The Presets

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The Presets
Upper body shot of two men, both are wearing sunglasses and tee-shirts, they are not shaved. The man at left has mouth open as if speaking and his face is turned partly to the second man. Second man has his face turned to the first and cradles his right arm over the other's shoulders.
The Presets: Julian Hamilton (left) and Kim Moyes,
in San Francisco, September 2008.
Background information
Origin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres Electropop, electro house
Years active 2003 (2003)–present
Labels Modular, Rex, International Deejay Gigolo
Associated acts Prop, The Dissociatives, Silverchair
Website thepresets.com
Members
Julian Hamilton
Kim Moyes

The Presets are an Australian electronic duo formed in 2003, consisting of Julian Hamilton on vocals and keyboards, and Kim Moyes on drums and keyboards. They released their debut album Beams in 2005 to positive critical response.[1] Their 2008 release Apocalypso debuted at number-one on the ARIA Albums Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2008 they won 'Best Dance Release' and 'Best Group', and became the first electronic act to win 'Album of the Year'.[2] In 2009, The Presets' Hamilton and Moyes won an APRA Award for 'Songwriters of the Year'[3] and an ARIA Award for 'Best Dance Release' for "Talk Like That".[2] Aside from their performance work the duo have remixed tracks for The Dissociatives, Lenny Kravitz, Silverchair, Sarah Blasko and Kings of Leon.

Contents

[edit] 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.[4][5] 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.[4][6]

[edit] 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.[4] The band recorded a demo, which drew the attention of Modular Recordings, they signed with the label and released a seven-track extended play, Blow Up, in November.[6][7] Daniel Johns (Silverchair) provided guitar work and co-wrote the track, "Cookie" with the duo.[4] The EP was favourably compared to work by Depeche Mode, Soft Cell and Cabaret Voltaire.[6] The Presets supported the EP with gigs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane; and issued a 10" single, "Beat On / Beat Off", on Rex Records.[6] In November 2004, as a follow up, a second EP was issued, the five-track Girl and the Sea. Its title track was featured on The O.C. – the United States teen drama TV series.[4] Tim Colman of Sydney Morning Herald described them as having "successfully fused pop, techno, electro and rock. They've even stripped the live rig down to drums, keyboards, microphones and an iPod."[8]

[edit] 2005–2006

The Presets live in London 2006

On 20 May 2005, The Presets released their debut album, Beams. The first single from the album was "Are You the One?". A remix of the song by French DJ, Lifelike, was later featured in a BMW 1 Series commercial in Australia.[9] The Presets toured the United Kingdom and United States for three years. While in the UK, the duo released "Down Down Down" and "I Go Hard, I Go Home" in 2006. Both singles were only available in the UK.

[edit] 2007–2010

In April 2007, The Presets released another single only distributed in the UK, "Truth & Lies", which featured two songs.[10] In December, The Presets released "My People", the lead single from their second album Apocalypso, and toured with Daft Punk around Australia on their NeverEverLand tour. 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.[11] It achieved the iTunes number-one spot for several weeks.[12] By 2009 it was certified triple-platinum (shipment of 210,000 units) in Australia.[13][14]

In May 2008, The Presets released an EP, single, and a remixed edition of "This Boy's in Love", with the song of the same name still being played on the radio before its release. In October, the band won six ARIA Awards at the 2008 ceremony: 'Producers of the Year', 'Best Artwork' (artwork by Jonathan Zawada), 'Best Video' ("My People", directed by Kris Moyes), 'Best Dance Release', 'Best Group' and 'Album of the Year'. They became the first electronic music group to receive the award for 'Album of the Year'.[15] In December, Apocalypso was awarded the J Award for Australian Album of the Year. The Presets appeared in Triple J's Hottest 100 for 2008 three times, with "Yippiyo-Ay" at number 56, "This Boy's in Love" at number 8, and "Talk Like That" at number 6.

The Presets performed on 14 March 2009 for Sound Relief at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[16] Sound Relief was a benefit concert for victims of the Victorian bushfire crisis and the Queensland floods.[17] Appearing with The Presets at the Sydney concert were, Coldplay, Eskimo Joe, Hoodoo Gurus, Icehouse, Jet, Josh Pyke, Little Birdy, Wolfmother, You Am I and additional artists.[18]

The Presets had an influence on The Black Eyed Peas' album The E.N.D. and possibly their new electronic musical direction. Following its release, will.i.am remarked that the album had been inspired by a trip to Australia, specifically the sound of The Presets' "My People". "The energy on the Presets' small little stage was crazy energy. That song My People [sings the chorus] - that shit is wild," will.i.am said, "That's the reason why this record sounds the way it does - my three months in Australia."[19]

[edit] 2011–present

The Presets have publicly expressed dismay that journalists often rely on their Wikipedia page for their research. Hamilton told Rolling Stone Australia: "We always get the same six questions. We should put on our Wiki page, 'We really love it when journalists check this page to ask us questions'."[13]

During their set at the 2011 Coachella Music Festival, The Presets played a new song which is yet to be titled. The Presets stated on their Facebook page and in In the Mix interviews that they were working on their third album, to be released in the third quarter of 2011[20]. This plan, however, failed to materialise, and no further information on a third album has been released.

