Biography
Mancunian innovator Gerald Simpson has carved out a distinctive path as a post-rave artist who has thrived across an unusually broad stylistic spectrum. Beginning in Chicago house and progressing through Detroit techno, acid house, electro, hardcore techno, and eventually drum'n'bass, he has left a mark at nearly every major juncture in contemporary dance music. While his most visible breakthrough arrived with the late-'80s club staple "Voodoo Ray," Simpson is also acknowledged as a pivotal presence in the emerging London hardcore and jungle movements, where he shaped the direction taken by Goldie, Dego, and Dillinja and steered the sound away from its earliest, more aggressive impulses.
His earliest recordings came through a partnership with Manchester collective 808 State, whose fusion of electro and hip-hop rhythms with anthemic house and techno elements, delivered through polished production, helped establish some of the first enduring U.K. acid-house club tracks. Simpson contributed to the group's debut album Newbuild and co-wrote the major hit "Pacific State," even though his involvement went uncredited at the time; he later addressed the matter with the release "Specific Hate." Departing the ensemble in the late '80s to launch a solo career, he immediately scored his landmark success with "Voodoo Ray," which cemented his standing in club circles and secured a contract with Sony. Following several modestly received singles on the major label, he parted ways when Sony declined to issue the album High Life Low Profile.
After a period of absence, Simpson returned with 28 Gun Bad Boy on his Juice Box imprint, an album widely viewed as a key transitional step toward fully realized drum'n'bass and one still frequently referenced today. He issued Black Secret Technology in 1995, then concentrated primarily on DJ work and sporadic single releases for the remainder of the decade. In 2000 he delivered the studio album Essence via Studio !K7; the mix collection Blueprint appeared the following year, while the full-length To All Things What They Need arrived in 2005. Proto-Acid: The Berlin Sessions, released in 2006, presented a selection of Simpson's fresh productions in mix format.
His earliest recordings came through a partnership with Manchester collective 808 State, whose fusion of electro and hip-hop rhythms with anthemic house and techno elements, delivered through polished production, helped establish some of the first enduring U.K. acid-house club tracks. Simpson contributed to the group's debut album Newbuild and co-wrote the major hit "Pacific State," even though his involvement went uncredited at the time; he later addressed the matter with the release "Specific Hate." Departing the ensemble in the late '80s to launch a solo career, he immediately scored his landmark success with "Voodoo Ray," which cemented his standing in club circles and secured a contract with Sony. Following several modestly received singles on the major label, he parted ways when Sony declined to issue the album High Life Low Profile.
After a period of absence, Simpson returned with 28 Gun Bad Boy on his Juice Box imprint, an album widely viewed as a key transitional step toward fully realized drum'n'bass and one still frequently referenced today. He issued Black Secret Technology in 1995, then concentrated primarily on DJ work and sporadic single releases for the remainder of the decade. In 2000 he delivered the studio album Essence via Studio !K7; the mix collection Blueprint appeared the following year, while the full-length To All Things What They Need arrived in 2005. Proto-Acid: The Berlin Sessions, released in 2006, presented a selection of Simpson's fresh productions in mix format.
Albums
Singles
