Spindle Radar: PNAU Discusses Their Expansive Career And New Single ‘You Know What I Need’

If you’re in need of an electronic music act that breaks genre barriers and delivers showstopping collaborations, look no further PNAU is for you. Before ruling the electronic music sphere, the Australian music act was first created in the 90s by Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes. At the time of their formation, the duo went against the music grain by releasing a creative mix of acid house and trance singles. Their boundless sound was further explored on their debut album Sambanova – which earned them a coveted ARIA Award for Best Dance Release.

Following their monumental debut, the duo continued to elevate their sound while forming creative connections with some of the industry’s hottest talents, including Ladyhawke, The Sleepy Jacksons and Elton John. After Nick took some time away to form Empire of the Sun with artist Luke Steele, PNAU returned in 2017 with a third member, Sam Littlemore, and their critically acclaimed album Changa. In the years following, the trio have continued to carve out their unique music lane by releasing showstopping collaborations with Elton John and Dua Lipa, Lizzo and most recently, Troye Sivan on ‘You Know What I Need.’ We were able to chat with PNAU about their influential career, working with Troye and their 2023 aspirations. Read the full interview below.

Hey PNAU! Thanks for chatting with SPINDLE. Can you believe we’re at the end of 2022 already?

Time seems to have its own agenda at this point, I’m just sitting here stuck by this river watching the water go by.

Looking back, how would you rate this past year?

It’s been a year of reemergence, pulling back the thicket on the way to a world in slumber.

What were your highlights? 

I managed to travel to Europe in May and met my niece, went to Paris which was full of high notes, Rome has always had a special place in my heart, this time they had an extraordinary video art festival, albeit unattended no matter it made for a private viewing of sorts, next it was onto to Sweden to work with some amazing people and eat glorious Swedish food! From Europe, I headed back to the states and then onwards to the oldest rainforest on earth. The Daintree, I played a show nearby to 1000’s of happy smiling faces and then plunged myself deep into the pristine waters of the rainforest, not before checking for freshwater crocodiles!

You guys just released your latest track, ‘You Know What I Need’ with Troye Sivan. It’s absolutely fantastic. How did you four end up linking up? 

We inked a worldwide recording contract with Sony Music and that partnership has opened up an infinite number of doors! We were so happy to connect with Troye and as you can hear it’s proving to be a magical combination! We had written with Troye once before many moons ago, so we were well aware of his warmth and brilliance in equal measure.

Not only does this song have a production that’ll get fans dancing, but it also features some pretty romantic lyrics. What inspired the lyrical content and sound? 

It’s really about self worth, self reflection and ultimately self awareness and accountability. It’s a tale I think we can all relate to, seeking pure honesty in a relationship, to feel the soil beneath our feet and the cool rush of air overhead.

You know we have to talk about the video. It has such a psychedelic vibe to it. Can you take us through the creative process for the visual? 

PNAU has always been interesting in dream states, astral travelling, hallucinations and all sorts. Today with the wild new frontier of AI learning and creation those visions of ours are able really for the first time to be rendered on screen. A quiet revolution is coming. We teamed up with a crew from Poland called Melt, they fed into their mainframe 1000’s of frames of Troye that he shot sequentially at home. The cpu then went about weaving it’s mystical weirdness, the humans make the call which frames make the grade so as you might imagine to arrive at what the audience sees takes a whole lot of trail and error!

Let’s take it back a bit. When did you each realise that music was the avenue you wanted to pursue? Your “ah-ha” moment, so to speak? 

I never did, for me I’ve always been a frustrated filmmaker channelling my imagination through music, music video, art and live performance. PNAU is a vehicle for storytelling but one that exists in a celestial realm, we don’t make linear films we make organic experiences and friends you can take with you. Please come to one of our shows to fully immerse yourself in the world we dwell within.

This leads me to my next question. How did PNAU come to be? 

Asterix, flying keys, unexplainable occurrences, we don’t know exactly how PNAU came to be, it was shared love of the strange and the bizarre. It was sneaking out as a teen and exploring dusty warehouses with booming sound systems and colorful characters aplenty. We wanted to reflect those unimaginable things and make a great body of work, trying to capture the essence of a spiritual yet non religious enlightened world.

How would you describe an average studio session? 

Lots of equipment to turn on, the studio gets first up, all those blinking lights. We start every session from scratch, there may be a melody flying around but more likely is a concept. Our studio is a very powerful place but without the words and meaning it can often fall into obscurity. For me the concept has to be water tight then all can flow outwards.

PNAU has achieved so much since your debut! You’ve also worked with an array of industry heavy weights like Elton John, Dua Lipa, and Lizzo. Which artist do you three want to collaborate with next? 

Nina Simone is an obvious choice for me, her song “the twelfth of never” is the single most beautiful artifact that exists. I hope someday we can work with her catalogue and try to make something worthy of her souls intent.

With ‘You Know What I Need’ continuing to make the rounds, what can fans expect from you three in the new year? 

We have a lot of music coming next year, some very special guests and features. We hope to take you the audience into other dimensions, PNAU is an odd name for a great night out with lasting memories but we will do our best to deliver that to all of you out there, we will see you all on the road.

What type of sound are you looking to explore?

PNAU is predominantly interest in ecstatic dance, you can expect our new records to always have a strong beat, emotional chords and a strong message, records that you can continue to turn up, listen loud and let the best control your body.

Can we expect an album or EP soon?

Yes there is a lot more music on the horizon!

Lastly, what are three New Years’ resolutions that you want to accomplish as a group in 2023? 

To spread greater awareness of entheogenic wisdom, to make more music and share it with the world and mostly we want bring our live show to every city we can, we will play anywhere! The world needs a release, all that energy is beckoning to be used and we are ready to dance alongside all y’all.

Listen to PNAU’s latest single ‘You Know What I Need’ here or below.