Issue 155
Pendulum
Swinging the ball
14th May 2007
Chris Sloley and Holly Thomas look at the Summer Ball headliners Pendulum as they prepare to swing through Swansea's summer and work on their new album.
Pendulum are set to storm this year's Summer Ball with their popular brand of drum and bass. Hailing from Perth, Australia, Rob Swire, Gareth McGrillen and DJ Paul 'Bhomet' Harding, will bring tracks such as 'Tarantula' and 'Hold Your Colour' to the main stage.
For a brief spell on Radio One you couldn't go five minutes without hearing the slow, meaningful build of 'Slam'. The mesh of samples and beats pulsated through speakers across the country and it seemed like for the moment at least the world had become infected with drum and bass and leading the charge to break through into the mainstream were Pendulum. But for those in the know, the heavy beats accompanied by low, buzzing basslines were not new music to the hardened ears of the D'n'B faithful.
The three DJs first made musical headway with 2005 release Hold Your Colour, selling over 100,000 in the process, and this opened new doors for them and the potential to remix such artists as The Prodigy. Pendulum also find time to collaborate with numerous artists and recently released the single Fasten Your Seatbelt with dance music mainstays The Freestylers.
Despite the fame, the live experience remained key and the sweatfuelled, intensive dance-ability of a Pendulum set remains as prominent as ever.
For the band, the inclusion of instruments needs to be an intrinsic part of the music. Sick of electronic music that threw in a token guitar riff and came across sounding 'a bit cheesy', they have built their sound up around the kind of passion and enthusiasm that they found in music such as Led Zeppelin or the Beatles.
Explaining why they are set to feature heavily on the tour cards of many British festival goers, in addition to the Summer Ball they have been confirmed as a Dance Headliner at Glastonbury 2007...not too bad work for a band with only one record of their own on the market.
However, at the time of writing, the band is currently holed up preparing for a sophomore success to fully establish themselves as big time players. Looking to bring a more guitar- based sound the band themselves have described their new conception as 'an electronic Led Zeppelin, a crunked up Soundgarden, Tool meets Timbaland' but staying true to their own sensibilities.
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