The Presets Take 5

The Presets are Australian electronic music royalty.

From their beginnings as classically trained percussion students at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to their breakthrough as synth-wielding dancefloor destroyers, Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes have spent three decades making music that refuses to sit still. Their 2008 album Apocalypso made them the first electronic act to win the ARIA for Album of the Year, and singles like "My People" became anthems for a generation.

Before The Presets, there was Prop: a minimalist percussion ensemble blending Steve Reich with spacey synths. The transformation from that to "caveman synth rock" happened one afternoon in Kim's living room in Erskineville, jamming AC/DC riffs on synthesizers. The rest is history: EPs, beloved records, international tours, and a legacy that helped define Australian electronic music.

Now they are celebrating that era with Forever After, a festival brimming with noughties legends like Cut Copy, Ladyhawke, Bag Raiders, and the spirit of Daft Punk's infamous Never Everland 2007.

Recorded in front of a live audience at Crosstalk Records in Sydney, Jules and Kim theme was First Contact: the songs that made their universe a much bigger place.

The Presets' song choices:

• Kraftwerk - 'Tour de France'
• The Cure - 'A Forest'
• Trans Am - 'Futureworld'
• Single Gun Theory - 'Fall' (Abstract Gladiators remix)
• Daft Punk - 'Da Funk'

00:00 Introduction: The Presets, First Contact at Crosstalk Records

01:20 Record Stores: Pre-Streaming Days and Musical Education

03:52 First Song: Kraftwerk 'Tour de France'

04:18 Breakdance: The Movie That Changed Everything for Jules

09:58 Kim's Childhood: From Bon Jovi to Hip-Hop

11:06 Sex Pistols on the Train: Punk Opens the Door

12:00 Second Song: The Cure 'A Forest'

15:22 Living in Headphones: Music as Catharsis

18:02 Meeting at the Conservatorium and Forming Prop

19:19 Julian's Dad's Synth: "I Think This Is It"

22:48 Jamming AC/DC Riffs on Synths: The First Presets Session

20:21 Third Song: Trans Am 'Futurworld'

24:13 "Caveman Synth Rock": The Birth of The Presets

28:21 Fourth Song: Single Gun Theory, 'Fall'

31:17 Climbing the Anzac Bridge (Under Construction)

36:35 The Big Day Out Boiler Room: Electronic Meets Mainstream

37:48 "Shared Witness": 30 Years of Making Music Together

40:48 'My People' Live for the First Time at 50,000 People

44:06 Sound Relief: Playing in the Rain at the SCG

45:16 Fifth Song: Daft Punk 'Da Funk'

49:57 Zan's Wrap-Up: Aus Music Month on Double J