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Pendulum (drum and bass band)

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For the Australian ambient house band, see Pendulum (ambient band).
Pendulum

Pendulum is an Australian electronic rock/drum & bass band. Founded in 2002 in Perth by Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and Paul Harding. Harding is a veteran DJ while Swire and McGrillen were part of an acclaimed rock band known as Xygen, but after hearing Konflict's "Messiah" at a rave they were inspired into the drum and bass genre, in 2003 they relocated to the United Kingdom. While Hold Your Colour held true to this intent, they have since experimented with mixing rock influences back in, with the rock-heavy second album In Silico, and the third album, Immersion, being a mixture of both, together with more electronic influences. Their newer efforts incorporate styles from genres such as dubstep, heavy metal and electro house. Pendulum are now better known for their energetic live shows, with live band setup and advanced visual displays and incorporating their rock background with drum and bass.

History

Pendulum formed in Perth, Australia and released their first song, "Vault", as the A side of the "Kingz of the Rollers EP" in 2003.[1] After several other singles, including Spiral / Ulterior Motive and many tracks to be included in their forthcoming LP, they released their debut album, Hold Your Colour, in 2005. Their second album, In Silico, was released in May 2008. The second single from the album, "Propane Nightmares", was their biggest hit to date, peaking at #9 in the UK Singles Chart. However, since then the first single from their third album Immersion, "Watercolour" has claimed the #4 spot.

In 2008, Pendulum played at numerous European music festivals and undertook their first tour of North America. At the end of the year the band filmed a live DVD on December 4 and 5 2008, at the Brixton Academy, which was released in June 2009.[2] They toured Europe again in 2009 where they first announced work on their third studio album.

It was announced in December that Pendulum will be touring their new album, "Immersion", in May 2010. The release date of the album was announced to be "in May" during the live preview party at Matter, and has since been confirmed to be released on 24 May.

Pendulum previewed their album Immersion at the Ear Storm night at London’s Matter nightclub on Friday January 22. This was also streamed on their website.[3] "Salt In The Wounds", a track from their new album, was Zane Lowe's Hottest Record In The World on BBC Radio 1 on 25 January 2010. It was, however, stated that it was a street-level release, and it was not an official single. On Zane Lowe's show, it was also announced that he wanted to join the band and the first single from the new album would be called "Watercolour".[4] "Watercolour" also received its first play on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show on 8 March 2010, and was his Single Of The Week for that week.[5] The music video for "Watercolour" was released on 31 March, and it premiered on their MySpace page and the members area of their official website, The Other Side. A day later, on 1 April, another music video was released, this time for "Salt In The Wounds". The video is unique in that it is, according to the band's website, "...the world’s first 360º interactive music video." Viewers can move the camera around in the video. Six different letters are hidden throughout the video, these letters do change; once found, the viewer can enter them as a code and claim a free download of "Salt In The Wounds".[6]

The second Single from the album, "Witchcraft", was released on 18th July and charted at #29 in the UK Singles chart, making it their third highest charted single in the UK. The third single from Immersion is to be "The Island", and will be released on 20th September. If it does better than Witchcraft, then Rob Swire, lead singer and main producer of the band, has stated they will release a song entitled "Ransom", that was taken off Immersion before release, but had been previewed and became a fan favourite.

Musical style

Bassist Gareth McGrillen at Blue Oyster in 2007

When Pendulum were formed, their musical style was considerably more drum & bass sounding than the work they are known for today. Signature tunes such as "Vault", "Back to You", "Voyager" and "Toxic Shock", which were released on labels such as Uprising Records, Renegade Hardware and Low Profile Records, have a darker, more amelodic air to them which is substantially absent from their later productions, which are generally leaning heavily towards a mainstream, dance-driven sound. Early work such as "Another Planet" however, seems to indicate an early affinity with a more global sound, similar to other Breakbeat Kaos artists such as DJ Fresh and Adam F.

Pendulum's current musical style consists of a fusion of electronica and alternative rock, with the inclusion of acoustic instruments. Songs such as "Propane Nightmares" and "Granite" continued to be synth-led, whilst others, such as "Showdown" and "The Tempest", were guitar-led. Bassist Gareth McGrillen stated in an interview on Channel 4 that they use 13 computers during the live performances, all of which are mixing up the sounds produced by the instruments in real time. Progressively, Pendulum's sound is starting to sound more towards that of a rock/metal band. Rob Swire stated in an issue of Rock Sound magazine that he would like to begin producing songs with a punk style to them, excluding the inclusion of electronic sounds in the near future.

The group has produced various remixes of other artists also; the most well-known being their remix of "Voodoo People", originally by The Prodigy. Pendulum have also remixed themselves and television theme songs, such as the Australian ABC News' Television Theme in May 2010. In 2006, their collaboration with the Freestylers - "Painkiller" - was remixed by NOISIA and released on Against the Grain Records. In 2008-2010, they covered songs including Led Zeppelin "Immigrant Song", Coldplay's "Violet Hill", Metallica's "Master of Puppets", Calvin Harris' "I'm Not Alone" and remixed Plan B's "Stay Too Long". Currently, only The Prodigy remix, Plan B remix and a BBC Radio 1 recording of the Violet Hill cover have been released to purchase, although studio versions of the Master of Puppets and I'm Not Alone remixes do exist, and have been played at DJ Sets.

Members

Current

N.B. On the Immersion booklet it states that Ben Mount is a vocalist, because he did vocals on The Vulture, his major role in the band is the live MC, and should be noted as such. Likewise to Paul Harding, who is the main live DJ and producer on Hold Your Colour, a turntablist would imply he appeared on the album playing turntables and effects, which he didn't, so he should be noted as the DJ. They have also both contributed in the writing of songs on Immersion ("Under The Waves"), and have both produced tracks of their own, as has the new drummer, KJ Sawka.

Rob Swire also performed most of the guitars on Hold Your Colour and bass guitar and percussion on In Silico and has played guitar on two tracks on Immersion. Peredur ap Gwynedd plays guitar on several tracks on In Silico and Immersion as well as "Girl in the Fire" place on the group's debut (before he became a full-time member), and plays guitar on all songs live; Hold Your Colour, in particular, has changed significantly, becoming more guitar-driven and including a guitar solo at the end. Sawka played percussion and acoustic drums on Immersion.

Former members

Paul Kodish is the only official former member, but there have been numerous session players for Pendulum. It is still unknown why Kodish left, as the band have not publically released any reason for his departure. He is now drumming with the band Killaflaw.

Discography

Main article: Pendulum discography
Studio albums

References

  1. ^ The full Pendulum discography. Pendulum.com. Archived on 28 September 2008.
  2. ^ "Live at Brixton at Play.com". Play.com. Retrieved on 23 July 2010.
  3. ^ "Pendulum to showcase new album 'Immersion' in London this month". gigwise.com (7 January 2010). Retrieved on 23 July 2010.
  4. ^ Pendulum MySpace blog entry about "Salt in the Wounds". MySpace (26 January 2010). Retrieved 23 July 2010.
  5. ^ "First play of 'Watercolour' tonight!". Pendulum.com (8 March 2010). Retrieved on 23 July 2010.
  6. ^ "360° video and free download of 'Salt in the Wounds'". Pendulum.com (1 April 2010). Retrieved on 23 July 2010.
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