Gabe Gurnsey

Crafting hypnotic tracks indebted to post-punk, house, and techno, producer Gabe Gurnsey explores warmer, more playful territory on his own than with his acclaimed group Factory Floor. While working with the band, he made a name for himself as a deft remixer for artists including Tim Burgess and Daniel Avery. On his 2018 solo debut Physical, Gurnsey fused live and synthetic instrumentation -- as well as electro, acid house, funk, EBM, and synth pop elements -- into a vision of an idyllic night out in L.A., while the prominent vocals and pop structures on 2022's Diablo complemented his ongoing pursuit of the perfect groove.

While growing up in West Yorkshire and Wales, Gurnsey fell in love with club music, as well as the ritual of driving to the club, thanks to his older brother. In 2005, he formed Factory Floor as the group's drummer/vocalist alongside guitarist/percussionist Mark Harris, and keyboardist/bassist/vocalist Dominic Butler, but the project's blend of techno, industrial, and no wave came into its own with the 2008 addition of vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Nik Colk Void. Factory Floor's acclaimed debut mini-album Untitled appeared in May 2010, and while the band worked on its first full-length, Gurnsey's 2012 remix of Tim Burgess' "White" and 2013 reworking of Daniel Avery's "Drone Logic" tided listeners over until the September 2013 release of Factory Floor. On that album and August 2016's 25 25, Gurnsey and the rest of the group perfected a pared-down, subtly shifting repetition that frequently reached transcendent heights.

Gurnsey began his solo career in early 2017, when downtime from Factory Floor allowed him to make some tracks on his own. With 30 demos to choose from, he crafted a narrative that captured the energy of a night at the club. For the better part of a year, he continued to refine these tracks, which incorporated live and programmed rhythms (mostly from 707, 808, and 909 drum machines) as well as vocals from Tilly Morris of Grimm Twins. The results were Physical, which arrived in August 2018 on Erol Alkan's Phantasy label. That October, Factory Floor released Soundtrack for a Film, a score for the classic 1927 sci-fi film Metropolis commissioned by the London Science Museum, on the group's own Heart of Data label. Gurnsey toured in support of Physical with Nine Inch Nails in 2019, the same year he remixed the Horrors' "Something to Remember Me By" and Snapped Ankles' "Rechargeable." More remixes for Working Men's Club, Japanese Television, and a collaborative remix of NEU!'s "Hallogallo" with New Order's Stephen Morris preceded the producer's second album, September 2022's Diablo. Along with the expected house and techno influences, Gurnsey drew inspiration from '80s synth pop and early 2000s electroclash and worked closely with Morris on tracks that showcased the pair's vocals.