For almost three decades, PNAU have been at the forefront of reinvention in music. With each new release, this iconic electronic music pioneers have shaped, and re-shaped, their sound, drawing from global influences and bringing them straight to the club. Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes are not slowing down by any means, and are continuing to innovate their own craft.
But their latest project might be their most innovative, and unusual, yet.
The band have teamed up with iconic chip brand Red Rock Deli to create their new cut ‘All Your Energy’. The twist? The song was made using Red Rock Deli chip ingredients. Chilli “clap”, lime “synth”, and black pepper crushed with a mortar and pestle “bass”. It’s hard to believe hearing the song – you’d have no clue actual food was used to make this banger – but that’s just a testament to the band’s commitment to innovate.
We caught up with PNAU to chat more about this collab came about, the challenges that arose with it and, of course, their must-have Red Rock Deli flavour.
Q: Before we go any further, what's your favorite Red Rock Deli flavour?
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A: It's like asking for your five best films. What are you going to do to me here?
Q: Was there anything in particular that surprised you more than anything else about this partnership and also creating ‘All Your Energy’?
A: We have lived parallel lives. We have always made complex and layered music and Red Rock Deli make complex and layered flavors – this is a match made in heaven.
Q: But was there anything like difficult about creating this song specifically, whether it comes from using unorthodox methods or something else that listeners might not be aware of?
A: Well, it’s a collaboration with a great singer that we met in a bar one night, Allie Gabriel. He was inspiring and making music for food is super cool and, in itself, is like an odd thing to do.
We make dance music, so it's going to be energetic. it's a celebration, and Red Rock Deli is a celebratory food. We're all here for that.
Q: Take me through the process of creating this. How do you guys choose what food to use and how did that transform into what we hear in the finished product?
A: It's a bit like techno. You got to get your hands dirty, you've got to get in there with the machines and you've got to let it intensify. You've got to look after your machines like you've got to look after your potatoes – you've got to water them.
Q: Is this the first time you've used food to create music?
A: Actually, we collaborated with the vegetable orchestra from Vienna a few years ago when I was producing Mika. They actually make their instruments on the day of the performance by going to the shop.
Looking back in history, a lot of the original instruments were actually vegetables, legumes, all kinds of things. I was just in Thailand and there were trays of plants like shrubs and grasses and things. And as you walk past, they were the perfect shaker. We’re surrounded by music, and it’s more a part of this consciousness than anything else in a way. The fact that you can eat your music is pretty cool.
Q: Were you drawing upon these ancient methods from other cultures when creating this track?
A: I'd say it's baked into everything we do. We like the idea of primitive things – the way they would have made music a million years ago. I think there's an element to that.
Q: is there another instance of unusual instrumentation you used in a previous track?
A: We're always trying to do odd techniques and that is something that's important to us. You know, we're always seeking a different sound and different way of incorporating things. And I believe we use one small element of this in this track – we recorded a series of percussionists in a cave in Hawaii.
Q: Why the cave?
A: Because it just sounded amazing. There's no studio that sounds like that, you know? And then we had percussion which is kind of all over the place. We were recreating the original rave cave.
Q: Do you change your recording surroundings just to keep things interesting for yourself?
A: It's all about changing your technique, changing your angle, changing something, anything which is good, anything new is, is an exciting prospect, a new moment, a new possible way of viewing your work.
Q: Was there anything that you wanted to do with this track that you tried that you just couldn't get to work the way you wanted it to so you scrapped it?
A: We tried incorporating chip packets, sounds and it just felt tokenistic. It did. It didn't have the essence of Red Rock Deli and it just had like, the sound of something that might be, you know, anyone to do with anything that's not really. Yeah. Yeah. It's nonspecific, right?
Q: Was it obvious pretty soon that that wasn't going to work?
A: You'd think so, wouldn't you? But no, we bought every chip packet pretty much we could find.
I think with the different flavors and different effects and then obviously the temperature in the room, I like it really hot. There was a lot of factors at play. Sound isn’t just sound.
Jackson Langford