GEST

GEST is a British production duo from Southampton made up of Harry Hackett and David Stone. Their primary genres sit across drum & bass, jungle, liquid funk and breakcore. They record and perform as producers and present both DJ sets and live hardware-driven performances.

Hackett and Stone previously released under the name Gerra & Stone. The pair rebranded to GEST when they signed to Friction’s Shogun Audio. That signing preceded the GEST single "The Foundation," released on Shogun Audio on 25 September 2020, and the "Futurism" EP, released on 13 August 2021.

Their sound blends drum & bass with techno and acid influences. Tracks commonly pair taut, edited breaks with resonant, acidic lead lines and club-focused low end. On the Futurism EP and singles that followed they use staccato break programming, narrow transient kicks, and mid-to-high frequency drum layering to give percussion definition while leaving space for sub-bass movement.

In production they lean heavily on hardware. The duo frequently use analogue synths and modular gear for bass design, sequencing and texture. That hardware approach shows up as modular patch modulation, analog-filter resonance on lead lines, and hands-on sequencing during live sets. They also use re-sampling and outboard processing to glue modular tonality into drum & bass arrangements.

Specific career milestones: the name change from Gerra & Stone to GEST coincided with the Shogun signing, and the first releases under the new name were the single "The Foundation" (Shogun, 25 September 2020) and the "Futurism" EP (13 August 2021). Since those releases they have continued to put out singles and to appear on the Shogun roster for both DJ and live performances.

On stage and in the studio the pair balance DJ-format sets with improvised live patches. Their live configuration commonly features modular rigs and hardware synths routed through external effects, allowing them to perform acid-tinged lines and bass movement in real time while mixing pre-edited breaks and stems.

Publicly available biographical detail beyond their Southampton base, the duo membership (Harry Hackett and David Stone), the Gerra & Stone alias, the Shogun Audio signing, and the releases "The Foundation" (25 September 2020) and the "Futurism" EP (13 August 2021) is limited; what is verifiable is that GEST continues to release singles and to perform DJ and live sets on the Shogun roster.