The Death Set (also typeset as TheDeathSet or The DeathSet) is an experimental music band with roots in punk rock, sometimes referred to as

art punk Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spirit ...

. The band formed in 2005 in Sydney. Six months after its inception, the band moved to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, living in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

respectively, where the band found an audience for its style of experimental, cross genre, punk rock. Moving after less than two years in each city the band has been nomadic, yet thrived in each base. All members now currently live in Brooklyn, New York. The band fuses punk rock sound and energy,

electronic music Electronic music is a Music genre, genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or electronics, circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromech ...

production and hip hop sampling into their recordings. Their live shows are high energy events, inciting crowd chaos and sometimes played at crowd level with the audience surrounding the band. The band was originally formed with Johnny Siera and Beau Velasco sharing vocal, guitar and production duties. The current lineup features Siera in the same role, Daniel Walker on guitar, vocals and production and William Brousaard on drums.

History

First meeting in their home town of the Gold Coast of Australia, Johnny Siera met Beau Velasco at a show where Velasco's band "Black Panda" was performing. Drawn to the energy of the show, Siera contacted Velasco and was soon asked to join for a tour of the East Coast of Australia with

band

Japanther Japanther was an American punk band established by Matt Reilly and Ian Vanek, then students at Pratt Institute. Japanther was featured in the 2006 Whitney Biennial and the 2011 Venice Biennale, and collaborated with a diverse pool of artists su ...

. Inspired by the tour, the two decided to move to Sydney and focus on the band as a two piece group, renaming themselves The Death Set. Velasco and Siera converted a central Sydney warehouse space into a makeshift recording studio and wrote and recorded what would become their debut EP, ''to''. Having a sound both electronic as well as rock, their first shows around Sydney would be at the electronic night "Bang Gang", the rock night "Gimme Gimme Gimme", and an art opening for pop artist Ben Frost. The pair was contacted by Baltimore label Morphius Records to release their first EP. Subsequently the band moved to Brooklyn, then Baltimore, bought an old work van and toured The

constantly.

Signing to Counter Records (Ninja Tune) & Worldwide LP

In January 2008, the band signed to Counter Records, the rock offshoot of the U.K. label

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an English independent record label based in London. It has a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded by Matt Black and Jonathan More (better known as Coldcut) and managed by Peter Quicke and others. Inspired by a visit ...

. The subsequent full-length album ''Worldwide'' was released on 25 March 2008 to very positive reviews and widely praised in the alternative music press including an Artrocker Magazine cover and album of the month and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

's album pick. After their performance at the 2008

Reading and Leeds Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festi ...

, the UK music magazine '' NME'' called them the No. 1 biggest hope of the future.

Death of Beau Velasco

On 27 September 2009 Beau Velasco, Death Set guitarist and co-songwriter, was found dead in his studio in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Although completely devastated, the band decided to keep going as they believed Velasco would have wanted them to continue. Many songs on the album "Michel Poiccard" are meant as a celebration of Velasco's life and influence on the band.

Michel Poiccard LP

The Death Set released their second LP titled "Michel Poiccard" on 15 March 2011 again on Counter Records /

. Produced by XXXChange and including collaborations with

Diplo Thomas Wesley Pentz (born November 10, 1978), known professionally as Diplo, is an American DJ and music producer. He is the co-creator and lead member of the electronic dancehall music project Major Lazer, a member of the supergroup LSD wit ...

and Spankrock. BBC describes Michel Poiccard as "full-tilt, power-pop catharsis, ecstatic blaze-of-glory euphoria and notes of blissed-out poignancy... Producer XXXChange has helped broaden the band's range from tin pot to wide screen". The album mixes influences of early punk with hip-hop and electronic elements often compared to early Beastie Boys marked with their own distinctive adrenaline twin guitar driven dynamic. Baltimore City Paper describes Michel Poiccard as "the best thing the Death Set's ever done". The album was praised by many critics and included in their best of 2011 album lists.

''King Babies'' EP and hiatus

In 2013 the band signed to

Dim Mak Records Dim Mak Records is an independent, Los Angeles-based record label, events company, and lifestyle brand founded by Steve Aoki in 1996. The label has released music under the genres of punk, indie rock, hardcore, hip hop, and electronic dance ...

for a four track EP entitled ''King Babies''. Released in January 2014 the EP marked a return to the more uptempo punk stylings of their earlier EP's. After this, the group took a seven-year hiatus from recording and releasing music.

