“Last night we had one of our biggest shows to date,” explains Paul ’ El Hornet’ Harris, one third of Pendulum. “We played the support slot for The Prodigy at Brixton Academy, which had us DJing for 2 hours after they played. Possibly the toughest crowd we’ve ever had to play to. I fully expected most of them to leave once The Prodigy came off stage but they hung around and we had an awesome set.”
Of course, the Perth trio – which also includes Rob Swire (Anscenic) and Gareth McGrillen (Speed) – would have already won over many of them with their drum and bass rewiring of the Prodigy’s classic, ‘Voodoo People’, which appeared on the group’s UK #1 ‘Greatest Hits’. The Pendulum peeps still can’t believe they got their hands on it in the first place.
“It was definitely a huge tune for all of us and a great honour to add our touch to such a classic,” says Paul. “You always expect there to be a load of die-hard fans who object to something like that, but hearing how stoked the Prodigy were with the remix was enough to put any of those thoughts out of our minds.”
The Prodigy support was “the icing on a bloody big cake” for the West Australians who moved to London back in September 2003 after signing to Adam F and DJ Fresh’s Breakbeat Kaos label. Two years on, they’ve unleashed their debut album, ‘Hold Your Colour’, a breakneck voyage into interstellar drum and bass. Blending widescreen vision with velocity, it had critics toppling over themselves to bestow the hyperbole – Mixmag labelling it “one of the most ambitious drum ‘n’ bass albums in history.” BBC’s Radio One gave it their full support, culminating in the boys laying down a highly-prized Essential Mix in September. Their latest single, ‘Slam’, even boasts a music video to go with it – a rarity in D&B circles usually reserved for the likes of Roni Size.
Can it get any better for Pendulum? Well, the boys would argue so – they are escaping the English winter and heading back to Australia for a homecoming tour and some Christmas R&R. In addition to the duty-free alcohol and long-neglected sunscreen, Paul packed this quick Q&A.
Are you still having trouble absorbing everything that’s happened this year?
The last six months have been the most intense so far. We’ve hit the top 40, we’ve done a video clip, released our debut album, done anywhere up to 35 gigs in a month, made headlines in publications I honestly thought I’d never see drum and bass in and so on. We’ve probably also come close to breakdown and insanity but its all been worth it. Now it’s just time to focus on what’s next.
I noticed you’ve managed to find time to collaborate with Aquasky [as El Hornet] on their ‘Girls and Boys’ track. How’d that go?
Working with them was about as easy as it gets. They’re possibly the nicest guys I’ve met in any scene, just super down-to-earth and really chilled. They live over two hours from London [in Bournemouth] so I’d train it out to them, hit the studio for a few hours together and because they’re all old (laughs) they’d go home to their wives and kids and I’d stay awake til 5 or 6am trying to get as much done as possible before heading back to London. The tune came out quite good I think and I’d definitely say making breaks is infinitely easier than making drum and bass!
‘Hold Your Colour’ has received a simply massive response - what’s the strangest feedback you’ve heard about your music?
In Estonia, I had a promoter tell me a girl wanted to meet us. When she came to say hi she burst into tears and didn’t stop crying. I didn’t actually get a word out of her, each time she looked up she cried more. I guess that’s feedback of some sort!
You have another album to do with Breakbeat Kaos, where’s it at? Is there a blueprint laid down yet?
Work has started on the new album already, there was a lot of material started that didn’t make it to ‘Hold Your Colour’. I have a feeling the next one will not be as focused on Drum and Bass, but time will tell.
Aston of the Freestylers mentioned a few months back that your collaboration with them, ‘Fasten Your Seatbelts’, copped a bit of a backlash – have you felt that too?
I’m sure some of the breaks people weren’t happy with a tune that sounded like that being so successful. The only thing you can really say about it is that whenever we played it, or The Freestylers played it, crowds went crazy. If that’s a bad thing then you need to wonder what the hell you’re supposed to be doing.
I’ve heard people have started moshing and stage-diving at your gigs now?
I played a gig in Glasgow, Scotland, where the crowd was really hyped up to the point of having to put bouncers on the stage to pull people out when they got squashed. It completely looked like a hardcore show. A circle pit started up, then the MC jumped clear off the stage into the crowd. The audiences we’ve been attracting of late have been more like that, less ‘raving’ and more straight out energy, which is awesome. It’s where we all came from and it’s great to see people responding to electronic music in that way.
What thing(s) do you guys miss most about home?
Red Rooster, skate parks, the beach, meat pies, Kraft peanut butter, good weather, my car and the ease of life in Australia. You don’t know how good it is until you leave.
Do you all live together in a type of Pendulum HQ in London?
We did for a while but living together and working together can be a bit much. I’ve moved into a place close to the city with my girl. Rob and Gareth (and the main studio) are out of town a bit, but we’re still relatively close to each other.
You’re heading out to Oz on a DJ tour. How do you pick who does what? Do you draw straws?
I’m coming out to do a tour in December, Rob and Gareth will be joining me for a show in Perth also as they’re coming home for Christmas. Usually we try to split tours and DJing out between us. They were touring earlier this year so this time it’s my turn to hit down under.
What goodies will you be packin’ in your crate this time around?
A lot of stuff people won’t have heard before, some new Pendulum tunes, some vips of album tunes, and a whole lot of new stuff by people like Fresh, Noisia, Gridlok and more.
Pendulum tour dates:
Dec 15, Newcastle – TBA
Dec 16, Sydney – Gaelic Club (with Shapeshifter) [BUY TICKETS]
Dec 17, Canberra – In Blue
Dec 23, Adelaide – Earth Nightclub
Dec 26, Perth – Heat nightclub
Jan 1, Brisbane - BBQ Breaks [BUY TICKETS]
Stay tuned to ITM Whatson for more info.
mollymac says...
Pendulum Belvoir NYE - OH MY GAWD!!