Pnau

Pnau
Pnau
Origin Sydney, Australia
Genres Electronic dance music
Years active 1999–present
Labels Sony Music
Associated acts Empire of the Sun
Teenager
Ladyhawke
Website Official website
Members
Nick Littlemore
Peter Mayes

Pnau is an Australian dance music duo originating from Sydney, Australia. The duo consists of musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production) and Peter Mayes (guitar, production).[1] The pair have achieved multiple successes throughout their career with their award-winning debut album Sambanova,[2][3] their universally acclaimed 2008 release Pnau,[4] their breakthrough side-project Empire of the Sun,[5][6][7] and their multiple chart-topping singles. Pnau is also recognized for their heavily publicized apprenticeship under musician Elton John, who signed the duo after listening to their record Pnau.[8] A number of projects featuring Elton's involvement with the band are currently in development, such as Pnau's new album Soft Universe[9] and an album featuring Pnau recreations of Elton John's hits.[10]

Contents

Biography

Pnau formed in Sydney, New South Wales by Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes. The two met at secondary school and began performing together in the mid-1990s, initially playing acid house and trance music.[1]

In 1999, Pnau released their debut album Sambanova under the independent label Peking Duck. It was recorded in a bedroom studio and they only expected to sell a few thousand copies.[11] The album turned out to be a surprise success when it won Best Dance Release at the ARIA Music Awards. A week later, however, the album was pulled from record stores for using uncleared samples. In a 2003 interview with The Age, Mayes recalled that they had no understanding of sample clearances due to their naïveté in the music business.[12] Mayes claimed that the album's recall did seriously affect their commercial sales.[12]

In subsequent years Pnau went on to make many live appearances at music festivals like Big Day Out in 2001 and Homebake in 2002. During this time, they garnered a reputation for their lively performances.[13] Amidst this era, Pnau released their second album, Again in 2003.[14] The album was considered to be a failure and a disappointment among fans and critics alike. Littlemore was later quoted as Again being "the worst record I’ve ever done".[15] Despite the unfavorable album response, several tracks received considerable acclaim, the most noteworthy being We Love The Fresh Kills which was a significantly popular single for the duo at the time.[4] However, because of Again's lackluster success the pair parted ways for some time to work with other artist's such as Robbie Williams,[15] Van She,[16] and Lost Valentinos.[17]

When the two reunited in 2007 they wrote over two-hundred songs together and started to lay down an entire album.[15] They sent a work-in-progress track to long-time friend and collaborator Luke Steele, who sent back the track with his own vocals. After receiving the track Littlemore and Mayes decided to scrap everything they had laid down to focus on a more vocally centered album.[18] The track became known as With You Forever and the finalized album was released under the self-titled name Pnau. The album not only featured vocal work from Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore himself, but also had many guest appearances such as Ladyhawke, Nik Yannika from Lost Valentinos and Michael DeFrancesco from Van She.[19] The album was released to high critical acclaim[4] and gained unexpected favorable attention from Elton John,[8][20][21][22] declaring it to be the greatest record he'd heard in ten years.[23][24]

Inspired by their track "With You Forever", Pnau began work on a collaboration with Luke Steele.[25] Originally titled Steelemore,[22] Empire of the Sun made its debut on 4 October 2008 with Walking on a Dream. Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele took the roles of bandmates, while Peter Mayes assumed the role of producer. Some critics where quick to note that the band sounded more like a work of Pnau than Luke Steele's band The Sleepy Jackson.[26] Empire of the Sun has achieved international success having been certified 2x platinum in Australia[5] and gold in the United Kingdom,[6] as well as wining eleven ARIA awards.[7] Pnau makes it clear on their Myspace numerous times that not only is Empire of the Sun a side project of theirs, but that they are also the producers.[27]

Regarding Empire of the Sun, in early 2009 news began appearing that Nick Littlemore had disappeared.[28][29] The reality had been that Nick Littlemore had left Empire of the Sun to begin work on the fourth Pnau album along with Elton John.[9]

In an interview with The Music Network, Nick stated that Pnau's next album, entitled Soft Universe, is coming out very soon and described it as a very "emotional" album, after the recent break up with his girlfriend.[30] Littlemore sings all the vocals on the album and has co-written tracks with Elton John, fellow Aussie artist Martin Craft and producer Mark Saunders.[31] A preview of the first single "The Truth" was posted online on 15 December.