Return and ''How to Tune a Parrot''

In August 2021, The Death Set released their first single in seven years, "Elephant", from their new album ''How to Tune a Parrot'', recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic by the now-duo of Siera and Walker. After three more singles, "No Where Is Here", "Set for Death", and "Fall Down", ''How to Tune a Parrot'' was released September 8, 2021, through Cobraside and Behemoth Records. ''Tinnitist'' called it “A mighty mish-mash of high-voltage lunacy”. The blog ''That’s Good Enough For Me'' called it “Your fifth double espresso in audio form”. ''American Songwriter'' called it “An explosive mini-adventure with all the ups, downs, struggles and triumphs of a DIY punk tour”. The band toured the record with punk legends D.O.A. (band) across the West coast of America in April 2022.

Touring

The band has played over 600 live performances in Australia, the

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Japan,

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

and

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

including spots at the Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, the Reading / Leeds Festivals, Secret Garden and Love Box Festivals in the

, Dour Festival in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, Oya Festival in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

, North by Northeast music conference in

, Pohoda Festival in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

, Pantiero, Cabaret Vert, Marsatac and Le Grand Souk Festivals in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, Festival Nrmal in

, Falls Festival in Australia and five years showcasing at the South by Southwest music conference in Austin, Texas. Live, the band is also known for its use of hip hop, Baltimore club and

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as "rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States and ...

samples played in between their original songs. In the end of 2011, they performed as support band for the German punk rock band

Beatsteaks The Beatsteaks are a German rock band from Berlin, formed in 1995. History Peter Baumann, Stefan Hircher, Alexander Rosswaag and Bernd Kurtzke founded Beatsteaks in 1995. Shortly afterwards, Arnim Teutoburg-Weiß joined the band as singer and ...

which included their Berlin show at Max Schmeling Halle to 10000+ fans.

In popular culture

The Death Set songs have been featured in Google Chrome's commercial including plays during the 2012 Super Bowl; on TV shows

Broad City ''Broad City'' is an American television sitcom created by and starring Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson. It was developed from their independent web series of the same name, which was produced between 2009 and 2011. The sitcom, like the web seri ...

Workaholics ''Workaholics'' is an American sitcom created and predominantly written by Blake Anderson, Adam DeVine, Anders Holm, and Kyle Newacheck, all of whom star in the series. ''Workaholics'' originally ran on Comedy Central from April 6, 2011, to M ...

, Killjoys,

24 (TV Series) ''24'' is an American action drama television series created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran for Fox. The series stars Kiefer Sutherland as counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer. Each season covers 24 consecutive hours in Bauer's life usin ...

, How To Make It In America and Degrassi Junior High; in films V/H/S and

V/H/S/2 ''V/H/S/2'' (originally titled ''S-VHS'') is a 2013 found footage horror anthology film produced by Bloody Disgusting and Roxanne BenjaminThe second installment in the ''V/H/S'' franchise, it comprises four found footage segments linked toge ...

; video games NBA 2K12,

Sunset Overdrive ''Sunset Overdrive'' is an action-adventure shooter video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Microsoft Studios. The game is set in 2027, in a fictional metropolis called Sunset City. The player controls an employee of FizzCo, who ...

, Gran Turismo 6, and Onrush; Red Bull's mountain biking video Red Bull Rampage, and a remix in a Ministry of Sound compilation. The music video for "They Come to Get Us" won "Best Alternative Video" at the 2012 UK Music Awards.

Discography

Albums

* '' Worldwide'' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 25 March 2008) * ''Rad Warehouses to Bad Neighborhoods'' (collection of two initial EPs + remixes) (Counter / Ninja Tune, 24 March 2009) * ''Michel Poiccard'' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 15 March 2011) * ''How to Tune a Parrot'' (NIW (Japan), This Charming Man (EU), Cobraside/

Behemoth Behemoth (; he, בְּהֵמוֹת, ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation; he is paired with the other chaos-monster, Leviathan, and ...

