If the name A Guy Called Gerald doesn’t mean anything to you, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.

A founding member of 808 State, Manchester’s Gerald Simpson helped create some of acid house’s most future-rushing and globally successful moments. He worked on the ‘State’s Newbuild LP and Quadrastate EP (home to ‘Pacific State’) before going solo, and hitt #12 in the UK charts with the completely nuts ‘Voodoo Ray’.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Simpson began to embrace influences from the nascent hardcore scene, issuing a number of groundbreaking 12″s on his Juicebox label that culminated in the release of the 1992 album 28 Gun Bad Boy (check the title track for an all-time British soundsystem classic).  He followed in 1995 with the gloriously knotted, soulful and uniquely psychedelic Black Secret Technology, arguably the finest jungle LP ever made.

While many producers of the same vintage have settled for a life of creative water-treading, stuck-in-a-timewarp DJ sets and dodgy film cameos, Gerald has really kept his end up, and then some. Relocating to Berlin some years ago, he has focussed his sound into an instantly recognisable brand of sleek, organic techno, releasing records on labels like Sender and Perlon. Next month he’s set to release Tronic Jazz, his second LP for the Laboratory Instinct imprint, and this Saturday, April 10, he’ll be headlining Feeding Werk, a very special night at Plan B in Brixton, celebrating the sounds of Werk Discs (home to Actress, Lone and Lukid, who’ll all be making appearances, along with Pariah, Dave ID and more). More info on that unmissable night here.

An interview with Gerald can be found on page two.

(Available for three weeks)