Graham Massey was a member of experimental jazz rock group Biting Tongues once signed to Factory Records.
Career
Originally a hip-hop group called Hit Squad Manchester, they shifted to an acid house sound, recording their debut album, Newbuild in 1988 under the new name 808 State. The group performed at the British Broadcasting Corporation 6 Festival in March 2014.
Membership
By 1988 he was a founding member of the British band, 808 State, formed in Manchester, England which by 1989 became the focus of his work and resulted in the demise of Biting Tongues. 808 State was named after Massey"s favourite drum machine, the Roland TR-808, ironically later admitting that until the late 1980s they thought Roland drum machines were "severely uncool." Massey had also been a member of the Doctorate.I.Y. band Danny and the Dressmakers doing a mixture of "bad" music and Gong covers (living up to their tagline "We don"t play our instruments, we abuse them") and also hippy - fusion band Aqua in the 1970s, along with violinist Graham Clark (also later of Gong).