Best known for his innovations in dance music culture and his gargantuan influence on the Great British electronic scene in the 80’s and 90’s Mancunian legend Graham Massey has maintained his dubious status as one of Manchester's die hard active ambassadors of progressive rock who also stands up (alongside the likes of Mark E Smith) as a living and performing embodiment of Manchester's indelible Krautrock legacy. Transcending four decades as a member of over 10 influential and collectible experimental bands encompassing punk, electronica, jazz and prog while taking cues from Magma, Can and Mahavishnu Orchestra along the way, he now prepares to commit the only known recorded works of his custom-built expansive cosmic-jazz-rock outfit to shellac platters. Let’s not be shy here. Massey’s multi-drummered, mind-sqaushing commune prog project ‘Toolshed’ is nothing short of an Arkhestra and if Graham disagrees with any of the above accusations then i’m prepared to give him ten chances to prove me wrong.

1. How did life as a musician start for Graham Massey? What was your primary instrument?

My first instrument was guitar. My neighbours older brother had some big semiacoustic,we used to open the case and smell it but we weren't allowed to touch it. After much gorping in Graton's catalogue I decided to trade my 3.5 inch reflector telescope (I was an astronomy nut) in at Peters Swapshop for a sunburst cheese-grater of a guitar, a Kay in the shape of a tulip. It puzzled me why it didn't immediately sound like my Santana records,then my Dad built me an enormous Fuzz box in a walnut cabinet. My amplifier was the P.A. system from McVities Biscuit factory and it had a gymkhana type horn speaker and a long wave radio built in and a glass map of the world. It was really embarrassing at the time but now it would be well cool.

2. There is a track on the Toolshed LP called 'Urbaniak'. Tell us about this.

My second instrument was an electric violin bought for £12 off a card in Virgin records (The old Virgin was more like Piccadilly records is now ,friendly and community based). I was interested in violin from watching Stephan Grapelli (French jazz violinist who was on tv a lot in the 70s) on Parkinson so I bought a couple of albums, one of which was a duo album with Jean luc Ponty (another French violinist but much younger). I started buying any album with electric violins on so I could play along, which led me through Ponty to Zappa ,Jerry Goodman with Mahavishnu Orchestra, and this Polish guy Michel Urbaniak. He had loads of albums available at Virgin records under import (so out of my league) and one album on CBS in the bargain bins for 50p called Fusion. Its got a weird sonic imprint to it which I put down to its Polishness, but at the time it sounded very futuristic. All the bass is played on a rhodes bass keyboard and it has his wife Ursula Dudziak singing instrumentally through electronics and some of the most amazingly tight funky drumming mixed with played drum machine sounds. It’s still one of my fav albums. Such a different sonic universe at that moment in time and our track on the Toolshed album is a tribute to that feeling."Urbaniak " is a feature for our violinist Graham Clark.Now he’s fussy about other violinists, there's this site on the internet where they discuss the ins and outs of jazz violin called Fiddle Forum (it should be called Ponty bashing .com). Graham gives props to 2 violinists one is Michel Urbaniak the other is Didier Lockwood who played with Magma (he's French too)

3. I hear that you and snooker player Steve Davis have got a lot in common - tell me more.

Magma. There are a few people in the world that understand that Magma arethe best band in the universe, I’m One and Steve Davis is another (there are some more but none of them female). Now Steve Davis loves them so much that he’s paid for private concerts,he’s also put them on in London a few times under the banner of "Interesting Promotions" and they were his number one when he was on Desert Island Discs which is only odd when you know what they sound like. Steve Davis is a Northern Soul man I believe (he was partners in Goldmine Records on Shambles Square - if anyone remembers that?) but Magma is the polar opposite of good-time club music. Magma music is French, Dark, Epic, Gothic Prog - more in common with an opera by Wagner except with the best drummer on earth who happens to sing in a made up science fiction language using a high warbling falsetto voice in the style of John Coltrane. Sounds hilarious right? Wrong. It's deadly serious transcendental battering of the highest order - See them live and they will change your life. Its serious magik.They’ve been going since the late 60’s, and now, sons and daughters of the originals have joined, they have been huge in France and still play big gigs there, We’ve done Toolshed outings to see them at the Queen Elizabeth hall in London. A mate of mine was sat near the front and in front of him was Steve Davis (of course) sat next to Paul McCartney and Jim Davidson. There were no women at all, except in the band.

