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 There’s just no stopping The Presets. Julian Hamilton, one half of the tearaway cultural phenomenon, speaks to Garrett Bithell ahead of their sold-out national tour.
“We definitely play with it. But it’s not as though we try to ram it down people’s throats. Kim [Moyes] and I are really old friends and we get into the studio and the camera comes out and we start getting bored with the usual photos. So we start hamming it up – playing around and being silly. Ultimately the t-shirts come off and we start throwing our arms around each other – and invariably they are the photos we love the best.”
So says Julian Hamilton, one half of Sydney-based electro wizards The Presets – perhaps the most homoerotic ‘straight’ Australian outfit since Silverchair. Indeed the video for their new single, ‘This Boy’s In Love’, features two shirtless boys wrestling, Greco-Roman style, in a pool of milky liquid. It’s aggressive, sensual and beautiful – almost classical, like a Rembrandt painting brought to life.
“We got so many treatments for that video from directors,” Julian tells SX. “But they were all very typical – boy and girl running into the forest together, boy and girl running down the street or out of town together – and we thought ‘Oh God!’ Then finally that treatment came though and we were thrilled. But it’s homoerotic, definitely!
“It’s funny, when we’ve got a photo shoot coming up our publicists always say ‘it would be great if we could get some straight shots this time’. Publicists often have to try and get their bands to let loose, but with us it’s the other way around. They ask us to reel it in.”
Nevertheless, The Presets do have a particular affinity with the gay community. Their first gigs were at sundry gay nights across Sydney.
“It was always the gay scene that really jumped on what we were doing before anyone else did, here and overseas,” Julian says. “The gay scene is the tastemaker I think – historically it has always been the gay scene that jumped on cool things before the mainstream.”
But double entendres aside, now the mainstream is really following our lead. The Presets’ sophomore album, Apocalypso, released last month, debuted at Number 1 on the ARIA chart. With lead single ‘My People’, a not-so-hidden swipe at the Howard government’s immigration policies, already a club classic, ‘This Boy’s In Love’ is set to follow. This immediate success marks a distinct shift from their debut Beams, which was initially an underground hit that went on to woo the world.
“We’re totally thrilled,” Julian raves. “If you had asked me six months earlier, I would never have dreamed of it even being in the charts. Beams was a really fun album and we really enjoyed making it, but of course once you tour it for two or three years you start to see holes. So we were really excited about getting the chance to develop our sound.”
The Presets will embark on a trans-Australia tour next month. Julian has made quite a name for himself on stage – his dramatic, almost theatrical, persona has inspired many into aesthetic contemplation.
“I’ve found a character,” he admits. “The music is so loud and up front and boisterous that you do almost have to create these wild, maniacal characters.
We’re not role playing or anything like that, but I guess it’s ‘Super Kim’ and ‘Super Julian’ up there!”
In a way Julian is like a modern-day Michael Hutchence, with a techno edge. “That’s a lovely comparison,” he says. “He was fantastic – such a great front man and such a beautiful voice. That’s a real compliment!”
It seems The Presets’ music was made for the stage. Their live gigs have become something many aim for but fail to achieve – a rapturous celebration that defies demography. Julian and Kim have created a vibrant scene almost by default and have somehow made the mainstream come to them.
“When we first started we used to play to rooms of 20 people,” Julian tells. “But now, whenever we announce a show, everyone gets so excited! The music seems to have its real place on stage.
“Kim and I met at music school and a lot of our training was in classical music. A sense of performance and drama is so important to that world – genres like opera are all about the spectacle, the event.
“We often got a little bored seeing some of our favourite electronic musicians live – generally it was some thin white guy standing behind a computer. So we make a conscious effort to make our shows really entertaining and fun.”
The Presets’ Apocalypso national tour runs from June 12-21. For more information, go to thepresets.com or myspace.com/thepresets. Apocalypso is in stores now.
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