They came seemingly out of nowhere to release two of the biggest bangers of the year, take over Splendour In The Grass, and chuck two songs into the top five of the Hottest 100. We’re talking, of course, about Peking Duk.
From their chart-scaling singles and impressive live shows, to their mastery of social media and hilarious music videos, the Canberra duo comprised of mates Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles have basically done everything right.
And it’s no accident, either. Speaking recently to the Sydney Morning Herald, the duo revealed that every move they’ve made has been a calculated effort to ensure the good word about Peking Duk is spread all over the world.
Part of what’s made their live shows such a must-see spectacle is the pre-recorded celebrity videos that precede the performance. After tapping David Hasselhoff, Adam and Reuben recruited Karl Stefanovic, and their most recent vid sees The Hoff returning for seconds.
“We thought it was just going to be the Hoff doing a little hype video for Peking Duk,” Adam Hyde told Fairfax of the video, “and then his manager was like, `Got a bit of a surprise for you – KITT’s going to be in it too.'”
“We were a bit young for Knight Rider, but I do know how iconic that car is. That was incredible and hilarious.” As Fairfax notes, for Peking Duk, the intro video is as important to the fan experience as any of the songs they play.
Adam and Reuben figured out a while back that putting themselves in everybody’s social media feeds is the way to win the hearts and minds of young fans, who are always looking for something new and funny to share.
It’s the reason the majority of their performance fee for their past two Splendour In The Grass appearances were spent on production alone. In addition to The Hoff, this year’s Splendour set featured remote-controlled balloons from Japan, which synchronised with the music.
There were also commissioned animations from a former Sega employee, a string quartet, and a whole slew of guest artists, including Elliphant, Safia’s Ben Woolner, Harts, and Nicole Millar who came out to perform their biggest hit, ‘High’.
“In 2014, we lost a bunch of money on that show because we wanted to make it as special for the audience as possible, and it definitely paid off,” Adam said. “This year we upped it even more.” So what can fans at Stereosonic expect?
“I can’t say too much, but what I can say is there’ll be quite a few surprises. We will try do something that matches the epicness of those remote-controlled balloons.” In the meantime, the duo are working on their debut album, which they hope to drop before 2016.
“We’ve got psychedelic vibes, rap beats, some more poppy stuff, straight-up bangers, some more rocky stuff,” Adam said of the album. The pair’s latest single, ‘Say My Name’, is definitely a U-turn for Peking Duk and there’s even collabs with Daniel Johns on the horizon.
It’s not a bad turn of events for two high-school mates, one of whom started out in an indie band and the other who was a hip-hop emcee. “When we were younger, me and Reubs were listening to Slayer, Megadeth, Pantera, Slayer,” Adam said, “and then we’d listen to Dr. Dre and Eazy-E.”
After they were introduced to house producers like Crookers and the Bloody Beetroots through a mutual friend, Adam and Reuben started making their own brand of trashy club music on the popular digital workstation Reason.
After breaking through with a bootleg remix of Passion Pit’s ‘Take A Walk’, the duo skyrocketed with the release of ‘High’ and ‘Take Me Over’, which achieved multi-platinum sales in Australia and cracked the top five of the Hottest 100.
‘High’ only just missed out on the top spot to Chet Faker’s ‘Talk Is Cheap’. “We were blown away by that,” Adam said. “I think two in the top five is like a record. I think Powderfinger were the only other band to get that.”