4. Are the rumours that Toolshed consists of ex-members of Gong true?

Ah yes, well, one of the reasons we got into Magma is that another French band managed by Magma's manager and producer Giorgio Gomelsky was Gong, and they toured a lot together. Gong to our gang in the 70’s (we'd be 16) were proper cult. We had flying teapots painted on our afghan coats, the pamphlets, the bootlegs, badges, stickers - we lived for that band. We wrote off for the sheet music and learned to play this quite complicated spacerock. It was the reason we formed a band (yes I know its supposed to be The Sex Pistols). Everyone thinks Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells ‘made’ Virgin Records but Gong were the big sellers for Virgin in the 70s. Virgin put out two budget albums for 50p ‘The Faust Tapes’ by Faust and ‘Camembert Electrique by Gong. Everyone I knew had both those albums and they were a huge influence on pre-punk Manchester , it was common culture in the same way that say Linkin Park and Greenday is at my kids’ school. Anyway, back in 1976 Graham Clark was the instigator of our garage prog band called ‘Aqua’ (not the Barbie one) and he ended up being in Gong for a while. Gong had their golden period from 70 to 75 then their leader came back in 77 with a tour called ‘Floating Anarchy’ featuring a band called Here and Now, they were in the tradition of space rock but in a state of hippy/punk flux.. Our gang sort of turned punk that summer and we just got up on stage and performed anything with our instruments in a punk style and called ourselves ‘Danny and the Dressmakers’, we went down like a house on fire. Gong invited us to join them every time they came up north, we then ended up going on a free tour around England . Nine people, a baby and a dog in a converted ambulance staying in horrible squats in Notting Hill and playing with ATV, Wilful Damage and other left of centre punk things. If any Gong members came up north they always stayed with Graham or me. I once had David Allen (Gong leader ex-Soft Machine) on my sofa for a few days. I took him out raving and he was in his 60s by this time but still a pro raver!

5. The number of Toolshed Band members seems to fluctuate - You are almost like a commune band like Amon Duul - Or an Arkhestra. Are these comparisons reflective of your influences at all?

We are not at all a commune band but we are a community of musicians in that we play together in different combinations under different names and projects which I guess leads people to view it that way. We get together and play for the sake of it. We should jam more and invite people in more because that’s how most of us met. We don't want just our age group. Most of us also perform in Homelife under Paddy Steers (bass) direction and that's a totally different vibe to us. Homelife’s music is a world of detail that i find very beautiful and melodic, much more feminine and ordered but when it goes bonkers it really does count. I love Homelife and always look forward to what gets written next. Toolshed I feel is more Macho, trying to escape outward and when it comes in and small that seems more profound. Two different dynamics but informed by the players involved. For a while with Toolshed we got into writing for Big Brass sections, which I love. It’s such a physical sound and when the occasion can afford we’ll do it every time. Also, with Toolshed, we have been known to be drum heavy, sometimes using 4 kits depending on where we are and who's about. We can work with whatever we’re given - whether its 32 or 2 musicians we just adapt...I’d love to do some more big ones though. there’s stuff on the album from the big band sessions and when your in a room with it it’s a big, big thrill .I’d love to do more gigs in general because it’s the only way to become a great band and move forward, it just coast s loads to do these days. We’d like to go out and play abroad a lot more, I think we’d go down a storm in Europe and were well up for collaborating with other Musicians out there. People don't know how much a pop band use up in tour support doing these things. You need serious backing to build an audience these days. It can pay off but you have to stick at it... we wait for one offs put on by nutters. The Imago film Festival in Portugal last month was wicked, nice food all that (very important in our book) and it didn't matter who we were they just took it on a musical level. That’s my idea of what we do it for. The British government should fund us as cultural ambassadors like the U.S use to with Duke Ellington.

6. See Ming To is arguably one of the most powerful front woman that contemporary music has to offer at the moment. She's like a mixture of Ella Da Orso, Urszula Dudziak and Mauricia Platon (from Zao Magma spin-off) all in one. Would you agree? Tell us more about her.

