Julian Hamilton | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Julian Thomas Hamilton |
Born | September 1976 (age 48) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
Genres | Electro |
Occupation | Musician |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, keyboards |
Years active | 2001–present |
Julian Thomas Hamilton (born September 1976) is an Australian singer-songwriter and keyboardist, who, with bandmate Kim Moyes, formed the electronica duo, The Presets in 2003. They have issued four studio albums, Beams (September 2005), Apocalypso (April 2008), Pacifica (September 2012), and Hi Viz (June 2018). Both were previously members of another electronic group, Prop, which released two albums, Small Craft Rough Sea (2001) and Cook Cut Damage Destroy (early 2003). Hamilton has also worked as a session and touring member of Silverchair (2001–2003) and The Dissociatives (2004). At the APRA Music Awards of 2008 Hamilton and Daniel Johns (of Silverchair) won Song of the Year and Most Played Australian Work for Silverchair's single, "Straight Lines". In 2009 Hamilton and Moyes won Songwriters of the Year for their work on Apocalypso for The Presets.
Hamilton was born in September 1976 and grew up in Sydney. [1] He attended St Andrew's Cathedral School, where he sang in the associated Cathedral Choir. [2] He completed his Higher School Certificate in 1994.
In the following year, Hamilton was studying piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he met Kim Moyes (studying classical percussion). [2] [3] Hamilton on keyboards and Moyes on vibraphone joined an electronic band Prop, with Jeremy Barnett on marimbas, David Symes on bass guitar and Jared Underwood on drums. Prop released their debut album, Small Craft Rough Sea, in 2001 on Undercover Music/Silent Recordings label. [4] In October that year, Radio National's Brent Clough aired some of their tracks on his programme, Otherworlds, and described their sound as "fusing jazz, classical, minimalist, funk and techno elements into a seamless whole" and noted their "remarkably diverse influences – with selections from Olivier Messiaen and Philip Glass to Sci-Fi soundtracks, Squarepusher and Al Green". [5]
Small Craft Rough Sea's tracks were remixed by various artists and appeared as Cook Cut Damage Destroy, in early 2003. [6] The remix artists included Stereolab, Pnau, paulmac, Decoder Ring, Mice Parade, Telemetry Orchestra, Mako, Pivot and Burnt Friedman. [7] Chris Johnston of The Age reviewed the remix album in March 2010, and felt its sound was "cerebral and faintly ridiculous jazz-fusion" which resulted in an album "where in wordless, warbly ... songs such as 'Low' they attempted to abridge the history of Western thought and Eastern composition into one mid-length instrumental". [8]
Hamilton and Moyes formed The Presets in 2003, to provide their own remix of one of Prop's track, "Magnetic Highway", as "Blood Bubbles" for Cook Cut Damage Destroy. [9] [10] [11] Tammy La Gorce of AllMusic noted their version showed "harder electronic edges". [9] Moyes later recalled "Julian and I used to muck around after Prop rehearsals and play the stupidest music we could... This new style that we were experimenting with, we got computers eventually and started recording them and put a little demo together". [12]
As a member of The Presets, Hamilton has provided lead vocals, songwriting, keyboards, mixing, and producing for their releases including three studio albums, Beams (September 2005), Apocalypso (April 2008), and Pacifica (September 2012). [9] [13] Hamilton has worked as a session and touring musician, and co-songwriter, for Silverchair (2001–2003); and, with Moyes, as touring and session musicians for The Dissociatives (2004). [13] [14] [15] Hamilton worked with The Sleepy Jackson to record their 2006 album, Personality - One Was a Spider, One Was a Bird . He is credited for orchestral arrangements and additional production, and also played keyboard and synth on many of the songs. [13] Hamilton co-wrote four tracks with Daniel Johns on the 2007 Silverchair album, Young Modern , including the singles "Straight Lines" and "Mind Reader". [14] [16] Hamilton also co-wrote the song "On My Own" for Bluejuice's 2011 album Company. [17]
In 2013 he released the Single "Higher Love" taken from the Vocal Collaboration Album "Features" by Kris Menace. [18]
In the early 2000s, Julian Hamilton met Janice Petersen at a record store where they both worked. [19] They became a domestic couple and live in Sydney, where Petersen, since 2008, is the co-anchor of the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) TV evening news. [19] [20] Hamilton and Petersen have two children. [19] [21]
Daniel Paul Johns is an Australian musician, singer, and songwriter, best known as the frontman, guitarist, and main songwriter of the rock band Silverchair. Johns is also one half of The Dissociatives with Paul Mac and one half of Dreams with Luke Steele. On March 13, 2015 Johns released his first solo EP Aerial Love and on March 22, 2015, he released his first solo LP Talk in 2015. Johns' second solo album FutureNever was released on 22 April 2022.
Silverchair was an Australian rock band, which formed in 1992 as Innocent Criminals in Newcastle, New South Wales, with Daniel Johns on vocals and guitars, Ben Gillies on drums, and Chris Joannou on bass guitar. The group got their big break in mid-1994 when they won a national demo competition conducted by SBS TV show Nomad and ABC radio station Triple J. The band was signed by Murmur and were successful in Australia and internationally. Silverchair has sold over 10 million albums worldwide.
The Dissociatives were an Australian alternative rock band consisting of Daniel Johns of Silverchair and dance producer and DJ Paul Mac, which formed in mid-2003. They were supported by touring members, Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes, and James Haselwood. Their first single "Somewhere Down the Barrel" peaked at No. 25 on the ARIA Singles Chart. The duo's debut album The Dissociatives reached No. 12 on the ARIA Albums Chart. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2004 they won two trophies; Best Cover Art for James Hackett's work on The Dissociatives and Best Video for Hackett's direction of "Somewhere Down the Barrel".
