XANDER of FLUX Magazine and PHUSH CONSUMABLES (Manchester) August 2003

(Originally published in the 2003 In The City brochure)

Described by Andy Votel as "the true musical genius of Manchester", Graham Massey is an artist who’s working life has been dedicated to experimenting with popular electronic music, and tweaking its relationship with technology, and its subsequent live performance. On stage - and in the studio - Massey has always been a leader, a genuine master of both machine and instrument. Despite enjoying the near traditional Mancunian musician lifestyle (living with his partner near Chorlton Green) his later works are most untraditional, sweeping fearlessly from deeply unsettling to the sonically exquisite. I spoke to Graham Massey on the eve of Toolshed’s eagerly awaited gig at Manchester’s lofty Bridgewater Hall as part of Twisted Nerve’s tasty In The City 2003 Showcase.

Graham Massey was originally rooted in the Northwest post-punk scene of the late ‘70s, but after 25 years as a music maker he still revels in the energy of his first gig every time he steps up on stage. After spending four years at Factory with Biting Tongues, he later found glory in the late ‘80s as a founding member of 808 State. Now regarded as old-skool legends despite consistently releasing LPs throughout the ‘90s, as well as 2002’s stunning Outpost Transmissions on Circus Records, 808 State’s reign in the ‘Madchester’ era involved many of the (un)usual trappings of pop stardom. Bouncing between the highs of TV and the lows of record label wrangling did nothing to weaken Massey’s desire to continue composing, recording and performing music with a deep cerebral resonance, and his impressively fragmented discography is a worthy testament to this.

Toolshed, his most currently active project, are a supergroup who launched in the late ‘90s with complex and experimental club nights at Night & Day, Band on the Wall and Contact Theatre in Manchester. With up to 28 people on stage at one time, Toolshed’s plentiful horn players, electric violins, percussionists and drummers (including Simian’s James Ford) create adventurous arrangements. Toolshed’s live gigs are now a rare and expensive occasion, but they remain groundbreaking, possessing a huge dynamic and emotional range. "This is specially grown music, emanating from the club environment onto the stage" states Massey regarding his manipulation of the ‘big band’ tradition. This is a task he ably shares with collectives such as Paddy Steer’s Homelife (with whom Toolshed cross pollinate ideas and performers) as well as more recent global acts like Polyphonic Spree, Lambchop, Cinematic Orchestra, Matthew Herbert’s Big Band and the current incarnation of Manitoba.

Fresh from storming the Benacassin Festival with the evergreen 808 State in Valencia, anticipation for his In The City 2003 gig has given Massey goosebumps. "The Bridgewater Hall is essentially an MOR arena, more familiar with the likes of David Essex, and classical orchestras, all a bit hushed. I once suffered a coughing fit from the audience, which was a bit embarrassing! But it’s a sonically perfect venue, and such a posh event demands a lot of effort and preparation, which we were more than happy to put in". Toolshed’s preparation for In The City includes asking permission to use the venue’s awesome built-in organ, and many hours painstakingly spent working out how to use the Hall’s space more effectively, as a live recording will be made - which promises to be a very atmospheric document.

"I just love the thrill of live performance, the genius stagecraft of my fellow performers… and that feeling that it’s gonna fall to bits at any time!" enthuses Massey… "After 6 weeks of touring Europe and South America this summer we are a finely tuned balancing act on stage, and the live set includes covers of pieces originally penned by Sun Ra and Duke Ellington". Their astounding cover of Ennio Morricone’s Pazuzu, which kicks off their forthcoming eponymous EP, is a "heavy metal meets OST affair!" and is by all accounts not to be missed.

Toolshed play The Bridgewater Hall on Saturday 13th September with Aidan Smith and a "secret headline guest" as part of Twisted Nerve’s showcase, and the Toolshed EP will be released by Twisted Nerve on Monday 15th September, with a double LP to follow in the New Year.

808 State are preparing to release some of their seminal acid house gems from 1988 on RePhlex in the near future, and Graham’s "uncategorisable" pre-808 State project, the Can-esque Biting Tongues, are re-mastering Factory tracks recorded between 1983-87 for release later in Autumn 2003.