A QUICK CHAT WITH PINES

“Sundancer” captures such an upbeat, summery vibe. Can you share what inspired the track and how you approached its creation in the studio?

This track actually started its life with a sample from an extremely talented British composer, Marcus Warner. I (Adam) was listening to some of his music when I heard this very brief section and it stopped me in my tracks. The section just captured a real mood and a vibe with layered vocals, orchestral sounds and flourishes and it was one of those moments when you hear a sample and immediately it’s like “we have to turn this into a full song… like right now!”. Over the course of a very late night in the studio, we took that snippet (with Marcus’s blessing) and fleshed out a piece of music that is designed to uplift and just make you feel good - we added in the big bass, vocal chants and melodies to bring it fully into our sonic world.

Your sound blends cinematic elements with electronic beats seamlessly. What initially drew each of you to electronic music, and how did you develop this unique style?

Combining the cinematic sounds with electronic and ambient elements is a big thing for us. We’re very much inspired by a wide variety of genres and are both into very similar sounds. It’s uncanny how much of a similar taste we have in music. Whenever we reminisce about songs we loved growing up we always seem to discover that we both loved the same obscure tracks and usually the same unique thing about them - whether its strings, samples, vocal element etc. We also love movie soundtracks and will source plenty of inspiration from any music that carries emotion not just through lyrics but through melody and sounds. I guess that comes through in our sound but in terms of developing our style - it’s been a lot of trial and error and learning as we go. Beyond a brief course in Ableton we’re not trained musicians in a traditional sense with instruments and the like and this can be a blessing and a curse at times. It’s often figuring out and learning new skills that leads to new ideas and it definitely feels like we keep unlocking different ways to harness the sounds we love and create the magic we’re reaching for. 

Looking back, what originally sparked your interest in making music, and how did you both come together as a duo?

We took slightly different paths in terms of our motivation for making music. We’d both always had a very keen interest in music generally but neither of us had ever learnt it at school or anything like that. Adam had some very limited musical experience (but no electronic production experience) whereas James hadn’t had any musical experience at all (production or otherwise) having been heavily focused on sport (namely Australian Rules Football) for most of his life. When James had to end his football pursuits after a third knee reconstruction he became curious about electronic music production and the two of us began chatting about learning production whenever we’d run into each other.

Off the back of that PINES probably started to take shape officially at a mutual friend’s wedding where we decided that we’d enroll ourselves in a private course at Ableton Liveschool in Sydney to learn about production in a bit more detail. We flew over, hired an Airbnb for a few weeks and did nothing but music production.

We made our first ever track together whilst in Sydney and ever since we've found that working as a duo has been an ideal setup for us. Our tastes are very much in sync but our skill sets and work flows/styles probably vary quite a bit so we find the balance beneficial. We’re pretty good at recognizing each others' strengths and weaknesses pretty well too. 

With "Sundancer" as your latest release, what message or feeling do you hope listeners take away from the track?

Sundancer is all about the feeling of hope, happiness and euphoria and it was this track that kicked off and sparked a whole new wave of music ideas and gave us the direction we needed to realize what the next PINES chapter would look and sound like. We’ve tried to capture that feeling of early summer, when you know that there’s so many good things ahead. Whether it’s a big summer music festival, going away on a holiday or flying off for a tropical travel adventure we want the listener to be transported away to a place that inspires and provides the perfect soundtrack to your life and adventures.

You’ve toured internationally and shared stages with big names in electronic music. How have these experiences influenced your approach to making music and performing live?

Following our recent tours, we knew we wanted to create songs that could bring a powerful ‘moment’ to the stage. The music we’ve been working on lately has brought back the excitement we felt when we first started producing, reminding us of those early creative sparks. Over the next year, our main goal is to perform at some of the world’s biggest summer music festivals. Both consciously and subconsciously, we’ve been crafting sounds and songs that would fit perfectly in that setting. We envision playing during that perfect festival time slot—when the sun has just dipped below the horizon, leaving a warm glow in the sky, setting the stage for a magical experience for our fans.

As you continue to evolve, what can fans look forward to next from PINES? Any new sounds or projects on the horizon?

Without giving too much away, we’ve got a pretty big 12 months planned in terms of new music releases and that will definitely include some live shows. We’re so excited to share what we’ve been working on in the studio. From a music front, a lot of the new material has come together relatively quickly post-US tour and there’s a very clear theme through everything. This next chapter is going to be a good one and we hope you’ll come along for the journey with us.