The Presets
The Presets | |
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![]() The Presets live in London 2006 | |
Background information | |
Origin | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Genres |
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Years active | 2003 | –present
Labels | |
Members | |
Website | thepresets |
The Presets are an Australian electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton (vocals, keyboards) and Kim Moyes (drums, keyboards). Formed in 2003 and signed to Modular Records, The Presets released two EPs (Blow Up, Girl and the Sea) in advance of their debut album, Beams, released in 2005 to positive critical response.[1] After two years of touring, including as the Australian support for Daft Punk, the band's 2008 release, Apocalypso, debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, and went on to win six awards at ARIA Awards 2008, including Album of the Year.[2]
In 2009, Hamilton and Moyes won an APRA Award for Songwriters of the Year[3] and another ARIA Award, this time for Best Dance Release for "Talk Like That". They released their third album, Pacifica, in Australia in September 2012. It reached No. 3 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Their fourth album, Hi Viz, was released in June 2018. The Presets are known for their dynamic live shows.
Aside from the Presets' extensive performance work, the duo has remixed tracks for several other artists including Kings of Leon, Silverchair and Lenny Kravitz.[4][5] The Presets are recognised as key players in the dance music explosion in Australia in the late 2000s.[6]
History
The Presets' founders, Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes met in 1995 at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music where they were both studying classical music.[7][8] They shared an interest in 1980s pop music and became members of the Sydney-based electronic group, Prop, with Jeremy Barnett on marimbas, Hamilton on keyboards, Moyes on vibraphone, David Symes on bass guitar and Jared Underwood on drums. This group released two albums, Small Craft, Rough Sea in 2001 and Cook Cut Damage Destroy in 2003. Hamilton and Moyes broke off from Prop when they remixed a track, "Magnetic Highway", with "harder electronic edges" under the name The Presets.[7][9]
2003–2004: Early EPs
The Presets formed in Sydney in 2003 with Hamilton on vocals, keyboards and production and Moyes on drums, keyboards, production and programming.
2005–2006: Beams
The Presets released their debut album, Beams in Australia on 12 September 2005. The first commercially released single from the album was "Are You the One?", backed with non-album tracks "Truth and Lies" and "Midnight Boundary", as well a remix of "Girl and the Sea" by Cut Copy.[13] The UK version of the single (which appeared in early 2006) featured remixes by Simian Mobile Disco and Van She.[13] A remix of the song by French DJ, Lifelike, was commissioned in 2008 to feature in a BMW 1 Series commercial in Australia.[14] The Presets played their first shows in the United Kingdom and Europe, opening as special guests for fellow Australian band The Dissociatives as well as two shows of their own in London.
Throughout the second half of 2005, the duo toured Australia nationally several times, playing shows with Little Birdy, Paul Mac and Regurgitator, and their own headline tour in October. 2005 also saw the band make their first Australian festival appearances, DJing at Splendour in the Grass, Byron Bay and Come Together Festival in Sydney, as well as closing off the year playing at Falls Festival in Lorne, Australia.
The Presets kicked off 2006 with their first-ever national Australian festival run, playing in the Boiler Room for the
The next single released for the band was "I Go Hard, I Go Home", again released in the UK only with remixes by
The band returned to Australia mid-year for Infinity 2006, presented by Modular Records featuring The Presets and special guests Digitalism. The tour sold out everywhere and was met with ecstatic reviews.[17] The tour was followed by a triumphant set at Splendour in the Grass, with PopMatters describing the audience's reaction: "It's been a long time since I've seen a crowd go as wild as this."[18]
The touring schedule continued with a run of club dates across the US summer, including playing
After more than four months away The Presets returned to cap off the year, playing Homebake in Sydney and Meredith Music Festival in Victoria.
2007
A major turning point for The Presets was their 2007
In April 2007, the Presets released another single only distributed in the UK, "Truth & Lies", which featured two songs and originally appeared as a B-side to "Are You The One?" in Australia.[21] Around the same time the band spent a few weeks at a farm just outside Bryon Bay, where they began work on what would become their second album. In the middle of the year the band relocated to Berlin for several months. During this time they played across Europe on the festival circuit, including Benicàssim in Spain and Global Gathering in the UK. On the way home they performed at Modular Stage at Summer Sonic in Japan. Back in Sydney they continued to work in earnest on the album. By November the bulk of the album was completed.
