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Speaker Junkies Infect Clubs and Radio Waves with Electro-Pop Tracks and Vigorous Live Shows

The Speaker Junkies produce music that will make people move. Whether it’s swinging, swaying, twisting or twirling, the former duo’s music will have everyone shaking before they even realize it. With the addition of two new members — a female lead vocalist and a drummer/DJ — this electro-pop/techno group is introducing Orange County to infectious dance music with a badass rock twist, perfect for both seasoned house heads and budding trance lovers.

Beginning as a duo nine years ago, Tekno Tom (keytar, synths, vocals) and Rezn Tokes (synths, vocals, keyboards) originally pursued harder, edgier synth-pop music that had a Depeche Mode and New Order feel. After being introduced to trance music, the duo set out to play this type of music in a live show, something that was not common on that scene. Now the Speaker Junkies are known for their contagious, high energy live shows and music that they describe as both “club-friendly and radio-friendly.”

“Before we were more underground, trance, techno, house; we catered towards the rave scene,” explains Tekno Tom. “Now with the two additional members, having a front vocalist, Summer Daniels, and our drummer who’s used to more electro, electro-pop, new disco, that kind of influenced us to kind of go the route where it would allow us to go further as a band doing more commercial dance music … It’s still dance music and it’s still techno, but blended in with pop vocals.”

After meeting Daniels at a nightclub in Orange County last summer, Tekno Tom had her sing to him in the middle of the club and thought she would be perfect for some guest vocal spots on a few single tracks that the Speaker Junkies were working on that incorporated a Fergie and Gwen Stefani sound. In October 2008, the group had their first live gig with Daniels and Tempo as guest appearances with the Speaker Junkies. After several more shows together, the entire group felt the chemistry they had onstage and decided to make Daniels and Tempo permanent members. When asked about her influences or changes to the dynamic of the group as a whole and its sound, Daniels says, “I brought sexy back to the group.”

“[Adding Daniels] changed a lot because she’s gorgeous and she has talent and she knows how to work the stage,” says Tekno Tom. “It allows us to concentrate on our thing — on our synthesizers and hype up the crowd, our style, while she’s out doing the vocals and doing her thing. It adds to the new style and marketability of the band.”

“We stay true to the electro sound, our beats and vocals are catchy and fun … If you’ve seen us, the chemistry we have on stage is definitely felt,” says Daniels. “We are having just as much fun on the stage as our fans on the dance floor dancing and partying with us. Just like LMFAO and BEP, the music is the message and the message is: Have fun living your life, but do it while listening to a good soundtrack.”

Now as a four-piece, the Speaker Junkies just finished working on their self-titled debut release with the full band. Featuring 10 original tracks and six bonus tracks, the group collaborated and remixed with many artists, such as Ultraviolet Sound, DJ Ei8ht, rapper Kant Ghit Right and Bitter Persona, and the new album is available for fans at any of the group’s live shows and select Hot Topic stores. The group says that the entire recording process is different now that it is a collaborative process with Tekno Tom and Rezn Tokes’ initial visions: Daniels bringing in lyrics and Tempo knowing what’s hot or not on the dance music scene, but their high-energy onstage antics still carry over into the studio.

“We’re a pretty energetic group when it comes to the studio. A lot of ADD going on. It’s fun in the studio,” says Tempo. Adds Rezn Tokes, “Personally, I envision the crowd in my head [when recording].”

“We dance a lot in the studio,” says Tekno Tom. “You know, throw on the strobe lights, get the club environment, and sometimes, we just blast it to see if we’re feeling it and then ideas just come.”

With the tremendous growth in popularity of the genre of dance music with notable acts on the mainstream scene like LMFAO and Paul Oakenfold, both of which the group has shared the stage with, the Speaker Junkies are on their way to proving they’re not a fleeting trend, but have long-term appeal.

“We still have that dark side of what [Speaker Junkies] had before,” says Tempo of the group’s ability to withstand time. “[Tekno Tom and Rezn Tokes] used to listen to groups like Prodigy, that was like big influences to Tom back in the day … Depeche Mode, stuff like that and so I think in the new stuff they’re still keeping that edge on the music that’s not just like you know LMFAO is like this hip-hop versus electro now. We still have that old edge with the new edge.”

Adds Tekno Tom, “We’re still incorporating our style that we were influenced by when we started and we still have that edginess from that underground sound but we’re incorporating with the commercial sound as well so it makes us stand out differently.”

Not to mention, the group’s unparalleled live show that is opening up all listeners’ tastes and preconceived notions. “A lot of people sometimes view techno music as kind of like computer geek-type music,” says Tekno Tom. “People don’t realize that this music can be done live as well, and when people see us and people who don’t like dance music see us for the first time, they’re like, ‘Wow.’ Even people who like hip-hop music and don’t like techno music when they see us perform it live. It totally converts them into liking that type of music because they’ve only been exposed to DJs behind turntables spinning this type of music and now they see two guys on keyboards, a girl on vocals and a drummer jumping around giving a show like a punk band would. It totally blows people away that it can be done live.”

With plans to mimic the success of artists like No Doubt and Black Eyed Peas, the Speaker Junkies are already gaining ground by opening for big name acts, being featured at large venues like the Winter Music Conference, topping the MySpace dance charts and having tracks on television commercials. Club and music bookers from across the nation have been seeking out the group to play at their venues, and whether people have already heard of them or don’t yet have a clue, the Speaker Junkies will have people shaking their asses for a long time to come.

Hit the dance floor at www.speakerjunkies.com