808 State are an English electronic music outfit formed in 1988 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. Widely regarded as one of the pioneers of acid house, they were formed by Graham Massey (from ex-factory records band Biting Tongues), Martin Price and Gerald Simpson (later to record as A Guy Called Gerald) and released their debut Newbuild in 1988. Autechre and Aphex Twin have often cited Newbuild as being enormously influential, and the group achieved some degree of chart success in the UK in the early 1990s with releases Pacific State, Cubik and In Yer Face.
