PINES Is Ready To Take On America
The Adelaide-based electronic duo are fresh off of playing at Laneway, and are gearing up for a headline tour of the States.
PINES (Supplied)
If I had to choose one word to describe the music that PINES creates, it would be sunny.
Their tunes are heady, invigorating, and lively - the kind of music that is sure to pump up any audience. And their recent single, Golden - the lead single off of their upcoming EP SUN - distills all of these sonic values.
The song, featuring the Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Amber Elle on vocals, is a certified earworm. It is bright, fluid, pulsing, and impossibly catchy. It is easy to imagine it lighting up the crowd at any summer festival.
The electronic duo - consisting of Adam and James - explain the process of creating Golden.
James says, “Amber came to us with the vocal - we normally start the other way around a lot of the time. So we had to sort of match the music to that.” She approached them via Instagram. “We messed around with chord ideas for quite a while with this one.” Their main goal, with music, is always to try to capture a certain vibe. “Essentially, any track we make, it’s all about the feel…We just keep going until it feels good.
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Adam adds, “That’s largely what we live by: just always chasing a feeling.”
The duo are defined by committed teamwork and collaboration. Generally, they explain, James focuses on melodies, lyrics, and arrangements, and Adam sees his area of expertise as “soundscape slash experimentation.”
“There’s no track where we just make it individually,” he confirms.
“We need each other to get to the finish line,” James says. “By the end of the process, both of our fingerprints are all over it.”
“The more we’ve made music together, the more we’ve honed in on our strengths.”
PINES has already enjoyed a successful year so far. They played during the Adelaide leg of Laneway in February, an experience they describe as “heaps of fun.”
Do they still become nervous when playing at events of that scale?
“I definitely get nervous,” James says. “Probably more so than Adam.”
Adam does still tend to feel stressed during the sound check. “Obviously, being an electronic act, we rely on equipment and gear and computers. I mean, on our last US tour we programmed all our own lighting, so we’re basically like a travelling lighting designer slash musical designer slash artist.” He laughs.
It is a lot of pressure, but it is all worth it when the shows go well.
And now they are gearing up to tour the US in June, after having successfully managed to tour all across the States last year. And they are feeling prepared.
“Having done it once, I’m definitely not feeling overwhelmed by the upcoming one. Second time around, we kind of know what we’re doing. We’re quite excited for this year.”
PINES will be playing in Los Angeles, New York, Denver, Chicago, and Seattle.
Is there a difference in the way that the audiences in America engage with their music in comparison to Australian audiences?
“I’d say very differently,” James says. “Most of our listeners come from America. The crowds we play to in the US are significantly bigger than the crowds we play to here. It feels like in the US, also, people are just a little bit forthcoming - coming up to you and saying hi, being a bit more direct.”
Adam chimes in. “Whenever we go to America, everyone’s very welcoming. It’s really good fun. Can’t wait to go back, actually.”
The latest PINES EP SUN will be out on all streaming platforms on 15th. It will be a welcome slice of warmth as Australia heads into the chillier seasons - and it will be the perfect mood-setter for those in the US ready to catapult their way into spring.
For more details about PINES’s US tour, you can visit their website online here.
This piece of content has been assisted by the Australian Government through Music Australia and Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body
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