808 State (live)
808 State was formed back in 1988 in Eastern Bloc, a DJ record shop in Manchester England run by Martin Price. Customers Graham Massey of Biting Tongues fame and Gerald Simpson got talking with Martin and soon realised how much they had in common. After recording a Hip-Hop flavoured EP as the ‘Hit Squad Manchester’ together with MC Tunes, they decided to call themselves 808 State. They got the name from the Roland drum machine TR 808 and the state-of-mind that they shared.
Gerald left after the release of their first album to work full time on his solo project A Guy Called Gerald, but between them they went on to define acid house as an art form and a movement. The music that they produced soundtracked late eighties and early nineties rave culture as they unleashed tracks like the hardcore behemoth Cubik and the blissed out Pacific.
They were also one of the first acts to successfully translate their studio work into the live environment, playing live in Ibiza as long back as 1989 and they continue to deliver powerhouse performances to this day.
www.808state.com
www.myspace.com/pacificstate