genres come and go, two-step's gonna be three-step before
you know it." he says.
"Maybe I'm not going to make millions, but my stuff is going to be
well-built. And maybe someone will remember my music when I'm not here any
more."
GERALD'S SEVEN WONDERS: THE CHAKRAS
Find inner peace and harmony by investigating these spiritual sites:
■
www.myss.com/chakras.html
■
www.spiritweb.org/spirit/chakras-overview.html
■
www.new-visions.com/chakras.html
■
www.mysticwaves.com/chakras.html
|
