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CW Interview: A Guy Called Gerald in a City Called Beijing
by c_marie | Posted on Apr 02 2009 | Beijing Nightlife
Hailing from Manchester, UK, one of the club scene's birthplaces, A Guy
Called Gerald has been in the biz for over 20 years. Gerald is the
godfather of the UK's 1980s acid house revolution and has been churning
out creative, dance-friendly music ever since. Gerald's special brand of
techno and tech house bumps and grinds its way into Beijing this Friday
(April 3) at Tango.
First of all, what are some of your thoughts on your gig in Beijing?
Shanghai was unexpected. The actual crowd I didn't expect to be into it as
much they were. A lot of the music I heard was more mainstream, so I
thought my music would go over their heads, but you can never
underestimate people.
My impression so far is that Beijing seems more grounded and blue-collar
than Shanghai, rather like Manchester (where I'm from) is in relation to
London or Osaka to Tokyo.
China is relatively "young" when it comes to electronic music. Asia,
more broadly, sometimes trends toward a harder techno sound. How do you
see your music fitting into the Asian dance music scene?
I see my music as being more of a small niche and more specialist - aimed
at the more discerning listener, someone who wants to take something home
with them.
What has been your favorite gig you've played in Asia, and in China in
particular, if possible?
I've done two gigs in Shanghai. The last one at Babyface was by far the
best gig. If including Japan, then Wire.
You've cited your background -- your Jamaican roots, your pentacostal
church attendance as a youngster -- as a big influence on your music. Do
you still feel that today? If so, how does your background manifest itself
in your sound?
I feel a sense of melody is definitely from my background. I grew up with
music 24 hours a day. Every Sunday there was a live band on in the church.
So I was brainwashed with music and now I'm addicted to it. And I just
find myself whistling tunes I've just made up and not heard before. In the
21 years I've still not come across writer's block, and I've resorted to
buying 2 computers so that I can write two tunes at the same time, but
it's still not helping!
You've been in the business for quite sometime, establishing yourself
as one of the few artists that can maintain a sense of freshness and
longevity in what is often a fickle environment that sees a lot of
turnover. What do you think have been some of the keys to your success and
staying power?
Not getting involved with the riffraff (Just kidding!). Focusing more on
the music than the fashion. Always trying to do something a little bit
new. Keeping an individual spirit in what you're doing.
Simple really.
While you came of age in the UK scene, you moved to NYC about ten years
ago? How do you think the move affected the music you make and play?
I moved to NYC in 1997. It was the first time I had lived outside of the
UK. It was a good time for me to go. British dance music at the time was
going through a reinventing-itself period and I had actually had enough of
the whole scene and wanted to do something new and try something new.
I went to live like a monk for a few years. I didn't know about the stuff
that was going on in England. That helped me out because I realized at
that period that I didn't want to be classed as some kind of genre, and
being outside of it I could see how the music that you made could be
manipulated by the media and not the other way round. Living in America
was like being able to see the wood for the trees.
How do you define a successful gig?
A successful gig is when I can feel the sound in my stomach and people are
responding to the music. I can hear people feeling it when I take it down
really low. I'm not into it when people are cheering. A really cheap trick
some DJs do is put their hands up in the air and everyone starts cheering.
They'll project towards the crowd in some way and everyone cheers.
Sometimes they need that feedback from the DJ anyway.
Electronic music is sometimes seen as all over the map these days, and
some of it has been criticized as not being "danceable." Your music can be
seen as quite the opposite, very dance-friendly. How important do you
think the music-dance connection is?
It's as important as having edible food. Music should be danceable. If
people feel awkward and floating around because they're waiting for some
signal how to move to the music then it should be readdressed.
What's up next for you in terms of releases or touring plans?
I'm slowly re-mastering all my material from the past 21 years and going
to make it as suitable as possible for download, and also doing a samples
CD for producers. Going to rebuild my studio in Berlin in a new location
and basically continue to tour live in Europe and hopefully more in Asia.
Check out A Guy Called Gerald's tunes here. For more info, visit his
MySpace page.
DETAILS
A Guy Called Gerald at Tango on Friday, April 3, 10pm
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