Life’s a marathon, not a sprint. For Set Mo, they’ve made marathons their life.
The Sydney electronic duo, known to friends and family as Nick Drabble and Stu Turner, have amassed a sweaty following with their epic, “stamina sessions,” a kind of electronic odyssey–meets-workout, played out on a dancefloor.
These days, the pros can run a marathon in a tick over two hours. That’s a stroll in the park for this production and DJ duo, whose “sessions” run at a minimum four hours.
Drabble and Turner have been working the wheels of steel independently for about 10 years, the last six as a team. “We just want to get out there,” says Nick.
“To bang out a 60-90 minute set at a festival or club is a lot of fun and it’s often high energy, but to play for four or five hours you really get to decide the direction you want to go. You get to take people on a journey, which is what we love doing.”
There’s something old-school, even nostalgic about an all-night set. Danny Tenaglia and Carl Cox have reputations carved in granite thanks to their endurance tests.
Inspired a week-long mission at Ibiza’s legendary closing parties, Set Mo wanted to try those long-shifts with party animals back home. And they play an advantage: Drabble and Turner can bounce off one other.
“Oh, yeah, 100 percent,” says Stu, ahead of their latest tour announcement. “Every set would be completely different. We had no idea where we’d end up, where we’d go.”
The journey continues with Surrender, Set Mo’s debut album which arrived Feb. 1 via Set Mo Records. The LP, with elements of electronica, deep house and breakbeat and a spoken-word contribution from Brian Eno on the title track and opener, caps off an atypical release campaign.
The pair ditched the old “single-single-album” strategy and, instead, leaked a track each month through 2018. When you’re the masters of your own label, operating in a digital world, why not. “Not many people are doing that, yet,” says Stu. “We like doing something a little different.”
Recorded in studios in London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Australia, Surrender also features five previously-unheard efforts, the result of a fruitful writing escape in Europe which yielded 30 solid works.
It’s a nod to the power of collaboration, with creative input from the likes of Touch Sensitive, Happiness is Wealth, AJ Wright from Cloud Control, Asta, and Julian Hamilton of The Presets.
Set Mo are eyeing another few rounds of tours in the northern hemisphere in support of the new album. They’ll debut their live Surrender show with a national lap this May, tickets for which go on sale Friday, Feb. 8.
It’s a good time for Australians making electronic dance music. Alison Wonderland is the top female DJ in the world right about now. And Flume, with a new album expected this year, is among the biggest names in the game. Set Mo are keen to fly the flag.
“There are so many Aussies killing it on the world stage,” enthuses Nick. “The Rufus guys, Hayden James, Flight Facilities. And we’re lucky enough to call a lot of these people friends. It’s insane seeing mates absolutely smashing it around the world. Fingers crossed we’ll be joining them in a few years’ time on that international stage.”
Stream Set Mo’s Surrender below:
Set Mo’s ‘Surrender Tour’
Friday 17 May – Brisbane, The Foundry
Saturday 18 May – Melbourne, The Corner
Friday 24 May – Perth, Jack Rabbit Slim’s
Thursday 30 May – Sydney, Oxford Art Factory
Friday 14 June – Auckland
Saturday 15 June – Wellington
