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A Guy Called Gerald | |
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Don't Panic |
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A Guy Called Gerald
To celebrate the release of his second album for Laboratory Instinct
Tronik Jazz he has embarked on a major world tour of a live show stopping
in at London's Fabric this Saturday July 17. Buy tickets for it here.
I moved to Berlin to work closer with the record label I was working with
at the time and because studio space was a lot cheaper than London. Having
more time flexibility and having the option to head out and test your
music out on people kind of helps in my walk of life. I often drop by some
small clubs and bars run by friends and just sound out.
Well I no longer use tape because it is too expensive and the tape machine
weighed half as much as a car. The desk I used sucked up all the power and
the effect units and analog equipment gave off lots of noise. It was the
kind of noise that the kids like nowadays but where I'm from we didn't
need to put artificial tape hiss on things to make it sound 'warm'. Now
I'm totally digital and am thankful to the software geniuses out there.
Because of the people at Propellerheads I can have an analog logic in a
digital world.
No I think it's a Gerald sound. My sound is totally Gerald. I think if you
was to call something a British sound it would most probably be jangly
guitars with spotty kids singing over the top. My sound is fused from
Detroit, Chicago, Jamaica and b-boying meaning breakdancing jazz fusion...
I was digging in the crates when I was 15/16. I would go out of my way,
literally walk from Manchester to Macclesfield to find a little old record
shop that no one had been to find tunes for the sole purpose of dancing
to. God I wish we had software in them days!
My working technique is a really interesting one. I've been working with
these tracks for the past five years but as you hear them on the album is
not how they sound today. The album is a frozen sound image of something
that is still in a creative flow. You might recognise some of the tracks
when I perform live Tronic Jazz is a selection of some of the tracks that
I've been experimenting with on audiences.
Touring the album at certain places - Japan, Berlin, London and some
festivals...
For me it's really hard. I kind of get the vibe that I'm outside of the
box so it would be really hard to collaborate. I don't use the same
software - how funny is that?
Bass, rhythm and melody. | |
You
probably know the seminal acid house classic Voodoo Ray but you may not
know that A Guy Called Gerald is not only a founding member of 808 State
but has released 11 including at least 2 classic genre defining albums and
after moving to Berlin a continuous series of quality rhytmic techno on
renowned labels such as Perlon and Sender.
Do
you feel that you have a British sound to your music?