Photo credit: IMDB
Words by: Cat Woods
British duo Toydrum may be a powerhouse you haven’t yet discovered. For trip-hop enthusiasts, the name Unkle might resonate, though. This pioneering outfit was formed by James Lavelle in 1992 and featured a revolving lineup of guest producers, vocalists, and musicians—most notably DJ Shadow, Thom Yorke, Mike D, and Richard Ashcroft of The Verve—on their groundbreaking 1998 debut album, Psyence Fiction.
In 2011, former Unkle members James Griffith and Pablo Clements teamed up to channel their production expertise into solo projects. One of their standout works is the album Evangelist, created in collaboration with singer Gavin Clark. This atmospheric and melancholic album not only showcases their musical talents but also complements moody screen soundtracks, with its title track even serving as the opening theme for the Danish TV series Follow The Money.
In 2015, Griffith and Clements unexpectedly gained favor in the film industry when they scored Christopher Smith’s Detour. The same year, they began composing and producing the score to London Fields, an adaptation of Martin Amis’s thriller novel, released in 2018. They later paid homage to their roots with a haunting blend of Britpop and indie rock in Shane Meadows’ darkly humorous series This Is England ’90.
The Brighton-based duo Toydrum has been busy with work for a decade, but it is their Emmy and Ivor Novello-nominated soundtrack for Apple TV’s thriller series Slow Horses that has truly brought them into the spotlight.
When they arrive via video call, Griffith and Clements appear a bit jetlagged after attending the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles. The Emmy parties were a shock to the system.
“We were definitely the odd people in the back of the room,” Griffith tells CONE. “We come from the band world, the artist world. We’re not in London or LA, we’re not in the thick of it, so we’re not usually mixing with other composers in the film world. We have our studio and all the other people – including Orbital – who have rooms in our studio are from the band and artist world.”
While most people might head straight to bed, Griffith is off to hot yoga after our interview. This spirit of relentless effort has served them both well, allowing them to hide away in the “bubble” of their Brighton studio. Clements built their studio, Toy Rooms, in 2011, transforming a huge open space into a treasure trove of synthesizers, keyboards, vintage instruments, consoles and vinyl records. He meticulously collected these treasures over 30 years.
“We built it at same time we were still working in Unkle with James Lavelle,” Clements recalls. ”And the only reason was because we were going to these places to do writing sessions and spending £20,000 for two weeks or less. I’ve collected equipment for over 30 years. I was buying keyboards when you could swap them for records. I decided to build this place at the same time that Unkle fizzled out for James and me.”
The first session booked at the duo’s new studio was with Nick Cave, Warren Ellis and the Bad Seeds, as they composed the soundtrack for 2012 film Lawless (starring Tom Hardy and Shia LaBeouf) .
“We were rough and ready, is the nice way of putting git,” Griffith humorously recalls. Clements adds, “There was a point where Nick was on other side of window, screaming at us to turn something up, and we couldn’t actually hear him.” Without missing a beat, he quickly adds that the relationship with Nick is still friendly. “Nick Cave has cooked us lunch. He’s hugged us before. He’ll return a text here or there, when he’s not hanging out with Brad Pitt in L.A.”
Far from the glamor of L.A. and its parties, both Clements and Griffith have discovered their niche in the grizzly, off-kilter world of Slow Horses in Slough House. Their journey began with veteran music supervisor Catherine Grieves, who also worked on Emmy Award-wining series Baby Reindeer and Killing Eve. Originally their first agent 10 years ago, Catherine has come full circle and is now the duo’s UK agent once again. Explaining how their relationship blossomed, Griffith explains, “When [Catherine]she got Slow Horses as music supervisor, they’d wanted to go for a big name for the soundtrack. They’d thrown Daniel Pemberton’s name around, but he was really busy as always. Apple TV really liked us Catherine suggested us because Dan loved our music. That’s how the collaboration came about. Dan did the first two episodes, including the Mick Jagger [theme] song, on his own and then we came in.”
Pemberton visits the Toy Rooms studio, where they’ll collectively write “a bunch of ideas and themes,” then create loops and samples to ensure everyone is working from the same sound palette while composing.