The Presets are an Australian electronic music duo of Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes. Formed in 2003 and signed to Modular Records, The Presets released two EPs in advance of their debut album, Beams, released in 2005 to positive critical response. After two years of touring, including as the Australian support for Daft Punk, the band's 2008 release, Apocalypso, debuted at number one on the ARIA Albums Chart, and went on to win six awards at ARIA Awards 2008, including Album of the Year.
The Hampdens were an Australian indie pop band formed in Perth in 2002. They issued a studio album, The Last Party, in May 2008 before disbanding in 2010. During their career they performed in Australia and in London.
Young Modern is the fifth and final studio album by Australian alternative rock band Silverchair, released in Australia on 31 March 2007 and in the United States on 24 July 2007 and co-produced by Daniel Johns and Nick Launay. The title comes from a nickname given to Daniel Johns by composer Van Dyke Parks. The tracks "Straight Lines", "Reflections of a Sound", "If You Keep Losing Sleep" and "Mind Reader" were released as singles. Young Modern entered the Australian albums chart at No. 1 on 15 April 2007, their fifth consecutive album to do this, making Silverchair the first band to accomplish this feat in Australia. The album was certified Triple Platinum by the ARIA, peaked at No. 70 on the US Billboard 200 chart and opened at No. 8 on the New Zealand albums chart. Young Modern won six ARIA Awards in 2007, including Best Group, Best Rock Album, Single of the Year and Album of the Year. At the J Awards of 2007, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.
Beams is the debut studio album by Australian electronic dance music duo The Presets, released on 12 September 2005 by record label Modular. The album reached No. 55 on the Australian Charts, and was certified gold in Australia.
Blow Up is an EP and the debut release by Australian electronic dance music duo The Presets, released in November 2003 by record label Modular.
Girl and the Sea is the second EP by Australian electronic dance music duo The Presets released on Modular Records on 1 November 2004. The EP reached No. 6 on the AIR charts and at No. 20 on the ARIA Hitseekers Charts. The vocals for the song were sung by Julian Hamilton and recorded by The Presets in Kim Moyes' small apartment bathroom. The song was included on the duo's debut studio album Beams, and was also featured in the TV series The O.C.
Kimberley Isaac Moyes is an Australian musician, producer, mix engineer, composer, songwriter, DJ and one half of the Sydney-based electronica duo, The Presets. Moyes provides synthesizers and drums, as well as engineering, production and songwriting. The Presets have released two EPs and four full-length albums. Moyes also records and performs as a solo artist under the aliases K.I.M. In 2018, Moyes launched his own vinyl and digital record label called "Here To Hell".
Blue King Brown are an Australian urban roots ensemble formed in 2003 in Byron Bay by mainstays Nattali Rize and Carlo Santone. They have released three studio albums, Stand Up, Worldwize Part 1 – North & South – which reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 50 – and Born Free. They have toured nationally and internationally; and supported concerts by Santana, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Damian Marley, the John Butler Trio, the Cat Empire, Silverchair, Dispatch and Powderfinger.
"Straight Lines" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair. It was released on 12 March 2007 and debuted at number one on the Australian ARIA Singles Chart, becoming the band's first number-one single since 1997's "Freak". The single was shortly followed by the release of the band's fifth studio album Young Modern on 31 March 2007. Unlike the songs written during Diorama, when Daniel Johns wrote all the tracks himself, "Straight Lines" was co-written by the Presets' Julian Hamilton.
Janice Petersen is an Australian television presenter. She is currently the presenter of SBS World News on Special Broadcasting Service (SBS).
"Mind Reader" is a song by Australian alternative rock band, Silverchair, from their fifth studio album, Young Modern. The song was sent to Australian radio stations in January 2008 and released as the fourth and final single from the album. The song was co-written by the group's lead singer-guitarist, Daniel Johns, with Julian Hamilton of The Presets, who is responsible for the "don't know what you want" chorus. The single was released on 23 February 2008, as a digital download. It was the last Silverchair single – the group have been on an "indefinite hiatus" from May 2011.
Apocalypso is the second studio album by Australian electronic dance music duo The Presets. The album was released by record label Modular on 12 April 2008 in Australia, on 13 May in the United States, and 2 June in the United Kingdom. The album features the singles "My People", "This Boy's in Love", "Talk Like That", "Yippiyo-Ay", "If I Know You" and "Kicking and Screaming".
"My People" is the first single from Australian electronic music duo the Presets' second album Apocalypso. The song was nominated for two ARIA Awards, Single of the Year and Best Video. It won the latter.
The 22nd annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards took place on 19 October 2008. The nominees for all categories were announced on 10 September, while the winners of the Artisan Awards were announced on the same day.
"Talk Like That" is a song by Australian electronic music duo the Presets, released as the third from their second studio album, Apocalypso (2008). The song was written by duo members Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes and released in September 2008. Moyes has described the track as "a calypso house track with these weird cathedral organs, techno tom toms and a ballsy bassline."
"Are You the One?" is the lead single by Australian electronic dance music duo The Presets, from their debut studio album Beams. The single backed with non-album tracks "Truth and Lies" and "Midnight Boundary", as well a remix of "Girl and the Sea" by Cut Copy was released on 24 October 2005. The song peaked at No. 68 on the ARIA singles charts.