Artist info
Genre
Dance, Electronic
Sounds like
Presets, spk, Severed Heads
band members
Alex Akers, Tom Henderson
Influences
White Car, Skinnny Puppy, tense
Website
Bio
Forces have surged to prominence since emerging in 2011, quickly establishing a reputation for confronting live performance coupled with concise and visceral dance music. Forces live highlights include performances at The Sydney Opera house for Vivid Festival, alongside Zola Jesus and Light Asylum, and many shows with their contemporaries including My Disco, Gang Gang Dance and label-mate Kirin J Callinan.
Come to the dark side of the Australian electro scene with Melbourne synth maestros Forces.
Tell us about your music - how did you develop your sound?
Forces is the two of us. Tom on drums, Alex on vocals and production. Its pure electronic. Dense, driving...live music for the club. We developed the sound with controlled experimentation and playing live a lot. We have a fairly clear vision we are working towards but of course there are always mutations of the core concept. The sheer amount of information accessible at this point is of course a big influence. We generate a lot of material initially then cut it back to a form we like.
What’s the Forces live show like?
Tom stands up with a small custom electronic kit, I stand and sing and occasionally tend to the electronics. Its quite direct. People dance. Smoke, lasers, inappropriate touching.
Tell us about the bands, producers and people in the Australian electronic/dance community that inspire you?
David Thrussel has inspired us musically, and helped define a path for industrial/electronic music in Australia. Along with a whole heap of other Australian artists like SPK, Severed Heads, Itch-E and Scratch-E, Single Gun Theory, The Presets, Krang, Future Sound of Melbourne, HMC, Scattered Order, Quench, The Shining Path, Third Eye....Australia has an amazing history of electronic music that is too often obscured by the towering shadow of guitar music. In terms of Aus artists we like right now... HTRK, Kangaroo Skull, Matthew Brown and Nun.
What are you guys doing when you’re not being Forces?
Tom - I DJ regularly, and I'm in the process of finishing a double major in philosophy and literature. Alex - I'm currently producing new material for some very talented new australian artists and working on the soundtrack to an Oz apocalypse feature called "These Final Hours", should be out half way through the year.
What’s coming up for you in 2013?
Playing shows, promoting the EP, finishing the album and the new video clip, touring Europe, paying rent.
Australian music is…?
...due for a shake-up.
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Remember that movie 'Outbreak' with Dustin Hoffman? '90s medical apocalypse' is what your mood is to me. Thank you for occupying that space. It's great.
Remember that movie 'Outbreak' with Dustin Hoffman? '90s medical apocalypse' is what your mood is to me. Thank you for occupying that space. It's great.
Review
I love this dystopian synth drama. You've nailed the metallic drum programming too.
I love this dystopian synth drama. You've nailed the metallic drum programming too.