Speakman Sound knows how to filter a love of vintage electronic music through their cutting-edge sensibility. Already embraced by tastemakers and media outlets around the globe, the Glastonbury brothers are at it again with Hold the Line, a new single that blends upbeat dance floor drums and luminous future bass influences. It provides a much-needed dose of escapism and hope in these times. To mark this new release, we had a chat with the duo to discuss their city, their gear and the music they love.

What inspired Hold the Line?

Hold the Line sat on the hard drive for some time. It started its life as an experiment for another project, but got left behind. From there, I remember messing with vocals after being inspired by a YouTube breakdown of some Burial tracks. The track was left untouched, probably right up to when the Covid-19 lockdown happened. Guy and I were isolated, separate from one another and we began a new process of working on tracks remotely. Guy picked this one up off the hard drive and gave it a new life, being inspired from a mix of the breakbeat music we have been digging into and probably watching Blade Runner for the 15th time!



It has been said that Hold the Line is a return to your earlier dance floor influences. What does the rave scene represent for you?

Yeah, we both grew up in rural Somerset as children. We would follow mum and dad around the festival circuit, absorbing the culture and music in this environment. When we grew into our teens, it was commonplace to find us in a field at the weekend where someone had set up a big sound system rig, a bonfire and a few hay barrels. There is an inspirational aspect about this environment, we always found it fascinating that the audience were joined and excited by the sonic experience beyond the experience of worshiping who was on stage or what performance was happening.

Which instruments and/or production tools shaped Hold the Line? How did you use them?

Our trusted Prophet 6 by Sequential Circuits is a standard in our productions, and features heavily in Hold the Line as the large sweeping repeating melody. Live percussion and drum parts are also another regular tool in our productions, we try and give as organic a groove as possible to our electronic music. We have an original 1974 Roland Space Echo in the studio and we love using this on audio. The vocal sample - which is a small snippet of Imogen Harfleet’s voice, an UK folk artist who recorded at our studio - got absolutely obliterated through the Space Echo, several times over.



Can you talk about your studio and the community that surrounds it?

Our studio is a rad space in NW London. Hidden down a back road full of mechanics. We have fully engrained ourselves into the community on the road. It is a true microcosm of the city we live in, so many different demographics are represented on the road and everyone is hustling. Not to paint it as an ideal utopia as all the expected issues that one can imagine arising from human differences do occasionally rear their head.

On the whole there is a freedom, connectivity and authenticity about the road, which is inspiring. We have no noise restrictions and often go through to the early hours with friends making music. It’s a rare space in London and we are honoured to offer it to people as a place to fully express and experiment. We have actually recently refurbished the space and installed new equipment, including high quality streaming capabilities. With this, we hope to open the doors and have more people utilising the space for its freedoms and eccentricities. Keep an eye on our social media for more information on this in the next month or so.

How has the place where you live influenced the music you make?

Growing up in Somerset was hugely inspirational, the county is full of magic, mystical thinking and imagination. The landscape has allowed the culture of sound systems to provable and that was a big part of our life growing up. Moving to London has been instrumental, the network of musicians, producers, collaborators, etc. is like nowhere else in the UK. The pace and rhythm of the city pushes you and, at this stage of life, we feel that’s no bad thing.



Aonian has remixed your new single. How did this collaboration come about?

Aonian absolutely smashed this remix! It’s one of the first releases he has put out under this name and we are both so excited to see what has to come from him. We got in contact with Aonian through the new upcoming company Remixology. Shout out to Jon and Johnny of Remixology who are working on an exciting platform for producers to strategies their remix catalogue. 

Your Spotify playlist The Speakman Sound features the music that inspires you. Can you name a few artists that have influenced Hold the Line?

So we have recently been delving back into the world of broken beats. Discovered the more recent wave of broken beat music with artists such as DJ Healer, DJ Central and Ludwig A.F. Röhrscheid. This new wave of breakbeat music has such a depth and cinematic nature! We have also loved delving back into the 90's and rediscovering artists such as DJ Shadow, LTJ Bukem, Paradox, Photek, etc. It’s so exciting to hear how these guys were playing with natural drum breaks to create such an energetic, exciting new form of music. 



What’s next for Speakman Sound? 

We have a bunch of single releases to roll out leading up to the end of the year. We have found a new flow and feel settled in the desire to make more underground electronic music. We have some exciting remixes to be released this year, too.

Hold the Line is available now on Spotify.

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