Breakbot's remix of Pnau's song "Baby" was used in the 2010 racing video game Gran Turismo 5.

For the last two years, Littlemore has been working as the music director for a new Cirque du Soleil show, Zarkana, due to debut in New York in July 2011.[31]

New album and 2011 tour

Pnau's new album titled Soft Universe was released on 22 July 2011. The accompanying small Australian tour of the same name will at this stage cover only four dates, visiting Melbourne, Sydney, Wollongong and Newcastle.

Pronunciations

One accepted pronunciation of Pnau is "pah-now".[32] The name is commonly accented to simulate the sound of a gunshot. Nick Littlemore explained the name was the result of an instance when he was speaking in tongues. After shouting gibberish for half an hour, Littlemore decided Pnau would be an appropriate band name.[33]

Another theory on the pronunciation, according to one interview with the pair, is "pah-nyeow". The group has on other occasions explained that the name "rhymes with meow".

Awards

  • In 2000 they won an ARIA Award for Best Dance Release.
  • The Song "Wild Strawberries" placed at #100 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2007
  • The Song "Embrace" placed at #12 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2008
  • The Song "Baby" placed at #54 in the Triple J Hottest 100, 2008

Discography

Albums

  • Sambanova (July 1999, Peking Duck) #39 AUS
  • Again (October 2003, Warner Music)
  • Pnau (January 2007, ETCETC) #31 AUS
  • Soft Universe (July 2011) #13 AUS

Singles

  • "Need Your Lovin' Baby" (2000, Warner Music)
  • "Sambanova" (2000)
  • "Follow Me" (2001, Warner Music)
  • "Blood Lust" (2002, Warner Music)
  • "Una Noche" (2002, Kompact)
  • "Baby" (2008, ETCETC) #34 AUS
  • "Embrace" (2008, ETCETC)
  • "The Truth" (2011)
  • "Solid Ground" (2011)
  • "Unite Us" (2011)

EPs

  • Need Your Lovin' Baby (2001)
  • Enuff Enuff (2005)
  • Wild Strawberries EP (2007)

