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The Pressure are a London-based electronic band. Diverse production and energetic performance form the pair’s foundations, with influences from rave culture and performance-centric dance acts such as Depeche Mode and Underworld prominent across their releases and live shows.
2020 saw them self-release Ride and Planes: two tough club tracks with songwriting at the heart of them. A statement of intent from the duo, both cuts showcased a varied production approach reminiscent of the Bristol-era of UK electronica. Having already garnered support from Pete Tong on Radio 1, 2021 promises to be an exciting year for them, with their single on Undisputed Music their next step on the road to greatness.
Like its predecessors, Saturday Night is built around an original song backed up by the group’s incredible production values. Sitting somewhere between deep house and crossover electronica, it’s an impressively immersive record that treads a fine line between introspective melancholy and out-and-out dancefloor euphoria.
Hi guys, welcome to VENTS! How have you been?
We are all good! New music has been coming thick and fast during these lockdowns, and Joe has just become a dad. So loads going on, and some exciting releases in the pipeline… Plus it looks like we’ll be dancing again soon – so we’ve got a good energy going at the moment.
Can you talk to us more about your latest single “Saturday Night”?
Yes… it’s been a bit of a journey this one. We wrote the song (core chords and lyrics) a while ago – about 2 years ago, in fact! Then it took us a few takes at re-interpreting it again and again to get it to a place we were happy.
The song is about feeling a connection with someone even though you’re not with them. It feels odd that it was written two years ago, but has a real poignancy for the current times we’re living in – it being our third lockdown, separated from the people we love. We went for a tough drum mix on this track, and an intense euphoric synth line which has brief bursts. There was something about the sonic toughness of the drums, coupled with the restrained euphoria in the synths which felt right for the song. A conflict of emotions really – longing/sadness and love/affection.
In terms of the production – it’s funny – we often try to work through how we made certain things, and often it’s the result of a million file exports – warped and layered at each stage – so some of the melodies in ‘Saturday Night‘ seemed to emerge from a sea of audio stems we were working with in the end.
Did any event in particular inspire you to write this song?
Lyrically, it was channeling those feelings you can experience after a breakup. Hoping the other person is also thinking of you. Or thinking of the times you spent together. There was something quite positive in the delivery of it though, which felt almost like a celebration of this feeling – almost as if, even if that’s all you’ve got, at least you have the memory and thoughts of the other person in your life. And nothing will ever touch that. We’re also both suckers for a tough clubland drum mix – so we were channeling energy quite a bit on the instrumental.
Any plans to release any sort of video for the track?
Yep – we worked with an amazing team on a video for the single, you can check it out here!
How was the recording and writing process?
Long, but insanely fun. We worked in a studio down in Tooting Bec for most of it – slamming the track out on speakers the size of wardrobes. I think we popped some champagne once we ‘wrapped’ the Extended mix – turns out it was way off, haha.
What role does London play in your music?
Sonically it plays a huge role. It’s also the bedrock of experience for most of our lyrics. Sometimes we’ll channel a more ‘UK sound’ in the production – like the breaks in ‘Ride’ (our single from last year), for example. Something about that felt reminiscent of a tune you might hear in the 90s, blasting out of a Vauxhall Nova on a Friday night.
Conversely, we sometimes make music which is consciously positioned against that ‘UK sound’ – so more ‘European’/straight Techno in it’s feel. Like ‘Planes’. But it’s that relationship to UK clubland sounds which is important – we play off it in whatever way we think is right for the song.
How has the likes of Depeche Mode influenced your writing?
Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode frontman, for those who don’t know) is probably the greatest frontman inspiration for our live shows. Theatrical, emotional performances on electronic instrumentals. Outfits for days – and the guy’s had more haircuts than all of Essex put together.
Great energy – original voice – dark, emotional songs. We love Depeche Mode. Martin Gore’s writing and productions are also second to none from their 80s 90s hay day – original melodies. We like how their records are mixed too – Policy of Truth being a joint favourite.
Does the new single mean we can expect a new material – how’s that coming along?
Yep! We’re sitting on a whole bunch of records at the moment – just finding the right homes for them, and working towards unleashing them at the next live show (pandemic-permitting, of course).
Any tentative release date or title in mind? ‘Side of Me’ is the next one (we think) – release is TBC, but not far off.
What else is happening next in The Pressure’s world?
We’ve got a few remixes of ‘Saturday Night’ dropping in the coming month or two – it was great seeing other producers re-interpret our song. Excited to see how people react to those.Otherwise, a few cold ones down the Carpenters Arms off Brick Lane when we next can – and a few ‘Techno field trips’ planned in the UK this summer, if all these events end up going ahead!