(US), 10 September 2021)

Mixtapes

* ''Artificially Sweetened'' (Mishka NYC, 2010)

EPs and singles

* ''To'' EP (self-released) * ''To'' EP (RabbitFoot, 2005) * 7-inch split with

Best Fwends Best Fwends are a musical group from Fort Worth, Texas. All but unknown in the United States, the duo have attracted much more notice in Europe, having been featured in a Bacardi commercial in the United Kingdom and performing at Iceland Airwaves ...

(The Arm/VLXO, 2005) * "Intermission"/"Negative Thinking" (Modular, 2006) * ''Rad Warehouses Bad Neighborhoods'' EP (RabbitFoot, 2007) * ''Limitations Can Make You Creative'' double EP (Every Conversation/We Are Busy Bodies, 2007) * ''MFDS'' EP (Counter, 2008) * "Around the World"/"Heard It All Before" 7-inch (Counter, 2008) * "Around the World" UK 7-inch (Counter, 2008) * ''One Inch Badge'' split 7-inch with Best Fwends, Knife Hyts and Lovvers (O.I.B., 2008) * "Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap" (Counter, 2011) * "We Are Going Anywhere Man" (Counter, 2011) * "Can You Seen Straight?" (Counter, 2011) * "King Babies" (Dim Mak, 2014) * ''Elephant'' (2021) * ''No Where Is Here'' (2021)

Official remixes of The Death Set

* ''

Hawnay Troof Hawnay Troof is an American electronic indie band formed in late 2001. Despite of the band's American punk and electronic background, many elements of pop, dance-punk, electronica, soul, noise music and club. have been incorporated into its ...

'' Remix of "Listen to This Collision" - Free Download at www.thedeathset.com (2007) * ''The Death Set Remix'' 12-inch - Remixes by G.L.O.V.E.S., Bonde do Rolê,

Treasure Fingers Treasure Fingers is a DJ and producer based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is signed to Fool's Gold Records. Biography Born in a small town in Oklahoma as Ashley Jones, he started originally in the drum and bass band Evol Intent. He released the ...

and The Bumblebeez (Bang Gang 12 Inches, 2008) * '' Bonde do Rolê'' Remix of "Distressed" - Off the EP ''Rad Warehouses Bad Neighborhoods'' EP (RabbitFoot, 2007) & * ''Rad Warehouses to Bad Neighborhoods'' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 24 March 2009) * ''

Dan Deacon Daniel Deacon (born August 28, 1981) is an American composer and electronic musician based in Baltimore, Maryland. Deacon is renowned for his live shows, where large-scale audience participation and interaction is often a major element of the p ...

'' Remix of "Impossible" - Off the EP ''Rad Warehouses Bad Neighborhoods'' EP (RabbitFoot, 2007) & * ''Rad Warehouses to Bad Neighborhoods'' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 24 March 2009) * ''

'' Remix of "Negative Thinking" - Off the Album * ''Rad Warehouses to Bad Neighborhoods'' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 24 March 2009) * ''Etan'' Positive Outlook Remix of "Impossible" - Off the Album * ''Rad Warehouses to Bad Neighborhoods'' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 24 March 2009) * '' NinjaSonik'' Remix of "Negative Thinking" - Off the Album * ''Rad Warehouses to Bad Neighborhoods'' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 24 March 2009) * ''

'' Remix of "Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap" - - Free Download at www.thedeathset.com (2011) * '' Nadastrom'' Remix of "Can You Seen Straight" - Off the single * ''Can You Seen Straight?'' (Counter, 2011) * ''Designer Drugs'' Remix of "They Come To Get Us" - Off the single * ''Can You Seen Straight?'' (Counter, 2011) * ''Nadus & Steel'' Remix of "They Come To Get Us" - Off the single * ''Can You Seen Straight?'' (Counter, 2011) * ''The PartySquad'' Remix of "Yo David Chase, You P.O.V. Shot me in the Head" - (The PartySquad, 2012)

Remixes by The Death Set

* ''

'' "Aaww Some" (Moshi Moshi, 2007) * '' Robots in Disguise'' "Sex Has Made Me Stupid" (President, 2007) * ''Nicky Van She and Dangerous Dan remix of

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. Widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history, they achieved popularity in the late 1990s as p ...

