Founder of influential duo Factory Floor, Gabe Gurnsey has been a key part of the alternative and electronic underground for over a decade. Celebrated for their sublime and uncompromising fusion of DIY electronics and post-punk, Factory Floor arrived with an initial series of cult underground releases and soon found themselves collaborating with innovators of electronic and industrial music, including Chris Carter, Richard Fearless (Death In Vegas) and New Order’s Stephen Morris. ‘Factory Floor’ and ‘25 25’ were released on DFA Records to critical acclaim, equalled only by the band’s international reputation as a raucous and hypnotic live act.
Following periods living and recording in London and Los Angeles, Gurnsey went on to release his debut album, ‘Physical’ in 2019 on Erol Alkan’s label, Phantasy. Produced in conjunction with Alkan himself, ‘Physical’ is a sensational, futurist dance pop record, one that seamlessly shifted Gurnsey’s sound away from the stripped-back aesthetic of Factory Floor, and into warmer if no less charismatic musical waters.
Playfully celebrating the potential of a night-out, while interweaving elements of sci-fi and psychedelia, ‘Physical’ was celebrated by DJ Mag as “a mixture of vocal-heavy retro synth pop and proto house that’s equal parts upbeat, hedonistic and tense”, and earned a place in the end-of-year album charts from both BBC 6Music and London record-store institution, Rough Trade.
Alongside touring internationally with Factory Floor, Gurnsey developed the sensual highlights of ‘Physical’ as part of a bracing, analogue live set, one that was expanded and reconfigured in order to support Nine Inch Nails on their 2019 US tour. He has appeared at clubs such as Berghain, Smartbar and Zukunft, as well as festivals including Pitchfork Paris and Germany’s cult summer rave, Nachtdigital.
Gurnsey has also lent his unique sound to a series of remixes for the likes of Daniel Avery, Shura and Interpol, as well as contributing compositions to artist Philip Parreno’s installation ‘Anywhen’, taking place at the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. He was also commissioned by London’s Science Museum to compose and perform a new score for Fritz Lang’s landmark of silent cinema, ‘Metropolis’.
Currently working on new material in the studio, Gurnsey’s live act continues to evolve to incorporate myriad electronic influences – from Chicago house to Neptunes’ funk, Hacienda acid house to proto-BPM – into a deeply satisfying, semi-improvised performance that manifests his uniquely held attitude and take on club culture into truly ‘Physical’ motion.
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