Get your Preset on...

THE PRESETS INTERVIEW ... done last year... in May.

The Presets have pretty much sold out in all cities for their upcoming tour. At present their singles, ‘My People’, ‘This boys in love’ and ‘Talk like that’ are blasting through almost every TV set, stereo and set of headphones in the country. They are invading people’s eardrums everywhere with their innovative, hedonistic, hard hitting melodies and they don’t intend to let up in a hurry. They have played at almost every Australian festival possible and at countless venues overseas. I checked in with vocalist and keyboard player Julian Hamilton to get the low down on everything Presets.

By Vivienne Hill

When you’re a performer, especially a dance music duo like Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes from the Presets, you have to make technology your friend. Julian Hamilton is struggling today as all the computers he is using to organise the new show keep crashing. “Sometimes I wish we were a nice big 12 piece band or something that didn’t rely on technology so much,” said Julian. The Presets are working hard to produce a national tour which hits Brisbane later this month.

Both Kim and Julian met while studying at the conservatorium of music in Sydney and it was soon after that their musical brains started concocting what was to be a musical feast of epic proportion. “I was doing a piano major and Kim was doing percussion. We were studying all this formal music in the day time and at night time we were going to all the clubs and listening to techno and we worked out after a while that techno stuff was what we wanted to do,” said Julian.

The decision to take the dance music route has definitely payed off for the boys. Their latest album ‘Apocalypso’ is a doozey and possibly the best dance release of the year. A lot of the songs have underlying minor tones which add to the mystery and splendour of the duos music. “With this record we wanted it to be cold in a lot of ways but still a bit romantic and melancholic if that makes any sense,” said Julian. “We wanted the overall mood of the album to be a bit bleak and a bit desperate sounding, like it is the apocalypse, like it is the end of the world but still have a bit of heart and a bit of fun in there and make a bit of a party out of it. Two strong ideas really crash together pretty hard.” While writing Julian and Kim try their best to stay away from dance music for fear of creating something that is similar to what’s around. “If it does start to sound like anyone else we usually just try to mash it up by putting other things in there that shouldn’t be, then hopefully it comes out sounding a little bit more like, well, The Presets,” said Julian.

One of the most distinctive music video releases this year was the clip for ‘My People,’ directed by Kim’s brother Kris Moyes which sees The Presets in a futuristic kaleidoscope. Julian said the video was a lot of fun to make. “Kris put us in these harnesses and we were spinning around and then he did all the special effects later on where he made millions of us, like an army of Presets!” said Julian.

Anyone who has watched a Presets film clip or seen a photo will be familiar with their use of masks. Julian explains that it was an idea that has slowly become a signature thing. “A few years ago before we played at Splendour in the Grass, we were at the airport waiting to pick up our bags that were arriving on the plane and we had a couple of hours to kill. We went down to a market stall in Tweed Heads and we brought these masks that made us look like 50 year old versions of ourselves. We played that night with the masks on and everyone loved it. It was a funny little idea that we came up with that we have embellished on over the years,” said Julian.

The Presets also had the opportunity to support Daft Punk on their recent visit to Australia. “It’s funny we didn’t actually get a chance to sit down and have a ‘talk’ to them but that’s ok because they are idols of ours musically and I’m happy for it to stay that way,” said Julian. The shows were some of their biggest yet. “Sometimes those shows, they go by so quick and when you get off stage you kind of forget and miss how fun it was,” said Julian. “Its not until you get offstage until you think aw shit, that was really fun I wish I could have been a bit more in the moment up there and taken it all in a bit more.” In addition to their antics at the Daft Punk shows The Presets also got to rock out at festivals overseas with acts like Blondie and Devo. It has been a wild couple of years for the boys playing in venues across almost every continent. “Every city in the world has a little club that would have its place and you end up playing these little nights in wherever,” said Julian. “It gets a little crazy but it’s so much fun.”

‘Apocalypso’ is out now through Modular Records