Pendulum: “The New British Invasion”

Have you heard UK based electro-rockers Pendulum yet? The band has been causing a stir overseas playing the festival circuit and opening the Projekt Revolution show which also features Linkin Park and Jay-Z. They formed in their home-town of Perth (Western Australia) in 2002, when producers Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen teamed up with acclaimed local DJ Paul ‘El Hornet’ Harding. While their individual formative roots ranged from producing drum & bass, breakbeat and hardcore, to playing in metal and punk bands, their comparable talents proved an unstoppable force when they managed to single-handedly conquer the world of drum & bass in their first 12 months together. The press quickly latched onto the unit with Ultimate-Guitar saying that Pendulum’s explosive sound was, “destined to break down genres and smash up charts worldwide.”

After selling more than 200,000 units of their debut artist album Hold Your Colour, remixing for artists as The Prodigy, being play-listed and featuring regularly on BBC Radio 1, all whilst continuing to tour the world over as DJs, Pendulum decided that it was finally time to take things to the next level – performing live. The band recently made their U.S. live debut at the 2008 installment of the Coachella Festival in Indio, CA. But it took some hard work to finally perfect their live show and sound.

“We want our music to be an escape. While technology continues to constantly advance production techniques and (arguably) sound quality, something has been lost in the process – that original sense of self-escape, the idea of leaving yourself open to experience something you don’t necessarily find in every-day life. That was the energy we picked up on and liked about electronic music when we first got into it. It felt like the same energy found with bands like Led Zeppelin and even The Beatles, and still occasionally today with bands like Tool, The Mars Volta, Queens Of The Stone Age and others,” says singer Rob Swire.

“To us, it made perfect sense to combine the best of both worlds, but it had to be done in a way that didn’t make it sound obvious. In the last 10 years you’ve had all these bands that tried to cross the bridge by recruiting a turntabilist / using a synthesizer on their new single, or electronic artists who just threw an obvious guitar sample into a tune, but eventually it just came across as a gimmick or a bit cheesy. We thought we’d try and do it properly, because to us it still hasn’t been done right and there’s a lot of room for exploration,” further explains the front man.

The overseas buzz the band garnered secured them a record deal with Atlantic Records in late 2007. So now with their North American debut, In Silico finally hitting stores, Pendulum is poised to play their infectious brand of electronic kissed rock to a whole new audience. Just remember who turned you onto them first!