MODULAR RECORDINGS: THE PRESETS

Just when you thought the whole sleazy electronic punk thing was starting to sound a little tire, along comes this single that get you all excited about what music can be. So this is the continuation of my wicked electronic bands I'm on goingly discovering, mostly from the record label 'Modular Recordings' but it's not limited to them. Last time I talked about New Young Pony Club, an angular guitar driven rock band with dance rhythms, disco-pop gloss & synths. A great band as they maybe, they are no match for the this time I wanna talk about THE PRESETS, a Sydney-based two piece band that plunges you into the darkness of a filthy nightclub atmosphere, hallucinating synths, POUNDING BEATS & luciferian vocals that would make a nun commit adultery. Worried? Good...This is hardcore.

According to their myspace page, Kimberley Isaac Moyes was but a young man (small of stature but big of heart) down on his luck, doing the odd performance in a downtown gay bar & eating anchovies from tin cans discarded in the alley behind a local Italian restaurant, putting all his dollar bills in a pillow, with the dream to one day have enough money to buy a Moog synthesizer. Touching.

Julian Hamilton (robust and ambitious) was the new bus boy in a food joint, taking out the trash and sweating like a malaria ravaged wrestler when he one day chanced upon poor Kim out the back, sucking on those oily little fish like he'd never tasted such a delicacy.



The Presets came into being when drummer Kim Moyes ran into keyboard man Julian Hamilton at that food establishment. There are rumors of shared sardine sampling, plots to overthrow bosses and discussion about collaborating music. Somewhere along the line came the idea of creative a futuristic pop band. Despite having no real sense of what it was they were attempting to create (explained in "Bad Up Your Betterness.") The Presets nevertheless compiled a debut E.P. titled 'Blow up'' & sourced around for some radio & public support.

They officially formed in 2003, inspired by bands like Trans Am and Daft Punk, and found themselves part of the Modular Recordings fold. Releasing 'Blow Up' at the end of that year, The Presets soon began to filter into clubs known for their support of band like Depeche Mode and Cabaret Voltaire. Somehow the duo had managed to deliver what many would consider the undeliverable - electropop mixed with a distinctive rock and roll forcefulness.In a series of small gigs in Sydney, the public began to show determined interest in the strange outfit.

On their second E.P. 'The Girl & the Sea', The Presets wander away from the meandering bass and crystal clear keyboard lines of the title track, and rather embrace a darker atmosphere and bleeping electronic sounds like on 'Kitty in the Middle'.

In September 2005 they released their debut album 'Beams', to much positive critical response, which spawned the dance floor monsters 'Down Down Down', 'Are You The One?' and 'I Go Hard, I Go Home'. Although my favourties on this record are 'Kitty in the Middle' 'Steamworks' & 'Girl & the Sea'.

So began two years of non-stop touring. From playing to clubs in Barcelona, New York and Istanbul, to over one hundred thousand people at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and every imaginable key festival in-between, Julian and Kim have covered almost every corner of the globe with their take no prisoners live show.

After two years of non-stop touring, The Presets began production of 'Apocalypso' in early 2007 by going to a farm in Byron Bay for two weeks. The duo had no songs written or any idea what the album would sound like before hitting the farm. The majority of the album was recorded by the band themselves at their own individual home studios.

The album was released in April 2008 & debuted at NO. 1 on the ARIA charts, & achieved gold certification within two weeks. The album features the singles 'My People', 'This Boy's In Love' & 'Talk Like That' ( I love this tune & my other favourites on this disc are 'Yippiyo-ay' & 'A New Sky' !).




So I've realized, after 6 days of writing this, that I could go on for ages talking about The Presets and how they've turned around my thinking of music today! They may only have 2 albums but they also have about 12 E.P.'s, all of which include tunes not on any other album and great remixes, like 'The Girl & the Sea (Cut Copy Remix)'!!! So for now I'll end this here but there will certainly be a continuation on The Presets later on :)

To be continued...

