justsomebritishuy

The artist justsomebritishguy is the alter ego of Geoff Ellis, an electronic music producer and songwriter who grew up in the UK but has spent the last few decades living in Detroit.

All recorded, mixed, and produced in Reaper

I guess starting out with a collection of gear that has since become legendary was an auspicious start – Roland SH101, TB303, TR606 and TR909; turns out they were good choices. But the flexibility of today’s DAW is a revolution compared to outboard equipment – at one point my setup possibly had more audio cables than actual equipment.

As an Electronic Engineering major, I was always tinkering with equipment: I even built my own 8-channel mixing desk while in high school, and my first sampler was a home-built computer card based on wiring plans from a magazine – epic!

The path from step sequencers to the current software-only setup included steps along the way with a Roland MSQ-700 hardware sequencer, Cubase on an AtariST and then finally PC-based DAWs.

My music reflects a passion for all flavors of dance music, blending influences from both sides of the Atlantic. Start with a healthy dose of early Chicago House, Electro, and Techno (think Frankie Knuckles, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley, D-Train, Man Parish); mix in some 90’s UK dance, some Ministry of Sound, and Ibiza influences; and then wrap that all in some real Funky 70’s and 80’s grooves reaching back to Fatback, Chic, Mtume, Parliament & Herbie Hancock – episodes of Soul Train provided an introduction to an entirely different set of musical influences.

And then, what could be more inspiring than moving right into the heart of House and Techno? Visits to Detroit in the 90’s provided opportunities to tape Friday-night WJLB with its treasure-trove of new influences.

Marinate that in a few decades of contemporary EDM and Chillout, and you get the unique blend encapsulated in these tracks.

My daytime career that pays the bills is software development.