Line Out: Family Silver Live @ Sputnik, Field Manuevers 2025

Casper, is based in Clapton and was the music programmer for Camden institution The Lock Tavern where our paths originally crossed – most of the time being kicked out whilst DJing. Casper’s shared stages with Justice, Jeff Mills, Helena Hauff, Daniel Avery and many more and is also known for his long-running BleeD events via which he collaborated with labels like Blackest Ever Black, PAN and Downwards. Both share a love for “v lo-fi early eighties sound, kosmische, post-punk and scuzzy electronics,” with Nick’s influences ranging from 80s TV themes and Giorgio Moroder to The KLF, while Casper was shaped in his youth by electronic acts like Leftfield, Underworld, and William Orbit with DJ Hell’s International Deejay Gigolo Records becoming a huge influence later on.

Their sound sits between post-punk and the electronic… so with that in mind let’s give it a listen shall we?

Handily via the wonder of a recording  from this year’s Field Maneuvers where they opened The Gun’s stage.

Listen and read the interview below:

Please introduce yourself…
Who are you ?

Nick Stephens
I’m Casper Clark. The shorter half of Family Silver.

Where are you?

Nick: Hackney
Casper: In the spare room at my Mum’s house in Hove.

And what are you?
Nick: A Pub landlord, with big ears and a set of decks (probably better known for our now closed pub The Gun in Hackney E9)
Casper: That’s not for me to decide.

What does your music sound like?

Nick: A bit cliché but variation is the key.. a love for v lo-fi early eighties sound, komische, post punk and scuzzy electronics

Casper: My music sounds like me. If you ever caught me saying this before, it was a lie.

Can you draw what you think it sounds like for us…

How does your brain work when making music? how does it work when you aren’t?

Nick: Not a producer as such, but preparing radio shows and mixes ends up being fairly meditative.

Casper: I don’t really make music. I do have fun playing around with Ableton and the little gear that I have though.

What was the first electronic record you heard and how did it make you feel?

Nick: Thinking about it, I was always obsessed with 80’s TV theme tunes as a kid – Airwolf, Night Rider, Axel F – Giorgio Moroder’s Never Ending Story . The first album I got wildly excited by was the White Room by The KLF … I loved the energy and the chaos.. It left an indelible impression.

Casper: That’s impossible to know, but my formative musical experiences were almost entirely electronic, as I was burdened with a ‘cool’ Dad. The music of Leftfield, Underworld, William Orbit, Buddha Bar Mixes, Kruder & Dorfmeister, The

Where was the mix recorded?

Nick: From The Gun Stage at The Sputnik Tent @ Field Manuevers 15th August (opening the tent)

Casper: This is a live recording of our set at Field Maneuvers, which is one of my favourite independent gatherings on the planet. Nick’s recently deceased boozer, The Gun, hosted the stage and we warmed up proceedings before
Vladimir Ivkovic b2b Lena Willikens, Daisy Moon and Tia Cousins, who played immediately after us.
For the record, Tia stole the show.. again.

What would be the ideal setting to listen to the mix?

Nick: It’s got ascending energy levels, so anything really … by definition it’s a set to take you from standing still to getting into the mood for a very big night out.

Casper: My ideal setting is literally anywhere with a pair of Sony noise-cancelling headphones. They give me a cosy, amniotic feeling which I can take with me wherever I go.

What should we be wearing?

Nick: A grin

Casper: It’s a bit late to be asking that!

What would be your dream setting to record a mix: Location/system/format?

Nick: Ooff.. good question. I love intimate spaces, and miss the gun.. but anywhere where people are feeling it, and ideally is filled with people I care about.

Casper: Anywhere where the monitors can be heard, and nobody else is put out. I’m currently building a bunker which will fulfil these requirements.

Which track in the mix is your current favourite?

Nick: I love the edit of Alvi & the Alviettes (UV & Nenor – Go Go Stomp)

Casper: The one that felt like the biggest buzz to play out was the Add N To (X) one. Not only is it a fantastic pastiche of the Glitter Band, and one of the sleaziest records of all time, it was also brought to my attention by Nick when we were hatching our secret plans and clever tricks for the festival. I’ve also knocked around with the legendary Sam 7 a bit, via my Lock Tavern affiliation, and met his old man, Barry 7 of Add N To (X) fame a few times. Anything is improved by a personal connection, I feel.

What’s your favourite recorded mix of all time?

Nick: That’s a tough one, historically speaking, the ones from my youth that had a massive impact on me at the time in my teens were Psychonauts – essential mix & Liam Howlett’s Dirtchamber Sessions was also excellent.. Alex Egan has been responsible for some much played mixes over the years too.

Casper: I could spend hours thinking about this, but I’m going to go with the first answer that came into my head, as there must be something to it. That would be Donato Dozzy’s 2008 Labyrinth set. It’s a nice coincidence that I played one of the tracks from it in this set of ours, namely the Jon Nezda one.

If you could go back to back with any DJ from throughout history, who would it be and why?

Nick: For sheer breadth of knowledge & taste – Andrew Weatherall.

