Words by Rafe Arnott and Shivas Howard Brown, photography by Shot By Melissa (Melissa Gardner).
The do-it-yourself ethic is enjoying a renaissance in the realm of high fidelity thanks to the likes of Devon Turnbull and entrepreneurs like Shivas Howard Brown. Based out of London, England, Brown’s Friendly Pressure start up focuses on modular hybrid horn loudspeakers influenced by vintage Tannoy, JBL, Altec and Klipsch designs. Brown comes from a musical family and credits his upbringing as a major influence on bringing his company to fruition. Resistor Mag caught up with Howard Brown recently to discuss his background and his speaker designs which are impacting the British sound system community he calls home.
"My connection to music is pretty much everything in life. Especially when engaging with other people and trying to share some sort of language with a person that maybe you don’t know."
–Shivas Howard Brown
Resistor Mag: Who is Shivas, what’s your back story of getting to where you are with hi-fi? Do you have an audio engineering background?
Shivas Howard Brown: I don’t have an audio engineering background, however, since as long as I can remember, I’ve taken upon my personal authority in my household to figure out how to connect whatever pieces of equipment I can. My mother actually worked as a film producer, and my father was a singer/songwriter, who always had is whole band in the house rehearsing from when I was a very young age. At this time he was touring and writing his second album. So, I’ve been around all this equipment since birth and became extremely inspired by the people using it and what the gear enabled in terms of an experience. And through that experience I may have played speakers too loud and subsequently blown some of my father speakers… or my own equipment, so I soon as I had a computer I was researching how to fix amplifiers or speakers.
“In school I had a very inspirational design and technology teacher which meant iit was the only subject I excelled in at school, which gave me access to the workshops and a soldering iron. As a result I spent a lot of time in my pre-teen years pulling apart hi-fi’s – I actually had a bike that had attached a little boom box which I took apart and stuck in a wooden box. I had my own sound system when I was about 11 years old and used to throw all the local parties, and would charge friends a small fee to have me pull up to their place and provide the sound which my best friend and I would then DJ.
“So, while I don’t have that audio engineering background per se, I’ve always been the local authority for getting equipment working and sounding good. Like anything old, hi-fi is no different, it’s finicky – it has its own personality. So, spending time with different pieces of kit and just learning from that experience. It’s what has gotten me as far as I’ve needed to go to building my own speakers.”
Photo left: Soldering a 398 crosssover.
Resistor Mag: What is Friendly Pressure? How did it come about?
Shivas Howard Brown: “Friendly Pressure is an almost reactionary portal to my dream/entertainment spaces. It took a while to understand exactly how I wanted to communicate what I wanted to do, but being an entrepreneurial individual – as many of my friends are – during the pandemic with time on our hands, there was a lack of income. Previously I was managing artists but with live, venue-based avenues of income completely diminishing around the world with the lockdown, we all had to get quite creative. I started buying speakers and bikes as I wasn’t sure if I wanted to start a bike shop or work with speakers.
“Leading up to the pandemic I’d refurbished my father’s speakers and it took ages to find parts, so during the first year of the lockdowns I was experimenting with smaller concepts like building crossovers, which I completely failed at initially which was due to a lack of time studying for the project, but also because I was buying the completely wrong parts. I had misread, misunderstood and misinterpreted information I had gleaned online which was the only place I could gather knowledge on the subject. I spent about six months at the start of the pandemic researching what crossovers were and also buying speakers to figure out the component infrastructure of crossovers themselves.
“I got my first pair of Tannoy in 2020 – which was extremely inspirational – after a mate had lent me pair and I just fell in love with their sound; the detail, the sonic aesthetic they have. And it was then I started putting all of my time into reading and experimenting with speakers specifically. I was spending what little money I had at the time on [valve] amplifiers I hadn’t heard before, as previous to that I always used solid state because it was just easier. Getting that first valve amp was when I really understood “wow, there’s so much more detail here,” and I fell in love again with my record collection.
