Pendulum on 'Elemental' and the death of EDM

Late last February, Rob Swire and Gareth McGrillen made a brief stop in Mexico City for dance music’s massive Electric Daisy Carnival. The festival, which drew over 100,000 attendees to a giant race track each night, epitomised overblown pre-COVID raving.

After their set as Knife Party on the bass-focused Circuit Grounds stage, Swire and McGrillen hopped a flight back to their adopted home of London. Swire recalls hearing coughing in the cabin and wondering idly if it might be that mystery virus on the news. Two weeks later, no one was jetsetting overseas for a one-hour DJ set.

For many in dance music, the pandemic came as a rude shock. As touring schedules dissolved, DJ-producers everywhere fretted about their futures. Not so the duo behind Pendulum and Knife Party. In fact, Swire and McGrillen breathed a shared sign of relief. “The first six months of not having to travel was incredible,” McGrillen says. “Aside from the worries of becoming mortally ill.”

“And money,” Swire chips in wryly, before seconding his bandmate’s lockdown optimism: “If it was up to me, I’d spend as much time in the studio as I possibly could.” With no gigs to rush off to, the pair could finally recommit to Pendulum, the project that started it all.

https://junkee.com/pendulum-elemental-interview/299255