[edit] Members

[edit] Discography

[edit] Studio albums

[edit] Compilations

[edit] EPs

[edit] Singles

[edit] Remixes

[edit] Awards

  • 2008 ARIA Award – Best Dance Release (Apocalypso)
  • 2008 ARIA Award – Best Group
  • 2008 ARIA Award – Album of the Year (Apocalypso)
  • 2008 ARIA Award – Best Album Artwork (Apocalypso, artwork by Jonathan Zawada)
  • 2008 ARIA Award – Best Music Video ("My People", directed by Kris Moyes)
  • 2008 ARIA Award – Producer of the Year (The Presets; Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes)
  • 2008 GQ Award – Musical Act of the Year
  • 2008 SMAC Awards – Album of the Year (Apocalypso)
  • 2008 J Award – Australian Album of the Year (Apocalypso)
  • 2009 APRA Awards – Songwriter of the Year (Kim Moyes and Julian Hamilton)[3]
  • 2009 ARIA Award – Best Dance Release ("Talk Like That")
  • 2009 UK Music Video Award – Best Dance Video ("If I Know You", directed by Eva Husson)

[edit] References

  1. ^ NCraig (28 September 2005). "The Presets – Beams". FasterLouder Pty Ltd (Sound Alliance). http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/reviews/music/3207/. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 
  2. ^ a b "ARIA Awards winners by artist – The Presets". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-artist.php?letter=P&artist=Presets%20%20The. Retrieved 26 November 2009. 
  3. ^ a b "2009 Winners – APRA Music Awards". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). http://www.apra-amcos.com.au/apraawards/musicawards/history/2009Winners.aspx. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 
  4. ^ a b c d e La Gorce, Tammy. "The Presets". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p748856/biography/review. Retrieved 30 September 2011. 
  5. ^ "The (Top 100) 2008, Sydney's Most Influential People". The (Sydney) Magazine. Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media) (69): pp. 80–81. January 2009. 
  6. ^ a b c d "Presets". Music Australia (National Library of Australia). 17 February 2004. http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-ma-NAMO~3210. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 
  7. ^ "Releases :: Blow Up". Australian Music Online. November 2003. Archived from the original on 7 August 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080807235756/http://www.amo.org.au/release.asp?id=5936. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 
  8. ^ Colman, Tim (4 February 2005). "Dirty Sounds". Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). http://www.smh.com.au/news/Music/Dirty-sounds/2005/02/03/1107228833683.html. Retrieved 1 October 2010. 
  9. ^ "'Are You the One?'". BMW 1 Series. (BMW). http://www.areyouthe1.com.au/scripts/main.asp?PageID=26610. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 
  10. ^ "'Truth & Lies' – Single by The Presets". iTunes. Apple Inc. 2 April 2007. http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/truth-lies-single/id220276877. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 
  11. ^ "The Presets – Apocalypso". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung). http://www.australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=The+Presets&titel=Apocalypso&cat=a. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 
  12. ^ Retrieved April 2008
  13. ^ a b Treuen, Jason. "The Presets: They Came Out of the Night". Rolling Stone Australia. http://jasontreuen.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/rolling-stone-the-presets-interview-they-came-out-of-the-night/. Retrieved 4 January 2009. 
  14. ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2009 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accreditations-2009Albums.htm. 
  15. ^ "Cilmi, Presets dominate ARIAs". Sydney Morning Herald. 19 October 2008. http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/music/cilmi-presets-dominate-arias-with-nine-awards/2008/10/19/1224351048297.html. Retrieved 19 October 2008. 
  16. ^ Mitchell, Geraldine (24 February 2009). "Coldplay, Kings of Leon to headline bushfire relief concerts". Herald Sun (The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd). http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25099180-661,00.html. Retrieved 25 February 2009. [dead link]
  17. ^ Brumby, John (24 February 2009). "Artists Unite For 'Sound Relief' Bushfire Benefit - Premier of Victoria, Australia". Premier of Victoria. http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/premier/artists-unite-for-sound-relief-bushfire-benefit.html. Retrieved 25 February 2009. 
  18. ^ "Latest News". Sound Relief. http://www.soundrelief.com.au/melb/index.php. Retrieved 25 February 2009. [dead link]
  19. ^ Adams, Cameron (1 July 2009). "Peas step out of pod". The Advertiser. http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25719032-5006343,00.html. 
  20. ^ "The return of The Presets on". Inthemix.com.au. http://www.inthemix.com.au/news/aust/49284/The_return_of_The_Presets. Retrieved 2011-11-02. 

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