The Defining Ten is where an artist/creative is invited to take us on a musical dot-to-dot journey of the tracks that led them to who they are today. These could be the first song they have a memory of, first purchase, first song they learnt to play, the track that opened doors, the track that closed doors, a track that inspired and led to a new musical direction – so expect a variety of tracks from themselves and other artists. These tracks will be played in turn – either from vinyl, CD or streamed – and discussed with the artist.
On Friday 20th June we bring Graham Massey of 808 State to Worthing to discuss his Defining Ten.
Graham Massey has an unbroken timeline of making creative music since the 1970s – British sub culture has always been the driving force, from the early festival scene, into punk and post punk, making records for Manchester labels New Hormones and also Factory Records with the group Biting Tongues.
His interest in studio work led to him being on one of the earliest music technology courses at the School Of Sound Recording in the mid 80s . He was at the heart of the burgeoning house and indie scenes in Manchester, be it behind the desk in the studio and the desks in clubs.
In 1987 he teamed up with local record store svengali Martin Price and electro wunderkind A Guy Called Gerald to form 808 State. They knocked out their debut album “Newbuild” in a weekend. It was one of the first serious contributions to the British canon of electronic dance music and caused ripples when BBC s John Peel started broadcasting it in 1988.
808 State’s next release caused an even bigger splash with its lead track “Pacific State” – a Balearic jacuzzi of a tune with Massey on soprano sax – it rose from the underground as an anthem of the unification of the country through the rave scene. 808 State signed to Trevor Horn’s ZTT label in 1989 and began a series of fantastical albums each sporning the strangest pop hits of the 90s.
Massey – already established as a remixer – worked with acts such as Blue Pearl, James, Future Sound Of London, The Shamen and Primal Scream to name a few…808 had many requests for remixes from the pop elite – even Quincy Jones and David Bowie came knocking!
On 1991’s “EX:EL” they began a trend of electronic groups working with established indie vocalists starting with New Order’s Bernard Sumner and a the first of a series of collaborations with Icelandic singer Bjork as she began her solo career . Massey and Bjork spent time in Manchester experimenting and came up with a couple of tracks pre her album “Debut”, but they didn’t see daylight until 1995’s “Post” album – the lead single “Army Of Me” is one such collaboration and is Bjork’s biggest selling single.
808 State established themselves as a serious live act in the rave scene – all the pop success meant they went from their own club tours to arena sized situation quite early on .Their 1991 G. Mex Turbo rave is a legendary moment in the Madchester story. In the U.S 808 State were licensed to Tommy Boy Records which led to touring that country – kind of taking coals to Newcastle – but representing what had been going on in the UK scene. Japan also really took to the 808 State sound – these were all pioneering steps that prepped the ground for UK dance music on a worldwide stage.
Studio work diversified into TV themes, adverts and film scores and 808 State were one of the first groups to set up a web site in 1994 with the idea of sharing music and other content to their fans.
As the underground scene in Manchester changed in the late 90s Massey began a monthly residency in the emerging Northern Quarter at Night & Day Cafe (an ex chip shop that served as a conference room in the early days ) The idea of TOOLSHED was to put on electronic artists and have a resident house band that revolved around Massey and his new laptop. The band included old friends and new – artists who were up and coming included Squarepusher, Autechre, Mathew Herbert and Kieren Hebden to name a few. The Toolshed project has now been running for nearly 30 years with a changing line up of musicians from the city
Massey often steps into other people’s projects – one such was “Homelife “who had a number of albums on Ninja Tunes with many of the same musicians involved in both projects . Other projects include The Sisters Of Transistors – a ladies transistor organ quartet with Massey on drums, The Part Time Heliocentric Cosmo Drama After School Club – which is a Sun Ra tribute band and his solo electronica improv act Massonix who recorded for SKAM records and went on tour with Autechre a number of times.
Collaboration projects with the artist Jeremy Deller include Acid Brass and the premier of What Is A City But The People for the Manchester International Festival . Massey is an active club DJ and has a long running radio show ‘The Jazz Cruise Lifeboat Assembly” on Manchester’s Reform Radio.
With this heady mix of work and history we’re very excited to be playing and discussing the 10 songs which have defined Graham’s incredible career, after which we will be treated to a DJ set until 1am.
Please note we will have a limited amount of additional tickets to access the DJ SET ONLY - please see our website for details.
The event takes place at the Cellar Arts Club, Marine Parade (off Prospect Place) in Worthing.
Please note this is a ticketless event – you will need your order number/ email receipt to gain entry to the show.
Tickets are non refundable unless event is cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control
Seating is limited on the night – so please arrive early to ensure you have a seat!
This event plants trees – each ticket purchased will include a contribution to onetreeplanted.org #nomusiconadeadplanet
Also check out other Music events in Worthing, Entertainment events in Worthing, Arts events in Worthing.