FUN FACTS

• Along the way the band has remixed and been remixed by many of the modern dance music alumni. Additionally songs were picked up for use in hit TV programs such as The OC, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York as well as appearing on dozens of compilations!!!

• Kims favourite pop star is Serge Gainsbourg

• The Presets started their career with a very risky video for the song "Cookie," it was never released officially due to controversial shots of minors in pornographic positions (creative if you ask me, nothing wrong with that. Its not like they went out and raped children), see for yourself...

• In an interview with the national radio station Triple J, the band members discussed the inspiration for the albums title stating that they wanted to mix 'the end of the world' with something fun and light hearted. Possible names were 'Apocalypse Wow' (as a pun on the war movie Apocalypse Now, they thought this was hysterical) before they settled on 'Apocalypso', as a mixture of Apocalypse and Calypso.

• Julian Hamilton does not believe in star signs/horoscopes.

• When Julian Hamilton was a little boy his worst nightmare was as he describes "I dreamed that I was standing next to this road that was filled with millions of screaming human heads. My dad drove over them in his white commodore and they exploded like watermelons leaving two long bloodied tire trails down the road. The other heads kept screaming. Lovely stuff."

• Kim Moyes favourite snacks are lemon tarts.

• Julians heros are Dmitri Shostakovich (composer), and his Grandfathers.

• Julians favourite snack is toast with ricotta cheese and honey.

Julian Hamilton's TOP 10 FAVE SONGS
Lou Reed - Satellite of Love
A Certain Ratio - Waterline
Stereolab - Cybele's Reverie
Kraftwerk - Computer Love
Bela Bartok - The Lost Cat
Alice Coltrane - Spiritual Eternal/Wisdom Eye
Cannibal Ox - Iron Galaxy
The Smiths - Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Shostakovich - Prelude and Fugue No.1, Op.87
Donny Hathaway - Jealous Guy

Kim Moyes TOP 10 FAVE SONGS:
"There is a Light and it Never Goes Out" The Smiths
"Play for Today" The Cure
"Witchita Lineman" Glenn Campbell
"She bangs the Drum" The Stone Roses
"Sound of Silence" Simon & Garfunkel
"Love Will Tear us Apart" Joy Division
"Tanned" Arab strap
"If I Ever Feel Better" Phoenix
"A Perfect Day" Lou Reed
"Dreams" Fleetwood Mac

SOME OF MY OWN SHOTS FROM SHOWS











Remixed by Presets
Midnight Juggernauts - Devil Within (The Presets Remix) 2005
Paul Mac - Its Not Me, Its You (The Presets Remix) 2005
Caged Baby - Hello There (The Presets Remix) 2006
Lenny Kravitz - Breathe (The Presets Remix) 2006
Howling Belts - Low Happening (The Presets Remix) 2007
Silverchair - Straight Lines (The Presets Remix) 2007
Architecture In Helsinki - Heart It Races (The Presets Remix) 2007

Remixes done on Preset tunes
The Presets - The Girl & The Sea (Cut Copy Remix)
The Presets - I Go Hard, I Go Home (Club Mix)
The Presets - Are You The One (Simian Mobile Disco Mix)
The Presets - Are You The One (Lifelike Remix)
The Presets - Talk Like That (Dave Spoons Televized Mix)
The Presets - Talk Like That (Miami Horror Remix)
The Presets - My People (DIM Remix)
The Presets - My People (Dj DONR MOS Remix)
The Presets - This Boy's In Love (Adam Day Remix)
The Presets - This Boy's In Love (Lifelike Remix)
The Presets - Down Down Down (Digitalism)


VIDEOS

TALK LIKE THAT



THIS BOYS IN LOVE



MY PEOPLE



ARE YOU THE ONE (LIFELIKE REMIX)



ARE YOU THE ONE



DOWN, DOWN, DOWN



KITTY IN THE MIDDLE



E.P.'s







http://www.myspace.com/thepresets
http://www.modularpeople.com/thepresets/
http://www.thepresets.com