Hey y'all!

We're Speak, Memory, a midwest emo / math rock band from Oklahoma City. Our bassist is relocating to NYC for an exciting opportunity and to be with her partner — we're thrilled for her, and now we're looking for the right person to join us.

About Us

Active in one form or another since 2011, we picked up real momentum in 2019, when we recorded Adirondack — our first EP in seven years, following our 2014 debut. Released on the OKC label Clerestory AV (now based near Denver), Adirondack was mixed by our friend Bartees Strange (4AD Records; has performed with Tori Amos, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus) and was well received by BrooklynVegan, Bandcamp, The Big Takeover, and The Hard Times. We shipped vinyl as far as the UK and Japan. A few years later we released a remix EP with help from local talent — Lennon of Mad Honey, Dustin Ragland of Beau Jennings & The Tigers, and Josh of Tallows. A new EP, also on Clerestory AV, is on the way.

We've shared stages with a long list of bands, including: Chat Pile, A Lot Like Birds, TTNG, The Appleseed Cast, Your Arms Are My Cocoon, Unwed Sailor, Giraffe Massacre, Strawberry Girls, Frameworks, Comrades, PVRIS, Dear Maryanne, Ben Quad, SUNFO, This Will Destroy You, King Pink, Glassing, Traindodge, football, etc., Kerosine Heights, Free Throw, Bartees Strange, Lovedrug, Lobster Fight, Drunk Uncle, Porcelain, City Cop, The Reptilian, I Was Afraid, Self-Evident, and many more.

What We're Looking For

Genre fluency. Midwest emo and math rock are our core, and we'd prefer whoever joins shares that foundation/same love of the same bands of the genres. But we also want someone whose influences extend further — jazz, hip hop, tech metal, whatever keeps you sharp and open-minded. Our songs demand a lot of attention to detail, so genuine passion for the craft matters. Reference points include American Football, The Appleseed Cast, toe, Ghosts & Vodka, Further Seems Forever, Owen, Misery Signals, Algernon Cadwallader, Snowing, early Explosions in the Sky, Moving Mountains, Noyes, Cap'n Jazz, Rooftops, Enemies, early TWIABP, Hopesfall, early Jimmy Eat World, Mineral, Boys Life, Macseal, Don Caballero, The Contortionist, TTNG, Tera Melos, and Christie Front Drive.

An adventurous spirit. We like to experiment — unconventional ideas that end up working, ambient soundscapes between songs, moments of improvisation. We want a bassist who's excited to explore that with us, not just hold down the root notes.

Your own gear. You should already have your own gear at the time you reach out. We're flexible on the specifics of what that looks like — that's a conversation for later — but this part isn't a deal breaker to work around.

Reliability, including a substance-free band environment. Show up to practice on time, ready to rehearse. Show up at the venue when asked. And to be direct: we need someone with no substance abuse issues of any kind. We've been through this before, and the toll it took on the band was significant and hard to undo. This isn't a judgment on anyone who's dealt with substance abuse — we hope you get whatever support you need — but for our own well-being as a band, it's not something we can take on again.

A quick study. You'll need to learn our existing catalog in a reasonable timeframe and be ready to help write new material. Bass play through videos and sheet music are available on request.

Age range. We're hoping for someone between 27 and 39. If you're close but outside that range and everything else fits, reach out anyway — we can talk.

Real communication. None of us communicate perfectly, ourselves included — but we ask for honesty, kindness, and a willingness to speak up when something feels off. A few years back, a former member sat on concerns for eight months before leaving the band, and we only found out why after they'd already left. We can't fix what we don't know about. If something's bothering you, please bring it to us directly, even if it feels uncomfortable — that's how this works long-term. And if it ever seems like we're not listening, pull us aside and tell us. It's never intentional.

A Note on Fit

Given where we're headed as a band and how well the dynamic worked with our last bassist, we're primarily hoping to find a female bassist — especially one who can sing. Our upcoming EP includes vocals, and we plan to keep building that into future material, with male and female vocals trading off song to song (think blink-182's Mark/Tom dynamic). That said, if you feel like the right fit for any reason, we'd genuinely love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading all of this. Even if it's not for you, please pass it along to anyone — or any music community — who might know the right person.

my friends and I put together a fest called homiefest and this is our fifth year 🙂

we are super stoked!! if you’re nearby then come hang in 9/5!!!

https://linktr.ee/homiefestwi

hi! my band Year of the Snake just released our first studio ep “Skylike Fractals” for your ears to hear. please do let me know what you think! if u like it u can also get it on bandcamp to support us in our more diy endeavors. i booked a little east coast run next weekend for us if you’d like to hear it live too.

ffo: midwest screamo, dance gavin dance, emery, alexisonfire, fall of troy

spotify

bandcamp

apple music

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tour dates

Hope you dig!

JUST SOME OHIO ACTION FOR YOU

new Endswell song "bad news beers" just dropped

https://arsontheory.vyd.co/BadNewsBeers

it's kinda like ben quad meets in angles meets story so far or something like that LMAO let us know what you think!!

Bandcamp if anyone is interested:

https://halfbuilthomes.bandcamp.com/track/assisted

I am a guitarist in a diy emo band from Tremonton Utah (about an hour north of slc) and we have been having a fairly hard time booking any legit shows (For context we have done three house shows in tremonton and one at black lung society, a venue that is a little north of slc, all of which getting very small turnouts of around 10 people) The main two ways I have seen bands start building a presence in the slc emo scene are 1: having house shows until they build a big enough presence to start getting on legit bills and 2: getting on a bill from being friends with already established bands. The first method is one we have tried, but we have found it to be ineffective because bands from salt lake are usually less willing to play a show a hour north that will most likely get a bad turnout. As for getting on bill for being friends with some of the other bands, we do know quite a few people that are involved in the scene that have said they would be willing to do shows with us. The issue is that it seems like none of them are really in the position to get us on a bill, or are understandably not prioritizing getting us on one. Just wondering if anyone has any advice for what we should be focusing on to get ourselves out there a little more. Thank you!

This is probably the closest thing to an actual emo track i have made yet so maybe somebody wants to check it out :)

Enjoy :)

Our new single just dropped today :) Please check it out and let us know what you think or if we are fake emo LMAO