Freedom Of Speech

Comprising Luke Losey, Mickey Mann and Stika, UK group Freedom Of Speech are proponents of what has come to be known in dance clubs of the mid-90s as ‘darkside’, a style of techno which attacks the conscious and subconscious with images culled from horror books, nursery rhymes and Kafka-esque noises. The trio met on the Shamen’s Synergy tour in 1987, and each member has subsequently made a sizeable contribution to the evolution of dance music. Losey prepared lights for stage shows from the KLF and Curve, Mann co-produced an album with Orbital, and continued to organise warehouse parties, often in conjunction with the Mutoid Waste Company. The trio came together as part of the Midi Circus tour, and made their debut with ‘Surveillance’, which appeared on Planet Dog’s Feed Your Head compilation. There was a big brother theme to back it up, the single built on samples of surveillance workers. They also released ‘X-Beats’, which preceded their debut album. ‘We’re into the kind of paranoia and bleakness of emotions which Joy Division used to put across’ they noted. The ‘negative vibes for the future of the world’ syndrome was informed in part by a visit to Russia when supporting the Shamen on tour.