Drum and bass purists may scorn, but groups such as Pendulum provide welcome relief from a music scene saturated with generic indie bands. Tracks such as ‘Granite’ and ‘Slam’ have propelled the Perth-based band onto the global music scene, with upcoming new album In Silico hopefully cementing their position at the forefront of the genre and bass. When a band is accorded the dubious honour of having their songs played at a Merton bop, along with firm favourites such as Busted and Avril Lavigne, then they truly have arrived.
Pendulum are perhaps most (in)famous for blending different musical styles and moving away from the core drum and bass sound. On their music-making process, the band say: ‘It develops naturally, but we tend to write a lot more music that we’re going to use. Then we listen back to it, as fans, and choose the ones that really grab us.’ Obvious enough, maybe, but combining such disparate elements as brass fanfares, rap vocals and spacey keyboards requires more than just a good ear. Or does it? The band say: "We listen to a lot of different music, and when we hear something with a vibe that we think could work with our sound, we’re not afraid to experiment and see if the two sounds will work together. More often than not, they do."
Experimentation is not limited to creating the music. Pendulum have, over the past few months, played more and more of their sets as a live band, instead of hiding behind decks. This creates a different energy and is something that they are enthusiastic about. "When DJ-ing, you’re playing out mastered tracks so there isn’t much room for creativity. But when you play live you’re creating the tracks from the ground up, so you can change them as much as you like, night after night. We find this fulfilling and it gets the crowd more involved."
Asking about influences from a band which uses samples from Spider Man 2 and the original Charlie And The Chocolate Factory was probably not the greatest of ideas, and true to form Pendulum throw up a surprise or two. Despite being a drum and bass band, they comment that "We don’t listen to much drum and bass." You have to respect their bravery, at least. In spite of this, they add "but there’re definitely a couple of artists who we never keep our eyes and ears off for too long, because they always come up with something fresh and inspiring – Dillinja and Hazard would be on the list for sure."
Pendulum are known for pushing genre boundaries, and the new album promises no change in this attitude. Will the guys ever find their sound and stick to it? Apparently not. "We all have far too much ADD to ever stick to one sound. As soon as we finish a tune we’re already wanting to be working on the next one."
You may love them or hate them, view them as creative geniuses or the drum and bass equivalent of cheese, but Pendulum can’t be faulted in their creative drive or determination to explore new musical ground.
