Graham Vernon Massey (born 4 August 1960 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

) is a British record producer, musician, and remixer.

Early career

He was a member of experimental punk

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

group

Biting Tongues Biting Tongues were a post-punk band formed in Manchester, England in 1979, whose members went on to join Simply Red, Yargo, and 808 State. History The band was formed in 1979 by saxophonist Howard Walmsley, initially to record a soundtrack for ...

, once signed to

Factory Records Factory Records was a Manchester-based British independent record label founded in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus. The label featured several important acts on its roster, including Joy Division, New Order (band), New Order, A Certain Ra ...

. After recording with the latter he enrolled in a sound engineer course. By 1988, he was a founding member of the British band

808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. Taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and the "state of mind" the members shared, they released ...

. Originally a

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

group called Hit Squad Manchester, they shifted to an

acid house Acid house (also simply known as just " acid") is a subgenre of house music developed around the mid-1980s by DJs from Chicago. The style is defined primarily by the squelching sounds and basslines of the Roland TB-303 electronic bass synt ...

sound for

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

their debut album '' Newbuild''.

Music

808 State was named after Massey's favourite

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

, the

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. ...

. He said he thought Roland drum machines were "severely uncool" when they first appeared. Massey had also been a member of the D.I.Y. band Danny and the Dressmakers, a member of the Manchester

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band Aqua in the late 1970s (not to be confused with the Danish pop band Aqua from the 1990s), and collaborated with

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist Graham Clark. Massey co-wrote and co-produced the tracks " Army of Me" and "The Modern Things" for Björk's album ''

Post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

''. Initially recorded in 1992 for her album '' Debut'', they were not released until her second album ''Post'' in 1995. "Army of Me" was the first single off ''Post'' in May 1995, reaching number 10 in the UK singles chart. Massey released the solo album ''Subtracks'' under the name Massonix on Skam Records. He has side projects with 'Toolshed' and 'Sisters of Transistors', and remixed Brian Dougans's (of

The Future Sound of London The Future Sound of London (often abbreviated FSOL) is a British electronic music duo composed of Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans. They have been described as a "boundary-pushing" electronic act, covering techno, ambient music, ambient, house ...

) track ''" Stakker Humanoid"'' for the

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

album, ''" Your Body Sub Atomic"''. He has also remixed FSOL before on ''"

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

"''. In 2004 he worked as a composer for the score of the movie '' It's All Gone Pete Tong''. 2008 saw the realization of a research project as the keyboard quartet Sisters of Transistors with whom he also plays live drums. Massey provided lyrics and music to much of their debut album released in 2009. Massey is part of the Part-Time Heliocentric Cosmo Drama After-School Club, a

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

tribute band formed in 2013 by Paddy Steer. The group performed at the

BBC 6 Music BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It primarily plays a wide range of alternative music, from established and emerging artists and bands. In 2002 it was the first national music radio station t ...

Festival in March 2014."BBC Radio 6 Music Festival Fringe"
Bbc.co.uk 2014

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Graham 1960 births Living people English house musicians English record producers Musicians from Manchester British remixers Suns of Arqa members