Graham Vernon Massey (born 4 August 1960 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

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

Early career

He was a member of experimental jazz rock 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 soundtracks ...

, 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, A Certain Ratio, the Duru ...

. 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, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' Newb ...

. Originally a hip hop 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 synthes ...

sound for recording their debut album '' Newbuild''.

Music

808 State was named after Massey's favourite drum machine, the

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

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

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

ist Graham Clark. Massey co-wrote and co-produced the tracks "

Army of Me "Army of Me" is a song recorded by Icelandic musician Björk for her second studio album ''Post'' (1995). It was released on 24 April 1995 by One Little Indian as the lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Björk and G ...

" and "The Modern Things" for Björk's album '' Post''. Initially recorded in 1992 for her album ''

Debut Debut or début (the first public appearance of a person or thing) may refer to: * Debut (society), the formal introduction of young upper-class women to society * Debut novel, an author's first published novel Film and television * ''The Deb ...

'', 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 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

Recent work

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

remix A remix (or reorchestration) 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, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

album, ''"

Your Body Sub Atomic ''Your Body Sub Atomic'' is a 20th anniversary remix album of the Stakker Humanoid release and other tracks by Brian Dougans; the remixes are by both new and established artists and DJs. The digital download comes with an Adobe Flash liner "boo ...

"''. He has also remixed FSOL before on ''"

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

"''. 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, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available only ...

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 Remixers Suns of Arqa members