Shivas Howard Brown

Shivas Howard Brown is creative director and founder of loudspeaker design studio Friendly Pressure. He was born in London into a vibrant Jamaican and Indian household, and his journey in sound started by tinkering with his father's audio systems, sparking an audiophile obsession that would eventually become Friendly Pressure. The studio designs and builds custom hi-fidelity audio systems for homes and a wide range of venues, while leading activations that foreground the joy and togetherness of sonic experience. At the heart of its work is the commitment to carry forth the craft stories and community impact of UK soundsystem culture.

Semaine What’s important to you right now?

S.H.B 2 main things are leading in my thought process on a day to day basis:

The main one is narrowing down what loudspeakers from our ever evolving bespoke portfolio need to be offered on a “ready to wear” basis. This ultimately depends on me and the team being absolutely blown away by a design we have all worked on. I think it’s the one part of the way we work that means we don’t feel like a manufacturer but ultimately is what will create longevity for the brand. Thats the boring answer….

What feels more important is representing the diversity of myself and my team and why what me make looks and feels the way it does. Culture isn’t subjective so making sure were always drawing from our mixed heritages means what were doing will set itself apart and hopefully curate an identity thats truly unique, not for ourselves but to inspire kids that do not feel represented in the spaces or practices they want to explore a career in.

Semaine Describe your taste in one word.

S.H.B Timeless.

Semaine If you were an object what would you be?

S.H.B A speaker.

Through my eyes and ears the speakers are the end point and creator of sound in any system. A speaker is there to present the information it’s been given and add its spin to it. Some speakers show off other qualities better than others but they all like to speak. In an industry thats heavily dominated by these people who call themselves audiophiles, i believe them to just be trolls who really just comment on applications based purely around engineering and data, which is important but the special qualitative aesthetics cant be measured. So my thinking was to develop something that hinged more heavily on the visual presentation but still performed as best they could and didn’t let the design trade-offs outweigh the mechanical. Similarly to how i present myself.

Semaine Where would you like to be right now?

S.H.B I’d like to be in Marseille on a boat with my homies because the last time that I was i’ve never been on a boat with that many people of colour… looking at boats full of other people of colour… and hostly the rocks are not comfortable no matter how many towels you use!