Neither Clements nor Griffith were familiar with Mike Herron’s series of books that inspired Slow Horses, but they read the scripts before signing on. Clements adds, “Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb? It was a no-brainer to be involved with Gary Oldman’s first lead in a TV show. We thought, ‘This is amazing, and there are such good scripts.’”
Griffith notes that their process is “much more organic” since wrapping season four, with work beginning on season five. No spoilers, alas. “There was much less music in the first season, but much more in the following seasons,” he explains.
Clements adds, “Every season has its own story and it has its own tone. We had this bendy string keyboard instrument that you play with a bow in season two where they’re dealing with Russian agents; season three was set in a bunker, and we felt more electronic because it was underground. We got a raw drum machine amongst a mixture of other things. For season four, we had a broken piano that we dragged up from the basement of the studio. We were hitting it with hammers, which has become the tone for this season.”
Griffith states, “Every season we restrict what we use to give each story its own atmosphere.” Both he and Clements cite their work on director, and friend, Alice Lowe’s 2016 film Prevenge as a favorite of their past work.
Griffith explains, “Working with Alice, she gets the best out of us because she gives us a lot of freedom within the boundaries of doing what’s best for the film. A lot of the time, you get a million cooks in the kitchen, but both of Alice’s scores stick with me.”
Clements adds, “They’re the ones where we both really created the sound from scratch. With TV you don’t always get the chance to do that, often because of the fast turnaround. We’re really proud of [our own album] ‘Evangelist’, too. We’re always proud of the work we do.”
Their latest project, British film Timestalker, showcases Toydrum’s signature soundtrack mastery. The surreal rom-com, directed by and starring Alice Lowe alongside Sam Riley, Tanya Reynolds and Nick Frost, blends sci-fi, period costumes, kitschy camp melodrama, and a good dose of absurd humor as it spans New York, Scotland, and England over centuries. Like Slow Horses, it is— very British.
Griffith reflects on their approach, saying, “I think we always went into it not sure if we’d make every time period have a different sound. We didn’t really use any synths. We just manipulated the strings by putting them through echo pedals, an old Eventide, and samplers. But it all has a tone that pins it down whether you’re in the 80s or the 1700s, so that it all flows. Sometimes you go into something not knowing how you’re going to do it. And we were on it for a long time while we were on other things. Alice loves it, and obviously it’s her film, so we were going off her notes.”
In a testament to their creative drive, Clements and Griffith have laid down 40 demos entirely on their own initiative, hoping to record a future Toydrum album. . “We just need singers,” Griffith states, inviting applicants to come forward.
Their previous album, Evangelist was recorded with UK singer-songwriter Gavin Clark, who passed away in 2015. Reflecting on the challenges of finding new vocalists, Clements pleads, “Any good singers, come forward. We need strong people with strong voices. The last album we did was with Gavin, who had such a strong voice. We get so busy with the score work that we don’t have time. We’d love to finish a record.”
In the meantime, amid their busy screen composition work schedule, Clements has just completed his fourth show curating the music for Stella McCartney’s fashion show. Discussing how he selects the most appropriate music for Stella McCartney’s shows, Clements says, “ I’m always looking for new electronic dance records.That’s good fun.”
Despite spending so much time together, Griffith and Clements have distinctly different approaches to their listening habits. While Griffith enjoys revisiting classics like Supertramp and The Beach Boys— along with a healthy dose of Jamie xx and IDLES—Clements has his ear to the latest music trends.
“I’ve got about 20,000 records. I’m a bit obsessive about vinyl,” Clements reveals. “I am constantly checking out new music, new techniques, and what the kids are doing with new production styles. I love old music, and I collect old Turkish Psych records. But I don’t throw my nose in the air saying ‘it was better in the old days!’”
For now, their heavy workload keeps them focused on upcoming projects, including Slow Horses season five and an “another unnamed project.” “I’ve either got too much work and it’s fucking ridiculous, or I’m never gonna work again. There’s no in-between,” Clements says. With such a dynamic slate ahead, it’s clear that Toydrum can no longer remain anonymous.