Graham Massey and Alan Hempsall join Manchester Scene Stories to look back on the friendships, bands and experimental music that shaped their lives—from 1970s Manchester to punk, electronics and acid house.
In this video, Graham Massey of 808 State and Biting Tongues reunites with Crispy Ambulance singer Alan Hempsall for a funny, wide-ranging conversation about a friendship stretching back to their teenage years.
Their story begins with supermarket jobs, a shared love of Gong and an introduction to violinist Graham Clark. Before long, they were playing together and attempting to entertain Silver Jubilee crowds in 1977 with space rock, a Gong cover and “Rock Around the Clock”—only to find themselves displaced by a bagpiper.
Graham and Alan remember bonding over Hawkwind, Magma and progressive rock before punk opened up new possibilities. Alan recalls heading to the Sex Pistols’ first Manchester gig, the beginnings of Crispy Ambulance and how Graham supplied the band’s name.
We explore a Manchester where rehearsal rooms, shared equipment, homemade cassettes and friendships helped people find their own musical direction. Crispy Ambulance and Biting Tongues shared a basement, while Graham and Alan pursued other projects inspired by Brian Eno, tape echo, early synthesisers and industrial music.
Their experiments took them into some unlikely places: an ambient performance in the Royal Exchange shopping arcade, café gigs and extended percussion sessions at the newly opened Cornerhouse.
There are memories of Levenshulme and West Didsbury, flat parties, the Arbon cinema, Mr Marbles and the Beach Club—a place where underground films and live bands brought Manchester’s creative community together.
Alan also recalls interviewing Joy Division, visiting the “Love Will Tear Us Apart” recording sessions and Bernard Sumner’s enthusiasm for homemade synthesisers and sequencers. We discuss why he believes the band’s move towards electronic music was already taking shape.
Other stories include gigs at Rafters, the physical intensity of seeing Throbbing Gristle, encounters with Lemmy and a marathon listening party that attempted to get through 24 hours of industrial music.
The conversation follows their changing tastes into funk, dance music and rave. Graham remembers performing “Pacific” on The Hitman and Her before heading to a Blackburn rave, while Alan describes walking into the Thunderdome and recognising the same independent energy he had felt when punk arrived.
We also discuss their continuing collaborations, Crispy Ambulance’s later recordings and the pleasure of experimenting with friends across the decades.
We finish with Sylvester’s “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)” and memories of buying Public Image Ltd’s Metal Box—records that capture different sides of their Manchester story.
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