Spektre’s City Finest - Sheffield

Having enjoyed one of their busiest year’s to date which took in dates at ADE and Glastonbury, Dava and Respekt festivals, much vaunted techno duo  Spektre return to Egg LDN to headline the Middle Floor for NYE’s Lost City party going back to back with Transcode.

Having notched up over 11.4 million streams on Spotify and enjoyed considerable success for their ‘Mutual Respekt Vol 5’  and ‘Planet Noir’ releases this year, the duo’s brand of cosmic techno ensure that 2020 will be even bigger for them. 

With their eagerly-anticipated third studio album "Against A Dark Background" due for release on Pleasurekraft’s Kraftek imprint in January 2020 and a brand new live show also penned for early next year things couldn’t be more exciting.

here they share their five things they love about their city.

Spektre’s City Finest - Sheffield

Green Space

As well as being on the edge of the beautiful Peak District National Park, the city itself is one of the leafiest in the country. It’s always a good counterpoint to being shut away in the studio to get outside, breathe some fresh air and enjoy a bit of the natural world, and there a few better places for it. Stopping for a cheeky tinny on the way back from a night out, and looking out over the skyline from the steps at South Street Park even inspired the title for our track “Steel City Sunrise”.

Musical History

Sheffield has a rich musical history, from synthpop pioneers The Human League, through Pulp and The Arctic Monkeys to bleep techno and Warp Records. It was also the trance and hard house dance floors of Gatecrasher and Insomniacz in the super club boom at the turn of the century where I first found my place in the dance music scene, so it will always have a place in my heart from a musical point of view.

Shops & Bars

The city has always liked to do things its own way, so amidst the inescapable chains there is a vibrant scene of independent businesses forging their own paths. Unfortunately “Rare & Racy”, a wonderful little place that defied definition did unfortunately succumb to the tide of redevelopment, but personal favourites like Tamper Coffee and Street Food Chef are still flying the flag.

Street Art

With lots of invitingly derelict industrial walls knocking about, Sheffield has proved to be an incubator for graffiti talent. Artists like Phlegm and Kid Acne are local heroes, and an afternoon wandering through town playing I-spy is one well spent!

Creative Attitude

I guess most of the points above boil down to the same thing, which is that Sheffield is a city of makers. Maybe to say it’s a reflection of the city’s manufacturing history is over poeticising it, but it seems that the people of Hallam are most at home when they’re making something into something else, and as a producer, that’s a great environment to live in.