Photo right: Some of the stock on hand at Friendly Pressure.
Shivas Howard Brown: “With everyone being inside the house all time, our place seemed to be the one where people wanted to spend their leisure time – people who were working all week, on the weekend they wanted to let loose. And near the end of 2020 I came to realize that if I could package what this experience was for me and deliver it to people in London, I think there’d be customers. At the time I was listening to one of my favourite songs by the artist Gelisa, which was called “Friendly Pressure” and I made a direct link between the sound waves that speakers emit and for me the consideration of that always being friendly, it just all made sense. It was one of those things where everything came together really quickly – in about a week. I shot some photos of speakers I had to sell and posted it on Instagram as the first post for Friendly Pressure and they sold in about 15 minutes. I quickly realized there was something very tangible for me to sink my teeth into because at that time I didn’t want to manage artists or work in the music industry any more.”
Photo below: Finished crossover with L-Pad attached.
Resistor Mag: Describe your current connection to music. Was it important growing up to you, to your family? Did music come from social/outside exposure?
Shivas Howard Brown: “Music is pretty much everything to me and my family. Long story short, my dad is Jamaican and he was born in London, so I’m third generation Windrush and my mom is Punjabi, born in Kenya. Both Kenyan and Jamaican families have been connected to music and I think part of that is coming from my Indian side, partly a refugee community which left India pre-partition, and moved to Africa. And my dad’s side being a descendant of slavery, I think music has been the only real spirituality that has been able to be shared in a positive manner around oppressed communities. My connection to music is pretty much everything in life. Especially when engaging with other people and trying to share some sort of language with a person that maybe you don’t know.
“The language of music is universal in my mind. The expression of it being something that enables people to engage without verbal dialog – it feels like the most spiritual way to communicate. I’ve been really lucky to have experienced that from living rooms to dance floors my whole life. Music has been the lifeblood of my family, my social life, my work. As I mentioned I used to work in A&R at Warner Brothers, at Columbia Records although most of the time being into more Leftfield and underground scenes of music. I realized it was always going to be difficult to make money in those spaces, so I decided to go with a more commercial umbrella company to be able to bridge the gap between the underground scenes and the commercial world of pop music at major labels. So, yeah, music has been pretty much my whole life and speakers have always been the vehicle for to be able communicate not just what I’m working on, but for me to be able to embellish any entertainment situation with what contextualizes emotion for me through the music and my speakers."
Photo below: The FP 398 with a set of Tannoy and B&W DM70 at the Friendly Pressure studio in London.
Resistor Mag: Do you play an instrument?
Shivas Howard Brown: “I don’t play an instrument, sadly. I did try and learn guitar when I was younger, but being your typical ADHD kid and not really vibing with my teacher… I did it for a year than dropped out. Obviously with my dad being a singer-songwriter he’s always been able to play chords and melodies on various instruments, and I think having a father with musical skill definitely set my desires to want to do the same thing not far away from that. He didn’t push me to do that, he let me do what I wanted to do and what ever made me happy. And I guess putting together a sound system was kind of the back that, a different instrument to make my connection to people.”
Resistor Mag: Your speaker designs are efficient, was that the idea from the start – to have a loudspeaker that would work with low-powered tube amps as well as solid-state components?
Shivas Howard Brown: “My speaker designs are efficient, and the idea for that is based on my connection to Tannoy and Klipsch. Learning the speaker design, selecting the components specifically, there are so many things on the market that are not sensitive, however, hearing the fidelity from a Tannoy or a Klipschorn there’s something so different between a highly-sensitive speaker and less-sensitive bookshelf speaker which can play well loud, and is complimentary, but there’s a lack of transparency… especially when engaging with vinyl. Vinyl is the main cue for me to want to build speakers in the first place. I wanted to make sure that my speakers were up there with the greats like Tannoy or Klispch.
