Straight out of Perth, Australia’s hotbed of drum n bass talent, Pendulum recently scored something unheard of only a few years back; a number one spot on the UK dance charts with their storming track Another Planet. They’ve quickly climbed the intensely populated London junglist ladder and now hold down residencies at top clubs Fabric and The End. I caught up with one of the boys to discuss their imminent Australian tour. So who are the three members of Pendulum? The three members are Rob, Paul and Gareth (Anscenic, Elhornet, Speed). So how come you guys produce drum and bass out of all the musical styles available? I don’t hear as much diversity in other electronic music styles as I do with Drum and Bass. No other genre has ever captured me like breakbeat music. This wasn’t a choice. There was no other option really. How’s life in London working out, miss anything about Australia? It’s been a year since we left so this is something we seem to be asked often. We’ve settled in well and have adapted our working environment to suit the UK. I miss a few things like the weather and the food, but we need to be based in the UK, so we’ve worked around that. Which clubs in the UK are you playing at, any residencies/your own nights hooked up? We hold a monthly residency at the Breakbeat Kaos night at Fabric, and also play regularly at The End for Renegade Hardware and RAM. Over the last few months we’ve travelled more than ever and have played all up and down the UK and abroad, to places such as Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, France and as far away as South Africa and Japan. How did the move to the UK come about? Was this before or after you hit number one on the UK dance charts with Another Planet? We moved before Another Planet was even finished. The single was completed in London but we had started working on it initially in Perth. As soon as the opportunity to live and work in London came about we simply packed up and left. It seemed sensible to base ourselves where our label and label owners were. We’re glad we moved. It’s worked out for the best in every way. What future releases do you guys have in the pipeline? There are two remixes we’ve done that are out around now, one for RAM being Nightbreeds Pack Of Wolves and the other being Ed Rush and Opticals Bacteria on Virus Recordings. October will also see the Junglesound 2 LP released on Breakbeat Kaos featuring our debut collaboration with DJ Fresh, entitled Kingston Vampires and also The Masochist which has been doing really well on plate. Why do you think Perth has perhaps the healthiest dnb scene in Australia? I don’t honestly know that it does. Perhaps a few years ago Perth deserved this crown but in the last 2 years I’ve seen every other with parties just as good as Perth. I think there may have been a case of over saturation of drum and bass in Perth. When you have a city that has a weekly night 5 or 6 nights a week, it’s only a matter of time before it subsides. So who’ll be playing on the upcoming tour? That will be Elhornet. Anscenic has recently completed a tour of South Africa and Speed is holding the fort in London. Shall we expect the usual ‘international’ treat of a crate full of fresh dub plates and new releases? Definitely. What shows are planned in Australia? There have already been a few this month namely Adelaide and Melbourne. Perth is on the 24th of this month at Ambar, followed by Moving Through Air the next night. There will also be 2 further shows in Perth, Out Of The Blue and Underground 2. You can catch Elhornet of Pendulum at the following remaining Australian tour dates: Fri Sep 24th – Ambar, Perth
Sat Sep 25th – Moving Through Air, Sydney [BUY TICKETS]
Sat Oct 9th – Underground II, Perth
Date TBA – Out Of The Blue, Perth