Oh yes, she's amazing, a very special talent and we've been lucky to have her fronting us. She joined Toolshed when she was still at the Royal Northern College of music studying Classical singing. Paddy had gotten to know her through Homelife’s string players (also from the Northern - a lot of our brass players we got to know from there too).The first thing we ever did was Sun Ra’s ‘Love In Outerspace’ which appears on the album. She’s got this amazing range as a singer - deeper than men and higher than birds, but she’s got a really great musical mind as you’ll all hear when her new solo album comes out soon. It’s not just singing - she’s learned the technology. She has a really good keyboard knowledge through clarinet as a second instrument, and great lyrics. To be honest the whole band is like this, they can all stand on their own talent. Howard Jacobs is a very serious Cuban percussion player who just happens to play Bass clarinet with the Liverpool Philharmonic on the side. He can also arrange for an orchestra and plays a mean drum kit. He occasionally puts a 30 piece Cuban big band together for a laugh. Richard Harrison is a renowned improviser world wide. G go anywhere in the world and people show up for his gigs because Spaceheads have previously got in a van and been there and charmed them. Dave Walsh is one of the best jazz drummers we have in the North West . Pat Illingworth is a drum protégé who’s awesome and flexible and has now moved to London (bastard). James Ford (other drummer) is now one of the most up and coming producers in the country (and has also moved to London , bastard). Everyone knows Paddy's a great bass player with a unique personality on the instrument but he’s a genius writer producer as well. Graham Clark is so unique as an instrumentalist he’s dedicated his life to the thing he does best. Seaming is very striking as a front person but we don't do the singer / backing thing (We’ve also got Graham up front for the Ladies) I’m always strangely drawn to Paddy's world famous bass dance (n.b. must buy a podium) but to me I could just watch the drummers and we often stick them at the front when we can, so I can sometimes feel a bit humble with this lot. It’s not false modesty to say I’m the musical dumbo in the group. I think I’m good at giving them all a context. I wouldn't want you to view it as a musician’s band as they invariably end up their own arses and we’re very aware of that. I’m fiercely proud of them as a unit, it’s a great cast but we could still make a bad movie if we don't keep our eye on the ball.

7. Apparently (and evidently) you are a big fan of Italian prog group Goblin. Can you ever see Toolshed scoring a horror film?

That would be a dream come true! My knowledge of Horror was down to living with my friend Jo Hill years a go. She was the cinema critic for City Life in the 80’s and I always tagged along to premiers for the volovonts and chicken legs. She was obsessed with horror films and used to subscribe to Fangoria. We used to audio tape any new films that came out and learn the script and make comps of the music. Also Robinson's Records at the bottom of Market Street (long gone) had a big soundtrack section where you could pick up Goblin, Morricone, John Carpenter and Cronenberg soundtracks for nothing, no one wanted it back then. The neighbours must have been curious! "Ill be Michel Myers you be Jamie Lee Curtis" (I was always Jamie Lee Curtis)

8. If you could recruit a celebrity / legendary Shed-Head for a one off gig - who would it be?

John McLaughlin. I’d love to get him into our context and Wayne Shorter too, you never know how the Chemistry would be - could be shit. Jackson Massey on drums - I’d like to share the experience with him onetime, we jam at home. I’d also like to be the drummer in someone else's band. I’m trying to learn at the moment. There’s loads in MCR we ain't played with yet. Johnny Roadhouse (dead chuffed when he came to see us at the Bridgewater Hall. He lent Howard his Bass Sax - wish he would have played with us). I'd like to put a one-off 50 piece together with all the locals and figure away of making it work where people feature really well in it.

9. It's well documented that you have a rather impressive collection of vintage synths. What is your most prized / unusual item? and what would be your ideal analogue Christmas present?

Probably my Minimoog ,though its not the most raregroove (that would be the EM & M spectral synth) I was lucky enough to interview Bob Moog about a year ago for Spin Magazine in the US - He died earlier this year. Any of Moog’s 70’s gear from when he still owed the company is wicked, they’re a joy to play and the sound knocks most other synths into a cocked hat. I’ve used it on most recordings I’ve done. Check out Argumenta on the Toolshed Album for a complete Moogfest. My Ideal analogue Xmas present would be a maintenance engineer on 24 hour call.

10. Can you describe the music of Toolshed in exactly 10 words hyphenated?

Music-Research-Development-By-Music-Lovers-For-The-Musically-Greedy (Like John McCready)