Reference

  1. ^ a b Wesolowski, David Peter. "Pnau > Biography". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/p509057. Retrieved 2 April 2010. 
  2. ^ "Pnau Sambanova". Australian charts portal. Hung Medien. http://australian-charts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Pnau&titel=Sambanova&cat=a. Retrieved 2 April 2010. 
  3. ^ "ARIA Awards – History: Winners by Year 2000: 14th Annual ARIA Awards". Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-year.php?year=2000. Retrieved 2 April 2010. 
  4. ^ a b c "PNAU at Ministry of Sound". Ministry of Sound. http://www.ministryofsound.com.au/music/artist/pnau/. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  5. ^ a b "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2010". http://www.aria.com.au/pages/httpwww.aria.com.aupageshttpwww.aria.com.aupagesARIACharts-Accreditations-2010Albums.htm. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  6. ^ a b "Certified Awards Search". BPI. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  7. ^ a b "Empire of the Arias". Empire of the Sun Official. http://www.walkingonadream.com/t/aria. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  8. ^ a b "Elton John signs Aussie Band PNAU". News.Com.Au. 31 July 2008. http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/elton-signs-aussie-band-pnau/story-e6frfn09-1111117066700. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  9. ^ a b "Empire Of The Sun's Nick Littlemore writing with Elton John". NME. http://www.nme.com/news/empire-of-the-sun/47587. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  10. ^ "Tired Big Day Out Performers Ready To Party In Perth After Final Aussie Gig". Perth Now. http://www.perthnow.com.au/news/special-features/tired-big-day-out-performers-ready-to-party-in-perth-after-final-aussie-gig/story-fn7bdca5-1226001589684. Retrieved 2011-02-11. 
  11. ^ "Pnau Again". Triple J. Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). 31 March 2003. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/review/album/s978904.htm. Retrieved 16 April 2010. 
  12. ^ a b Drever, Andrew (17 October 2003). "Pnau and then". The Age (Melbourne: Fairfax Media). http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/10/16/1065917534693.html?from=storyrhs. Retrieved 16 April 2010. 
  13. ^ Tomas, Juan-Carlo (15 November 2002). "Cookin'". The Sydney Morning Herald (Fairfax Media). http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/11/14/1037080847952.html. Retrieved 16 April 2010. 
  14. ^ "Pnau – Again (CD)". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/Pnau-Again/master/194972. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  15. ^ a b c "Australian Interview - PNAU". Ruth Bailey. http://ruthbailey.com.au/?p=11. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  16. ^ "Nick Littlemore discography". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Nick+Littlemore. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  17. ^ "Lost Valentinos* - Miles From Nowhere EP at Discogs". Discogs. http://www.discogs.com/Lost-Valentinos-Miles-From-Nowhere-EP/release/1058281. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  18. ^ "PNAU - Behind The Scenes". Ministry of Sound. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Z17Uyv4lMs. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  19. ^ "Pnau Biography". Pnau.net. http://www.pnau.net/bio/pnaubio.pdf. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  20. ^ "Elton John Loves PNAU". Crushable. http://crushable.com/entertainment/elton-john-loves-pnau/. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  21. ^ "Elton John Joins The PNAU Fan Club". Undercover. http://www.undercover.com.au/News-Story.aspx?id=3633. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  22. ^ a b "Rolling Stone: Pnau interview". Rolling Stone. http://jasontreuen.wordpress.com/2008/02/04/rolling-stone-pnau-interview/. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  23. ^ "PNAU - Nick Littlemore - Music". Time Out Sydney. http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/music/pnau--nick-littlemore.aspx. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  24. ^ "PNAU Baby (live on Sunrise), With the Talent Zone Dancers". Talent Zone. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxqfwaXHV2g. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  25. ^ "PNAU Tracks". Pnau.net. http://www.pnau.net/bio/pnautracks.pdf. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  26. ^ "Walking On A Dream Review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r1448205. Retrieved 26 August 2010. 
  27. ^ "Pnau Myspace". Myspace. http://www.myspace.com/pnau. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  28. ^ "Empire of the Sun’s Nick Littlemore MIA for Five Months; Luke Steele May Be Forced to Play Duo’s First-Ever Live Shows Minus His Right-Hand Man". Exclaim News. http://exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx?csid1=136&csid2=844&fid1=41381. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  29. ^ "Empire Of The Sun's Nick Littlemore Leaves Band And Goes Missing!". Take 40. http://www.take40.com/news/17295/empire-of-the-sun's-nick-littlemore-leaves-band-and-goes-missing!. Retrieved 2010-05-20. 
  30. ^ McNamara, Tim. "Littlemore discusses Empire sequel and Pnau's "emotional" new album". The Music Network. http://www.themusicnetwork.com/music-news/artists/2010/11/26/littlemore-discusses-empire-sequel-and-pnaus-emotional-new-album//. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 
  31. ^ a b "Nick Littlemore joins the circus". Triple J. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/musicnews/s3079613.htm//. Retrieved 2010-11-29. 
  32. ^ "PNAU-Again". About.com. http://dancemusic.about.com/od/reviews/fr/PnauAgain.htm. Retrieved 24 October 2010. 
  33. ^ "Vera Meets PNAU". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_gFWSeZvgw&p=828CE5377F9C208B&playnext=1&index=25. Retrieved 24 October 2010. 

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