It’s not just the road to hell that is littered with good intentions – on rare occasions those good intentions are cast aside on a journey to somewhere even better. Brisbane-based bass fiends PCD are a case in point. Coming together in mid-2011 with the intentions of crafting a live prog rock ensemble inspired by the likes of Karnivool and Cog, the trio of Paul Hanmer, Cameron Swales and Dave Knowles quickly realised it was a shared love of drum’n’bass and dubstep dancefloors that had drawn them together, downed their instruments, and immediately crafted a dancefloor smasher the equal of anything they’d created in their earlier bass music incarnations.

They strung their first initials together, PCD was born, and response from the local scene was instant. Initially delivering sets comprised entirely of their own tuneage, they debuted at local club night Junkyard Sessions, quickly graduated to the Manifest outdoor weekender then a support for Sydney live juggernaut Kobra Kai before roaring into 2012 with a warm-up slot for Camo & Krooked, Fierce and the one-and-only Andy C at Brisbane superclub The Met. Followed by a support for Crissy Criss and more recently, Logistics + MC Tali at Brisbane's premier live music venue The Hi-Fi.
The PCD sound isn’t entirely removed from the rock acts they set out to emulate – provided that sound was fed through the neurofunk synth presets favoured by Noisia and Black Sun Empire, turned up to 11, and fired onto unsuspecting dancefloors with phasers set slightly beyond ‘stun’. Widescreen intros so epic you could drive Optimus Prime through them make way for Reece-heavy basslines and chord progressions over heads-down d’n’b rhythms, but PCD aren’t afraid to mix things up either. Check the acoustic guitar and plaintive vocal over the Hospital-esque vibes of We Stand Alone for starters, or their bootleg of the Hilltop Hoods’ Now You’re Gone which flipped the original into a glitchy electro-breaks hybrid which hit #3 on the Triple J Unearthed dance charts.

PCD haven’t hit the ground running purely by chance – all three members have rich histories as both musicians and producers, with reputations stretching beyond the boundaries of Brisbane. Paul’s childhood spent behind the drum kit proved a natural gateway drug into drum’n’bass land, where he’s earned a reputation for his DJ sets as Hanm, prolific production work alongside Shane Wilson as Significant Kids and more recently a studio union with Micheal (No J) Snedden as The New Leaders which has seen two tracks signed to Room 01 Records. Cam fulfills the bass part of the equation, having moved from the 5-string to production and subsequently smashing his way down Australia’s east coast from 2007 to 2010 with live unit Silent Shadow, racking up gigs at Parklife and DnBBQ and a plethora of international supports in the process. Inspired by a rave he attended in his early teens on New Zealand’s south island, Dave’s own move out of guitar-based songwriting and into d’n’b and breakbeat production began in 2005. Four years after the trio first crossed paths on the intimate dancefloors of Brisbane’s tight knit bass music circuit, it’s unsurprising their musical chemistry is finally bubbling away.

The PCD project is very much a collaborative effort – whether tracks are started in solo studios or in joint writing sessions, Paul, Cam and Dave are all at the controls to see them through to completion. The same theory applies to their no longer strictly original DJ sets, and with plans already being hatched to take their sound into the live arena it seems their early good intentions may not be littering the side of the road for much longer.

Bookings/Press/Production: pcdcontact.hq@gmail.com

SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/p-c-d

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/PCD/193053317431404?sk=wall

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/pcdhq

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