In December, The Presets performed as the main support act for Daft Punk during their NeverEverLand tour around Australia. The tour proved highly successful with almost 35,000 people attending the Sydney show alone.[22] Coinciding with the NeverEverLand Tour, The Presets released "My People", the lead single from their second album Apocalypso. Paired with a groundbreaking video by Kris Moyes and several remixes, the song was added instantly to the Triple j network, and saw commercial radio networks in Australia give the band their first airplay. Overseas, "My People" kickstarted a renewed interest in the band, becoming The Guardian's Pick of the Week, who likened the song to "the brutality of Aussie rules football [...] in a good way, obviously."[23]
2008
Apocalypso was issued on 12 April 2008, which debuted at number-one on the ARIA Albums Chart and remained in the top 50 for 63 weeks.[24] It achieved the iTunes number-one spot for several weeks.[25] By 2009 it was certified triple platinum (shipment of 210,000 units) in Australia.[26][27] The Guardian described the album as "a giant leap forward [...] Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes have sharpened their pop-poisoned claws and dug them deep into their dark-hued techno."[23]
Throughout 2008 the band performed at several festivals throughout Europe and the US including
In May 2008, the Presets released an EP, single and a remixed edition of "
2009–2011
The Presets played at the festival
In April, the Presets performed at
In May, the Presets released a remix of Sarah Blasko's song "Hold on My Heart". The band also remixed "Closer", the opening track for Kings of Leon's fourth album Only by the Night. The Presets' remix of the song "Closer" went on to feature as a bonus track on Kings of Leon's fifth album Come Around Sundown, which was released in October 2010.[36]
In February 2011, the Presets headlined the MS Festival at Inveresk (Launceston) and in March they performed at
The Presets have publicly expressed dismay that journalists often rely on the band's Wikipedia page for research purposes. Hamilton stated in a Rolling Stone Australia interview: "We always get the same six questions. We should put on our Wiki page 'we [really] hate it when journalists check this page to ask us questions.'"[26]
2012
In 2012 the band released the singles "Youth in Trouble" (June 2012) and "Ghosts" (August 2012) in advance of their album Pacifica.[37][38] "Ghosts" featured on the official soundtrack of EA Sports' FIFA 13.[39]
The Presets' third studio album Pacifica was released on 7 September 2012.[40] The album received domestic and international acclaim. Pacifica was the ARIA Charts Album of the Week following its release in September 2012. ARIA described the album's stand out tracks: "'Fall'-- Julian Hamilton's vocals at their haunting best, 'Fast Seconds' will be mind-blowing live and 'Promises' a summer anthem with New Order flavours."[41]
Australian publications
Pacifica was nominated for the 2012
In October 2012, the Presets performed at the
2013–present
In celebration of Australia Day 2013, the Presets performed at the Australia Day Live Concert on the lawns of Parliament House on 25 January. In February, the band embarked on their national tour of Australia to promote Pacifica.
