RB Exclusive Interview: ALRT
March 6, 2024
March 6, 2024
5 Tracks To Get You Ready For INZO This Weekend
Spark up an electro fuse with a twist of house, blend it with a galvanizing slowed down beat, and Peking Duk is served. Catapulting onto the Australian music scene in 2015, the Canberra-bred duo consisting of Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles has captivated fans across Australia and the world with their distinct flavor of indie electronica and electrifying live sets. Their talent is globally recognized; they’ve received Rolling Stone and ARIA awards in addition to going multi platinum on tracks like “Take Me Over” and “High.”
In addition to hitting the festival circuit, Peking Duk just wrapped up their Clowntown Tour and released some new music with AlunaGeorge. We had a chance to ask the boys a few questions ahead of their upcoming performance at Talking Stick Resort. Check it out!
I love the track “Fake Magic.” How did you guys link up with AlunaGeorge and how has it been working with her? It seems like a flawless collaboration.
Adam: We had that beat sitting there for a long time and then decided to revisit it. It originally was much more electronic and wavy sounding… we decided to give it a bit of a funk feel to give it a bit more life so Reuben laid down that bassline and we wrapped it. We always had Aluna in mind as the perfect voice for the demo from day dot so we thought “fuck it why don’t we just reach out?”. That we did, and she got back to us within a few days saying she loved the tune! We hopped on skype and discussed ideas and Aluna hopped in the studio the following week and nailed it.
You just finished the “Clowntown” Tour. How does touring in your native Aussie homeland differ from touring in the states?
A: The clowntown tour was mayhem. Every show was sold out and we’d never felt such wild energy from our fans each night. We don’t really have that rep in the states yet so we’re trying to get that same love over there. We love the states and hopefully with our new live show and new music the love starts building more and more!
I saw you plan to “up your game” when it comes to your live shows. Besides the addition of instruments, what’s the biggest difference between your DJ and live sets?
Reuben: Well… Sonically there are obviously always going to be some differences. DJs get to play fully mixed and mastered songs every set, so the sound is exactly like the version you would hear on radio or at home, but through a club sound system…. Where no live act can perfectly recreate their recordings each set. We’ve managed however to cut our synth sounds and vocal chops, and have learned to resample them live so it sounds as close as possible.. But the live vocals, guitar, and bass are all pretty much impossible to replicate the sound and feel of the recordings. I guess though that is what makes live shows so much more special, you have no idea whats gonna happen, and each song is a slightly different version of its original recording.
It seems like everything you guys do is pretty flawless actually, considering the amount of gold and platinum records under your belt. Where have you been drawing inspiration from lately?
R: We’ve been listening to all types of music and we’ve been getting inspired by all sorts of things. The other day we were on an old boat with a super squeaky sliding glass door, so we recorded it then started writing the song based around the sound. It’s now one of our favourite songs we’ve ever written. The first sound you hear in the tune is the squeak, which immediately makes you feel like you’re on that boat. Inspiration is drawn from so much more than just music for us nowadays, sceneries and situations can almost always have a tone of some sort which can lead you to think of melodies and moods and in turn create a song based on it. The other day an anime movie had us feeling some type of way so we tried to capture it’s general mood within the song we made the following day.
What can fans expect from you poolside on the 29th?
R: A fun, sweaty, wet DJ set. Also, the amazingly talented AlunaGeorge is gonna be there. Our brand new song Fake Magic is with AlunaGeorge and this is the first time we’ll be in the same city together playing a show together so you can only imagine how excited we are for this!
You won’t want to miss this one! Grab tickets to see AlunaGeorge and Peking Duk on Saturday, July 29th, here.
Connect with Peking Duk: Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud
