A Guy Called Gerald

Born in Moss Side, Manchester, Gerald Simpson, known as A Guy Called Gerald, built a career that maps several shifts in British electronic music. Initially involved in the original line-up of 808 State in the late 1980s, he came to prominence as a solo artist with the single “Voodoo Ray” in 1988—tied to the rise of acid house in the UK—and with the albums Hot Lemonade (1989) and Automanikk (1990). In the early 1990s Simpson moved his writing toward more jagged structures and denser bass, straddling breakbeat, rave hardcore, jungle and drum and bass; this turning point is audible on 28 Gun Bad Boy (1992) and Black Secret Technology (1995). A Guy Called Gerald’s music nonetheless retains a constant link to house, dub and electro, often creating deep atmospheres built from repetition, space and rhythmic detail. Active both on the rave circuit and in European club scenes, he extended this approach on Essence (2000), To All Things What They Need (2005) and Tronic Jazz The Berlin Sessions (2011).