Massey's massive In The City schedule

by Paul Cockerton

Legend: Massey

MANCUNIAN dance music legend Graham Massey may have been involved in music for 25 years, but time hasn't diminished his appetite. In fact he has his finger in more pies than ever.

The seminal Biting Tongues, his first serious band formed in the late 1970s, have just played a reunion gig and reissued three albums originally released by Factory Records.

Massey has also contributed to Homelife’s recent EP on Ninja Tune, while his most famous project 808 State are still as active as ever.

Their last album Outpost Transmission only came out earlier this year, but they’re already planning the next release - Prebuild, which was recorded as the name suggests just prior to their legendary 1988 debut Newbuild.

And on Sunday, September 14, they will be performing at a free outdoor party in Manchester's Stevenson Square, which will be one of the highlights of In The City.

In recent years, 808 State have concentrated on one-off events such as last year's G Percussion as well as the festival circuit: “We’ve played some big dates over the summer in Spain and in Brazil," says Massey.

"Dance music is everywhere in the global village but there are still variations, which is great. In Brazil they’re doing their own homegrown stuff that’s very Brazilian influenced."

Wary

Will their In The City set be stuffed full of classics like Pacific State, Cubik and In Yer Face, or will they concentrate on new material? “We’re wary of the nostalgia thing but I suppose we are quite old," laughs Massey.

"I'm reminded of that when balding men come up and tell me about buying our records as teenagers. You think, 'I'm not that old, am I?'

“So our set will be a mixture of both – we’re not sick of the old stuff, they’re good solid tunes and we’re constantly updating them and playing them in a different way. We can’t do the same thing over and over again.”

Massey places great importance on keeping things fresh: “We go off into other places and we have a live band so people are sometimes shocked. There’s a humanity that other electronic acts lack.”

While they take great care in their live performance nowadays, Massey admits that wasn't always the case in the early days. "In 1988, '89 and '90 you could get away with murder on stage – you could just play the music and shuffle about. When we went to America we learnt we had to put a show on."

In tow

Somehow Massey has also found time to set up Toolshed, an 18-strong collection of mainly local musicians who are also playing live during In The City - at the Bridgewater Hall with fellow Twisted Nerve acts Badly Drawn Boy and Aidan Smith in tow.

“It started as a very experimental DJ night and grew to the point where we had loads of tunes and loads of great people,” says Massey of the early days of Toolshed, when they were based at Night & Day Café.

The human element of live music inspired him to start up yet another group: “I wanted to recapture the reason for making music in the first place. The real thrill is working with people, not computers.

"We’re just music-loving people wanting to make some noise but there's something magical about it and there's a real sense of achievement when you include people."

The first recorded Toolshed work has just surfaced in the form of their stunningly expansive eponymous EP, while an album was finished last summer "but it’s sat on the shelf until we can fit it into the schedule.”

Massey doesn't like the jazz tag that's often used to describe them: "There are wig-out bits and free bits so people say it’s just jazz. But it's not totally improvised with everyone doing as they please – you need to take control."

How did Toolshed end up on Twisted Nerve, a label more noted for the hushed acoustica than big brass ensembles? “We have a really casual arrangement with them. Andy Votel (the boss) can talk about weird, obscure music for 48 hours without punctuation, and he wants a more eclectic label so Toolshed fits in well."

Organise

Massey admits to some drawbacks of running Toolshed: “The worst side is having to organise all the musicians. When I first got into electronic music it was brilliant – you just plugged the drum machine in, you didn’t have to deal with a drummer who is two hours late.

"And the line-up is fluid so it takes a lot of planning. There’s a talent drain of musicians from Manchester – a lot of people have moved to London but they travel up to play with Toolshed because they still have the enthusiasm."

The elegant and seated Bridgewater Hall is a world away from the grimy clubs he's more accustomed to, but Massey feels it perfectly suits Toolshed in one way. "We’re a big band making a big noise and there’s lots of subtlety and contrast which demands your attention."

However, the Bridgewater Hall does create a problem: "We’ve been told it doesn’t do loud very well. We have four drummers and a big brass section so it’s loud even without any amplification. We might strip it down but we’ll probably go for total distortion."

And if the Badly Drawn Boy fans don't quite understand it? "It’s not a problem, there'll be loads of great visuals to look at. And at least everyone one stage will have a good time.“

Toolshed play at the Bridgewater Hall on Saturday, September 13 with Aidan Smith and Badly Drawn Boy. See the venue's website below for tickets. 808 State play at Stevenson Square on Sunday, September 14 with Alfie, Haven, Longview and many more. Entry is free.

09/09/2003