OFF THE RECORD: The DJ's and producers spicing up Canberra's creative scene
Peking Duk
Freshly emerged from the abstract oven that cooks up Canberra’s dance music talent is the young duo of Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles.
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“We met at the skate park in 8th grade and became good mates when we went to Dickson College in Year 11,” Reuben recounts.
“I was playing in bands and Adam was in hip hop crews at the time.”
After a friend introduced them to brutal, fidget-style house from artists like Crookers and the Bloody Beetroots in 2010, the electronic love affair began.
“Reubo bought [production software] Reason and he learnt the ropes very quickly,” Adam says.
“Then I got Ableton and started jamming beats on it…from there we couldn’t stay away from our laptop for more than a day.”
Two years later, Peking Duk have racked up an impressive catalogue of releases, beginning with a remix for Melbourne act ButterBOX and followed soon after by their own single, Bingo Trippin.
“Canberra’s cool because everyone knows each other, so you can send beats around and get down-to-earth feedback quickly,” Adam says.
“The Aston Shuffle have been hugely supportive, we can’t thank them enough for how much they’ve helped us over the last two years.”
The boys have also received the support of Melbourne house stalwart John Course, who signed Peking Duk to his longstanding label, Vicious Recordings.
“Coursey is amazing,” Adam says.
“He was in Amsterdam last week at [international dance industry conference] ADE and he played our upcoming single to a lot of big dogs, we can’t thank him enough for that.”
The single, Reuben says, is due for release very soon: “Can’t give away too much, but there are some tasty remixes getting made for it as we speak. This will be by far our most exciting release to date.”
In the meantime, Peking Duk have a busy summer tour schedule includes DJ sets at festivals like Foreshore, Stereosonic and Field Day.
“We’re stoked to have been put on some of Australia’s biggest parties,” Reuben says.
“Lots were personal favourites of ours as punters, so to be on the other side of the decks is definitely a great feeling.”