"Around the World" remix'' (Every Conversation, 2008) * ''

Little Boots Victoria Christina Hesketh (born 4 May 1984), better known by her stage name Little Boots, is an English electropop singer-songwriter and DJ. She was previously a member of the band Dead Disco. Since performing as a solo artist she has release ...

'' "New in Town", (Elektra, 5 Jan 2009) * '' Daedelus "Fair Weathered Friends" Punk and Electro remixes'' (Ninja Tune, 2008) & * ''Rad Warehouses to Bad Neighborhoods'' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 24 March 2009) * ''

"Said Once", The Death Set Vs. ZAP! POW! DIE! remix'' (2009) * ''

Adam Freeland Adam Freeland (born 7 August 1973) is an English record producer and DJ. He is also the owner and creative director of the record label Marine Parade, which has released material by artists including Evil Nine, ILS, Alex Metric and Jape. B ...

'' "Borderline - Cover", (Marine Parade, 2009) * '' Robots in Disguise "Chains", The Death Set Club Remix'' (President, 2011) * ''

The Cure The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...

"Grinding Halt", The Death Set '' (Counter / Ninja Tune, 4 April 2011) * ''The Death Set'' Club Remix of They Come To Get Us - Off the single * ''Can You Seen Straight?'' (Counter, 2011) * ''

Spank Rock Naeem Juwan, better known by his stage name Spank Rock, is an American rapper and songwriter from Baltimore. He rose to fame with his 2006 album '' YoYoYoYoYo'', which was produced by former group member Alex Epton ( XXXChange). A harbinger of ...

'' "#1 Hit" (Scion, 2011) * '' DZ Deathrays'' "The Mess Up", (I OH YOU, 2011) * '' Drop the Lime'' "Darkness", (Ultra, 2012)

Compilations

* ''Bang Gang DJs - Light Sound Dance'' (Modular, 2007) * ''This Was meant to be a Celebration'' (Mauled by Tigers, 2007) * ''Scion Sampler - I Heart Comix remixed"'' (Scion, 2008) * ''Wham City Box No. 1'' (Wham City, 2008) * ''Ninja Cutz - "You Don't Know""'' (Ninja Tune, 2008) * ''Ninja Tune XX - '' (Ninja Tune, 2010)

Music videos

* "Negative Thinking" directed by Danny Baxter rel Jan 2008 * "Around The World" directed by Demonbabies/Jesus Riviera rel Jul 2008 * "Intermission" directed by Dan Santiago rel Jan 2009 * "The Death Set" cover / remix of Daedelus - "Fair Weathered Friends" directed by Lazlo, presented by Project Fathom. Drawn by J. Penry. Amimation by J. Millowe. rel Jul 2010 * "Slap Slap Slap Pound Up Down Snap" directed by Colin Devin Moore rel Jan 2011 * "We Are Going Anywhere Man" directed by Evan Wunsch rel Apr 2011 * "Can You Seen Straight?" directed by Offner Aurelien rel Jun 2011 * "It's Another Day" directed by Autista Collective rel Jul 2011 * "The Mess Up - DZ Deathrays Rmix" directed by Johnny Siera & Sly Pilot rel Nov 2011 * "Chew it Like a Gun Gum" directed by Dominic Lahiff and Lucas Howe rel Dec 2011 * "They Come To Get Us" directed by Guillaume Panariello rel Feb 2012 * "Is It The End Again?" directed by Sebastien Landry rel May 2012 * "I Miss You Beau Velasco" directed by Jay Buim rel Mar 2013 * "Lite The Fuse" directed by Sofia Szamosi rel Jan 2014 * "Soar Away" directed by Brandon Dermer rel Mar 2014 * "Elephant" August 2021 * "No Where Is Here" August 2021

Documentary

* ''Todd P Goes to Austin'' - (FVMMO FILMS, LLC, 2010) * ''The Adventures of Quanni Cannonz'' - (Dan Santiago, 2011)

Clothing collaborations

* ''The Death Set x Stussy Tee'' - (Stussy Japan, Jul 2008) * ''The Death Set x Mishka NYC Tee'' - (Mishka NYC, Nov 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Death Set Australian punk rock groups Rock music duos