Thursday, March 15   1:00 a.m.
Beauty Bar Patio   (617 E 7th St)

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While The Presets came to public prominence in 2003, band members Julian Hamilton (Production/vocals/keyboards) and Kimberley Moyes (Production/drums/programming) had already been known each other for the best part of a decade.

The pair met studying theory and music performance (Julian: piano, Kimberley: percussion) at Sydney�s Conservatorium of Music. In each other they found like minded souls; while passionate about classical music, unlike the rest of their peers at college they also loved and valued contemporary pop music from the likes of The Smiths, Pet Shop Boys, Bjork and New Order.

Outside college Julian and Kimberley played with the band Prop, whose musical leanings were largely experimental and non-vocal, featuring an array of exotic instrumentation. Prop released a number of acclaimed albums and toured extensively around Australia.

The harder, electronic leanings of The Presets came about when the duo chose an alternative guise to remix one of their own Prop tracks for a single.

Finding the foray into more electronic music immensely enjoyable Julian and Kim put together a demo, on the strength of which they were signed to Australian label Modular (home to The Avalanches, Wolfmother, Ben Lee) in early 2003.

The band�s first release was the 2003 EP �Blow Up�, which actually featured a lot of hard, crunching guitar work, played by Daniel Johns of acclaimed Australian band Silverchair. This was followed by a more mellow release: �Girl and the Sea� released in 2004.

By this time the band had begun touring Australia in earnest, first with intimate club shows and rapidly developing a passionate live following. By mid-2005, with the release of �Down Down Down� to Australian radio (and like the other singles, receiving high rotation on national and community radio alike) The Presets were playing to considerably larger venues and opening for international acts such as the Faint and Colder.

Mid 2005 The Presets completed a very well received fifteen date tour of Europe opening for Australian act The Dissociatives, as well as shows of their own in London.

The band returned to Australia in time for the release of their debut album �Beams� which features twelve tracks ranging from cinematic instrumentals to spiky electronic pop.

The album was met with consistently glowing reviews and The Presets graced the cover of three Australian magazines and were featured over TV, radio, print and new media. The tour in support of �Beams� saw the band selling out shows all around the country.

A single �Are You The One?� was released in November 2006 as a lead up to the band�s many festival appearances over the Australian summer including Falls Festival, Homebake, Stonefest and Big Day Out. The Presets have been heralded as one of the most exciting bands in Australia today.

�Beams� was released in the US in April of 2006 and the UK in June 2006 � both on Modular Recordings via Universal (UK) and Fontana (US). German dance label Interational Deejay Gigolos have licensed the album for Europe, signing the band on the strength of one live performance in New York.

In support of the album's release the band have toured the UK and US extensively for most of this year. Shows to date in the US for 2006 have included SXSW and Miami Winter Music Conference as well as a national tour supporting Ladytron. In the UK the band have toured with Wolfmother, Soulwax and The Rapture.

The Presets have been nominated in three catgories at this year's ARIA awards (Australian equivalent of the Grammys) as well as four Australia Dance Music Awards.