In Conversation

05 December 2008 03:59 BST

Pendulum: Crossing over with great aplomb

Crossover is a phrase which is bandied about far too often these days, however, in the case of Pendulum, who fuse rock with drum 'n' bass, it’s a very apt description.

inthenews.co.uk's Lee Davis spoke to the Australian outfit's bassist Gareth McGrillen in the run-up to the release of the group's new single Propane Nightmares.

Pendulum, from Perth in Australia, have bolted together the worlds of rock and drum 'n' bass, and this combination has won them an army of fans in the UK, and has propelled the band into the top flight of acts who play British nightclubs and universities.

The group comprises Rob Swire on vocals and synths, DJ Paul Harding, Kodish on drums, guitarist Perry Gwynedd and bassist Gareth McGrillen.

It was Gareth who I spoke to as the band's equipment was being packed up for a flight to Australia following a rehearsal session in London, with the group set to follow a few days later.

Initially, Gareth had been a big fan of metal and rock, and was not overly enamoured of drum 'n' bass. However, when that musical genre moved into a darker realm his curiosity piqued.

And when he and the rest of Pendulum went to see a group called Bad Company, they noticed more than a passing resemblance between drum 'n' bass and metal, in terms of the sheer energy the two genres produce.

Mixing the two genres led to the current incarnation of Pendulum, who performed their first live show at Fabric in 2006.

Commenting on the fusion of sounds, Gareth said: "I guess you could say we want dance kids not to know it's rock, and rock kids not to know it's dance."

Given Pendulum's blending of musical styles, it's a fair assumption that they have a wide range of influences including drum 'n' bass outfit Bad Company to rock veterans Led Zeppelin, although as Gareth said: "It changes from month to month and year to year. Anything from the Beach Boys to hardcore metal.

"Rock and blues and metal, and bands like Led Zeppelin were big influences on the last album."

Pendulum's new album In Silico is due for release on May 12th, and a single taken from the LP, Propane Nightmares, is out on April 21st.

Gareth said bandmate Rob Swire, who delivers the group's distinctive vocals as well as playing synths and handling production, is the songwriting force that drives Pendulum.

"Rob’s the writing genius. Literally, the whole album's ideas that he's come up with. He'll record into his phone, and sharpens them into concrete ideas, but the final product is an amalgamation," revealed Gareth.

From debut album Hold Your Colour to the new LP In Silico, Gareth said the group's sound has evolved, and added: "I mean, if it hadn't we wouldn't have been writing. We would've been repeating ourselves."

New single Propane Nightmares, out later this month, draws on the thorny subject of religious cults in the United States. Gareth said: "Played live, it's unrelenting. Lyrically, it's quite deep.

"If you've seen the video clip, it's about the Heaven's Gate cult. I guess it's kinda about that, American cult history."



Propane Nightmares has a definite atmosphere and Gareth said that he and the band like all their songs to have a real presence.

Pendulum are currently on tour and when I spoke to Gareth, the group were in Camden Town in London. He said: "We're literally wrapping up from rehearsals, getting everything ready."

With their equipment being flown back to Australia, the band would follow a couple of days later, "but not from Terminal 5," quipped Gareth.

"Then from Australia, on the red-eye all the way to LA. Then we get back just for a few days' rest, and then we're back in the UK for the UK tour. It's 20 dates and not many days off," he explained.

Despite the non-stop nature of the tour, Gareth said: "It's amazing! It's really intense.

"There's so much that potentially can go wrong but we've never had a major hiccup. We've had a sound system blow up, and fire alarms go off, but we have a great crew."

Touring can throw up weird and wonderful moments for a band and Pendulum have had their share of incidents as Gareth details: "Like I said, overloading the sound system, and mosh pits getting out of control, fire alarms and chanting crowds."

Pendulum also plan to perform both live sets and DJ sets at a large number of this summer's festivals. Gareth said: "We're going to do a lot of festivals. The only one we're not doing is Glastonbury."

Their appearances take in a DJ set at Rockness in Scotland on June 8th; Wakestock in Oxfordshire on June 27th and Nass Fest in Shepton Mallet on June 13th.

Other festival dates include Oxegen in Naas, Ireland on July 12th, a DJ set at Dour Fest in Belgium on July 17th; Creamfields on August 23rd; Reading on August 24th and Bestival on the Isle of Wight on September 5th.

New single Propane Nightmares, with its eerie, moody video evoking the bizarre world of American religious cults, was actually shot in north London.

Gareth said: "It was made around Alexandra Palace, made to look like America."

The video to Propane Nightmares was the band's first professionally-made
one and Gareth said: "It was cool."

Bands often use the platform of performing live to road-test new material, and Pendulum are no exception as Gareth explained: "We definitely like to try out new material. When we DJ, it's really good for testing out material. It's perfect, really."

And he detailed how Rob Swire can test material at one show, and if it needs work through the benefits of modern technology such as mobile phones and laptops, he can send it to Gareth and it can be re-jigged in time for the next show.

Technology plays a big role in Pendulum's shows. They have a high-powered computer on stage which enables the band to process audio as it is handled in the studio, on a real-time basis.

This means they can bring the same sound that is laid down in the studio to their live shows.

Collaboration is something the band has considered as Gareth said: "We'd love to work with the surviving members of Led Zeppelin. We saw them at their London show and it was amazing.

"And a Japanese band called Surf Coasters. We're also going to check out Rage Against the Machine a festival but, at the moment, we're just concentrating on ourselves."

Since their earliest days, Pendulum have enjoyed radio airplay here in the UK courtesy of Radio 1 and in their native Australia through Triple J.

Said Gareth: "Radio 1, we can't thank them enough. To have a country where the biggest, most powerful radio station is one funded by the government is amazing."

In Australia, the band receives airplay on Triple J, which is similar to Radio 1 in terms of funding.

As for America, Gareth said: "We've been DJing over there. America, it's the final frontier for us. This year, we're planning to hit them hard."

Lee Davis