“Since I’d just experienced my first valve amp at the time, a Leak Stereo 20, [my speakers] had to be able to be run off anything less than 15 watts, because it really just felt like a completely different experience after hearing that Leak for the first time. A valve amp and Tannoy kind of just changed the way I wanted to listen to music. On the FP 398 I personally enjoy them with a Line Magnetic single-ended triode, fully Class-A amplifier as my preferred setup.”
Resistor Mag: Are you a system-oriented proponent? ie; Hifi components with a signal path meant to work in harmony?
Shivas Howard Brown: “In a word, no. I consistently shift things in my signal path, whether that be cables, amplifiers or even power conditioners. Everything kind of gives it a different effect or final presentation. Overall, what the speakers are presenting is at such a high level that I don’t have to be militant with what is exactly in my signal path.”
Resistor Mag: Are you a tube amplification proponent, or solid state? Does it matter to you?
Shivas Howard Brown: “I absolutely adore tube amps, however, a lot of the output stages lack weight on the bottom end, so there’s a hybrid setup that I have which is my speakers and an active subwoofer.”
Resistor Mag: Would you describe yourself as a gear fetishist, or is it about the music and hifi is a means to ends: Having music sound the best it can?
Shivas Howard Brown: “I’m definitely a gear fetishist, I’ve always been attracted to the physical, visceral presence of hardware whether it be in the studio or a home setup.”
Resistor Mag: Streaming services, mobile phones, earbuds, computer speakers as listening platforms… does the average person recognize quality audio playback anymore?
Shivas Howard Brown: “Unfortunately, it’s one of those things where – I like to use the saying “Hearing is believing.” If you haven’t heard something how can you believe it sounds as good as it looks, or the price tag attached to it? Something I do is giving people their first audiophile-level experience. It’s been exceptional for some people around me, especially young people who enjoy music – seeing them react to the setup I’ve built for the first time, or even a pair of Tannoy for the first time. People are just blown away by the detail. So, being able to give that to people for the first time is very empowering - not for me - but for them to be able to believe there’s more than what’s in front of you. I think that is something that generationally we’re losing, because everything is given to people in an immediate way now; music is available ubiquitously across streaming platforms, it’s a click away and people don’t have to search for it, they can find a playlist from someone they like and passively listen to it."
Photo above: The 398 in situ.
Shivas Howard Brown: "I think communicating and helping people understand why passively discovering music isn’t healthy and why actively discovering new things is really the lifeblood of the world, or at least living in a city with as many galleries as, clubs and musicians and artists as there are in London. I think there’s quite a few people I’ve converted – and I don’t like to use the word religion – but, converting them to the idea that there is always more if you ask. Also, the first line to pop up in a search is not the messiah of information. Click through and you’ll find more.”
Resistor Mag: Why is good sound important?
Shivas Howard Brown: “Good sound is important because ultimately, the people who make music are trying to communicate something deeper, from inside of them, their experience. The way they’ve been able to communicate that through a piece of music is sacred. There’s a couple of analogies I like to use about why good sound is important. Bootleg DVDs for example, everyone was watching these films with shoddy sound and visuals and taking less away from the experience. Would you go a see film or hit an art gallery without your eyeglasses if you need them? What is it you’re able to take in if your glasses are smudged and dirty? Your experience is going to be limited. That’s a big deal for me… getting as close to what the artist or curator wanted and that requires your full attention. That requires you to be able to see and hear properly. And when you’re able to engage with the work exactly how the artist intended – high res, full quality – whichever way you want to put it, there’s a lot more to take away from it, it’s a lot more moving, it’s a lot more detailed, that’s what moves them, that’s what leaves a lasting impression.”
Resistor Mag: Let’s talk about the music you buy. Do you collect vinyl? CDs? Both? Describe your collection. Do you love 45s for example? Rare mono jazz? Are you genre agnostic?
