808 State

Born in Manchester in 1987 around Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson, 808 State emerged as part of the British acid house movement while developing its own language at the crossroads of house, techno, and melodic electronic music shaped by the Manchester scene. The group released Newbuild in 1988, and then reached a wide audience with 'Pacific State', a track that became a landmark of the late 1980s in the United Kingdom. After Gerald Simpson left in 1989, 808 State continued its evolution with Andy Barker and Darren Partington, broadening its sonic palette toward a dance music more open to pop formats, ambient textures, and crossovers with hip-hop. The North at Its Height appeared in 1990 with MC Tunes, followed by ex:el in 1991, which notably welcomed Bernard Sumner and Björk, then Gorgeous in 1993 and Don Solaris in 1996. Over the years, 808 State alternated albums, remixes, and parallel projects, while remaining tied to the history of Manchester's clubs, radio stations, and studios. Outpost Transmission released in 2002, followed by Transmission Suite in 2019. Since the death of Andy Barker in 2021, Graham Massey has continued 808 State on his own, a journey that links the beginnings of English acid house to the more flexible and hybrid forms of contemporary electronic music.