In March the duo played at the Snowball Festival in Colorado, as well as the Sasquatch Music Festival at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington in May.[48] The Presets also performed at Dark Mofo in Hobart,[49] SXSW Music Festival in the US,[50] Splendour in the Grass in Byron Bay, Australia,[51] and they headlined the Mardi Gras Festival in Sydney, Australia.[52][53]
The Presets were nominated for Best Live Act in the inthemix Awards for 2013 and in the Triple J Hottest 100 of the last 20 years "My People" was voted in at number 77. The countdown, hosted by radio station Triple J, had 940,000 voters from Australia and around the world. The countdown was a means of narrowing down the top songs released between 1993 and 2012. The Presets were one of 29 Australian artists, which were recognised in the countdown.[54][55]
Two days before Bali Nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking, Kim Moyes condemned the death penalty via Facebook and called for their fans to "stop listening to [our] music" if they supported the then-impending executions of the Bali Nine pair. He went on to reiterate that their 2007 single "My People" was inspired by the plight of asylum seekers during the John Howard era.[56][57] The duo later apologised for "getting personal" and posted a tribute after Chan and Sukumaran were executed along with six other prisoners on 29 April 2015.[58]
In October 2023, The Presets featured on 3%'s debut single "Our People", which samples "My People".[59]
Members
- Julian Hamilton – vocals, keyboards
- Kim Moyes – drums, keyboards
Discography
- Beams (2005)
- Apocalypso (2008)
- Pacifica (2012)
- Hi Viz (2018)
Awards and nominations
ARIA Awards
The
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | Beams | Best Dance Release | Nominated |
"Are You the One?" | Best Video (Directed by Kris Moyes) | Nominated | |
2008 | Apocalypso | Album of the Year | Won |
Apocalypso | Best Dance Release | Won | |
Apocalypso | Best Group | Won | |
Apocalypso | Producer of the Year (Julian Hamilton, Kim Moyes) | Won | |
Apocalypso | Best Cover Art (Jonathan Zawada) | Won | |
"My People" | Best Video (directed by Kris Moyes) | Won | |
"My People" | Single of the Year | Nominated | |
Apocalypso | Engineer of the Year (Scott Horscroft) | Nominated | |
2009 | "Talk Like That" | Best Dance Release | Won |
Apocalypso | Highest Selling Album | Nominated | |
2013 | Pacifica | Best Dance Release | Nominated |
2014 | "No Fun" | Best Dance Release | Nominated |
The National Tour | Best Australian Live Act | Nominated | |
2018 | "Do What You Want" | Best Video (directed by Kris Moyes) | Nominated |
Hi Viz | Best Cover Art (Jonathan Zawada) | Nominated |
APRA Awards
The APRA Music Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia by Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Songwriter of the Year is voted by APRA's Board of Writer and Publisher Directors rewarding the songwriter who has recorded the most impressive body of work in the previous year.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | Kim Moyes and Julian Hamilton | Songwriters of the Year |
Won | |
"This Boy's in Love" (Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes) | Dance Work of the Year | Nominated | [63] | |
2010 | "If I Know You" (Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes) | Dance Work of the Year | Nominated | [64] |
"Talk Like That" (Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes) | Nominated | |||
2013 | "Youth in Trouble" (Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes) | Song of the Year | Shortlisted | [65] |
2014 | "Promises" (Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes) | Dance Work of the Year | Nominated | [66] |
The Australian Music Prize
The Australian Music Prize (The AMP) is an annual award of $30,000 given to an Australian band or solo artist in recognition of the merit of an album released during the year of award.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Apocalypso | Australian Album of the Year | Nominated |
2013 | Pacifica | Australian Album of the Year | Nominated |
2018[67][68] | Hi Viz | Australian Album of the Year | Nominated |
J Awards
The
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Apocalypso | Australian Album of the Year |
Won |
"My People" | Australian Music Video of the Year |
Nominated | |
2012 | Pacifica | Australian Album of the Year |
Nominated |
2023[69] | "Our People" (with 3%) | Australian Video of the Year | Nominated |
Helpmann Awards
The Helpmann Awards is an awards show, celebrating live entertainment and performing arts in Australia, presented by industry group Live Performance Australia since 2001.[70] Note: 2020 and 2021 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Australian Chamber Orchestra featuring The Presets | Best Australian Contemporary Concert | Nominated | [71] |
FBi SMAC Awards
Every year, FBi brings together the finest creative talents Sydney has to offer. The
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Apocalypso | Record of the Year | Won |
National Live Music Awards
The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2018[72][73] | The Presets | Live Electronic Act (or DJ) of the Year | Nominated |
Rolling Stone Australia Awards
The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of Rolling Stone magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year.[74]
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2012 | "Ghosts" | Single of the Year (Readers' Vote) | Won |
UK Music Video Awards
The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video and moving image for music.
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2009 | "If I Know You" | Best Dance Music Video | Won |
In the Mix Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2006 | "Are You the One?" | Best Video (Kris Moyes) | Won |
2012 | The Presets | Best Live Act | Won |
2013 | The Presets | Best Live Act | Nominated |
Faster Louder Festival Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | The Presets | Best Local Festival Act | Won |
GQ Australia Men of the Year Awards
Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | The Presets | Band of the Year | Won |
References
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External links
- Official website
Media related to The Presets at Wikimedia Commons