Casper: I’ve already had the pleasure of playing with a rather motley assortment in the form of Justice (at The Lock Tavern in 2006), best mates Daniel Avery (countless times) and Matt Walsh (including recently at The Gun), and one of my personal heroes and closest Berlin friends, Blind Observatory. Playing with Nick is unique in that we have been amassing music and experience in very separate channels for the last two decades, but know what floats each other’s boat so well. It feels like me + him equals more than two somehow, rather than just being a complementary relationship between two people with very similar record collections. One person who I would love to go back to back with is DJ Nobu, because I have the utmost respect for him and I feel like we’d be able to push each other to the outer limits of our tastes. As long as a DJ is prepared to challenge themselves and explore their interests in an untrammelled fashion, I’d be down for a b2b.

What was your first DJ set up at home and what is it now?

Nick: 2 pro 150 belt drive djs and a cheap as chips Vestax when I was 17 – 2 x CDJs 2000 nxs mk2 pioneer m900 and 2 x 1210s on rotation.

Casper: It was a cracked copy of Ableton Live. I took that on the road for a while between 2006 and 2007. Memorable pre-gig crashes would be my first ever booking in London, outside of my own nights (Adventures Close To Home at The Barfly), when my only option became playing a pre-recorded DJ set of my own and pretending to mix (not hard with a laptop!). I think I got away with that one, and came away with my £50 fee unscathed. The other one was in 2006 or 2007. I had been booked alongside the Fluokids crew (we were a group of music bloggers who used to get booked abroad a lot, because there was a lot of hype around that scene at the time) at Iceland Airwaves, and I had been trying to plan my hackneyed idea of a chilled/balearic/whatever set. The DJ booth was set up right beside the Blue Lagoon in Reykjavik, which is about as close as it gets to a ‘dream’ scenario, but I could only look on while the other guys played due to my Ableton catastrophe. I did end up buying the software in the end, and learning to mix, in case anyone out there is frowning at this point.

What’s more important, the track you start on or the track you end on?

Nick: If it’s the very end of the night – the last. If you are part of a set of DJs – the first.

Casper: The track that you start on. If you choose that badly, you can paint yourself into a bit of a corner, and the set will suffer as a result.

What were the first and last records you bought?

Nick: 12 inches – Dead Elvis by Death in Vegas in ‘97 and the last was Basic Face by Autumns

Casper: The first one that I can recall was a picture disc of ‘Annie I’m Not Your Daddy’ by Kid Creole & The Coconuts. I wasn’t buying records at a particularly young age.

The last one was Bourbonese Qualk – My Government Is My Soul on the excellent Mannequin label.

If this mix was an edible thing, what would it taste like?

Nick: Popcorn, hopefully you’re wondering what’s happening next ..

Casper: Armpit.

If it was an animal what would it be? …

Nick: I’m a dog lover, and they get excited easily. So I’ll stick a pound on a hound.
Casper: A Tasmanian Devil on a moderate dose of benzodiazapine.

One record in your collection that is impossible to mix into anything?

Nick: Nothing specific.. but i have a hard time with a few of the skate un happy kraut ones here and there. Ministry – Primental has thrown me under the bus before..

Casper: Moby – ‘Thousand’ and one or two of the tracks we played in our mix.

Am I going to my dream job?

Nick: It certainly is a lot of fun.

Casper – Are we talking about me or you here?

Am I being compensated fairly for the value I bring to my job?

Nick: Yes.

Casper: Same as above. If we’re talking about me, then the only fair compensation for what I do is a person or person listening without prejudice

Do I feel energised, rested, and confident?

Nick: Energised, yes, rested? One day, hopefully. Confident? Always, until the hangover.

Casper: I feel all of the above, but I also spend periods of my life trying to temper the spectre of hypomania, which is not my friend although it can be a very creative and productive headspace to be in.

You just had a fight with the person you are closest to. do you not speak to them until they apologise…or do you apologise first?

Nick: I have no problem apologising.. 😂
Casper: I shouted in my Dad’s face about something or other at the weekend, and left him alone in a forest while I stormed off. I apologised later that day, and by text the morning after,

If you were trapped on a desert island with one other person, who would you choose?
Nick: Bowie
Casper: My best friend moved to somewhere akin to a desert island (Fiji) some years ago. I wouldn’t eat him, as he’s a bit of a stoner which could mean I’d get a second-hand cannabis high, and would really be up shit creek when the famous munchies kick-in (I don’t smoke the reefa, by the way. Never did!).

How long would it be before you eat them?

Nick: 4pm at the latest.

Your doctor says you need more exercise….what do you take up for exercise?

Nick: – Talking about running

Casper: I’d give him a funny look, as I’m doing as much as I can! Some more reformer would be useful though.

If you could travel in time…where in time would you go? Why?

Nick: I’d have enjoyed the very end of the seventies and onset of the eighties for the musical sub culture explosion that happened.. Thatcher again? Not so much.

Casper: I think Nick would agree with me on this that late ‘70s/early ‘80s New York is where I would want to be, even while cognisant of the dangers!

Upcoming in the world of…

Nick: Golden Gun at The Golden Lion in Todmorden 29/30 August

Casper: Everything and nothing. We have plumped for the name Family Silver as we both need to keep ourselves scarce for various reasons. We are both heading to Todmorden (my first time) at the end of August for the Golden Gun weekender at The (notorious) Golden Lion. If ever there was an event that had to happen solely on the basis of the name, it was that.

Anything else we need to discuss?

Nick – The absolute state of it. All of it. Keep being nice to each other.
Casper – Nope, you’re good. You can put your clothes back on now. I’ll sign off with a slogan:

Family Silver – From The Lock Tavern via The Gun to Spoons. Over and out!