Shivas Howard Brown: “My record collection started when I was pretty young, thanks to family and friends, CDs were big then, and while we had a turntable in the house there was a lot of CD buying happening. We always had a record collection, I always listened to records. I was about 17 or 18 years old when my aunt gave me about five crates of all of her American import house records and that got me interested in mixing, and mixing dance music specifically. I consider myself a dance music kid purely because of garage drum ’n bass and house music having such roots in London. It’s always been the easiest way to communicate in terms of a set and getting people to dance. So, my record collection sort of started there, and still to this day I’d say it’s a majority 4/4 house music. Obviously, as my system got better, I’ve been leaning a lot more towards Jazz, soul, funk, a lot of ’80s and ‘90s stuff. Classic albums like Sade, D’angelo, Kruder & Dorfmeister, Saint Germain… I found myself spending a lot of money on albums and represses, but I wouldn’t call myself a record collector, I’m not that fussed if it’s an original or a repress.”
Photo above: Howard Brown working on restoring a set of Tannoy destined for a client.
RM: What was the genesis for the design of the FP 398? Did you set out to make a hybrid horn speaker design based on historic Tannoy/JBL/Altec designs?
Shivas Howard Brown: “Yes. I think for us new age speaker designers there’s been a moment of inspiration from the existing speaker greats. JBL has been the most influential for me, because of their engagement with this type of lifestyle focus. I think through the ’60s and ’70s, the JBL designs – which were somewhat modular – were, also extremely engaging and interior-design led, I mean the JBL Paragon is probably one of the coolest designs I’ve seen in my life. Also, I’m very inspired by interior design and JBL is at the top of cues I want to work with in my personal designs. However, I’d say the footprint of the FP 398 has been more informed by Tannoy than anything else and the idea of floating a horn above the cabinet has evolved. Specifically with the horn I wanted to create something that was completely new, that’s why we’ve gone with 3D-printed resin. This has created some compromises, but I didn’t want this to be totally audio-engineer led design: Aesthetics played a part.
Photo above: Howard Brown in the Friendly Pressure studio.
Shivas Howard Brown: “There’s some decisions I’ve had to make concerning form following function and specifically size. I’m designing for rooms of a certain size – London rooms tend not to be so big, so the design has to account for that. Just like some iterations of Tannoy and Klipsch were designed for smaller spaces, so too is the FP 398. It’s an engineered speaker that has kind of been led and the design dictated by the spaces I live in. If I lived in a bigger space I’d probably have designed something bigger.”
RM: Your horn design speaks to the modular nature of the FP 398, was it always the idea to make the design flexible for consumers looking for different speaker requirements?
Shivas Howard Brown: “I think at this level of speaker you want your design to be yours and yours only, so the FP 398 is a silhouette, it will augment itself so it’s suited to specific venues as needed. Not one speaker suits all and that’s something I’ve learned along the way. Having one speaker that can be tailored and dialled into a customer’s space is exactly what i wanted. We’re currently working on smaller units, but again, I don’t want to make compromises in the sonic identity for what Friendly Pressure is at such an early stage. We have a number of commercial venues were working with across the next year where people will be able to enjoy what we’re trying to communicate in a public space. Clients will be able to customize the design – within reason, and with our advice – to maintain the highest fidelity from the speaker itself.”
Photo below: Howard Brown with the FP 398 installed at a client's business. Photo by Gift Qwambe.
Resistor Mag: What’s next for Shivas Howard Brown?
Shivas Howard Brown: “To be able to live up to one of my biggest inspirations, who is Amar Bose, one of the people of colour who have managed to merge an incredible audio experience with lifestyle products. There’s a massive dichotomy between what sound system culture is and what audiophile culture is, and the difference in the experiences of what those two places offer isn’t lost on me… I’m still searching for where those two places meet. If I can create representation in that space and help to bridge that gap, then whatever I do, I’ll know I’m doing something right.”
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