Art vs. Science are an Australian
electronic dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
band based in
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. Formed in February 2008, the three-piece consists of James Finn (styled as Jim) on vocals and keyboards; Daniel McNamee (styled as Dan Mac) on vocals, guitars and keyboards; and Daniel Williams (styled as Dan W.) on drums and vocals.
The trio received three nominations at the
ARIA Music Awards of 2010 for their independent extended play release, ''
Magic Fountain'' and, in
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, the group won
ARIA Award for Best Independent Release for their debut album ''
The Experiment
''The Experiment'' is a 2002 BBC documentary series in which 15 men are randomly selected to be either "prisoner" or guard, contained in a simulated prison over an eight-day period. Produced by Steve Reicher and Alex Haslam, it presents the fi ...
''. The album peaked at No. 2 on the
ARIA Albums Chart.
History
2008–2009: Formation and early EPs
In February 2008, Art vs. Science formed in Sydney as an electro-pop dance band, after Dan McNamee attended a
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 ...
concert in 2007. He convinced his former high school friends, Jim Finn and Dan Williams to join.
The trio were ex-members of Roger Explosion, a rock-punk band, which had formed in 2003 and included Finn's brother Tom on bass guitar. By 2007 Roger Explosion had released two extended plays and an album. Art vs. Science has Finn on vocals and keyboards; McNamee on vocals, guitars and keyboards; and Williams (who, at the time, was also a member of
Philadelphia Grand Jury
Philadelphia Grand Jury (The Philly Jays) are an Australian trio from Sydney. The band's current line-up consists of Joel "MC Bad Genius" Beeson on bass, keyboard and guitar, Simon "Berkfinger" Berckelman on vocals and guitar and Dan "Dan W. Swe ...
) on drums and vocals. The band were booked to play gigs before they had created any songs.
The band based their name on two members, one doing an arts degree, the other science. The third member did a language major at university.
After playing gigs and festivals, including the Parklife Festival,
Falls Festival, Good Vibrations and touring nationally with
The Galvatrons
The Galvatrons are a four-piece rock band who formed on 28 August 2007, in Geelong, Australia. Lead singer Johnny Galvatron stated on radio station 101.3 Sea FM on the Central Coast that the band got their name from the 1986 animated film Tra ...
, Art vs. Science received a 2008 Unearthed
J Award
The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...
nomination. Their song, "Flippers" was listed at No. 44 on the
Triple J Hottest 100, 2008.
The band undertook its first headline national tour in May 2009, which was sold out.
In August, the group embarked on The Eiffel Tour across Australia.
In July 2009, the band gained wider recognition after winning radio station,
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
's ''
Unearthed'' competition earning a gig at
Splendour in the Grass.
Art vs. Science's debut
self-titled extended play was recorded at Big Jesus Burger studios in
Surry Hills with producer Simon 'Berkfinger' Berckelman (Philadelphia Grand Jury) and was released in May. Dan Williams said "We recorded it all in one day, in one session, one mad day; locked ourselves in, with a lot of coffee and a lot of wine. We were set up in a room: it was all very minimal, no metronomes; just the producer screaming at us till we got it right."
The EP peaked at No. 32 on the
ARIA Singles Chart
The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...
,
[
] and, in December, it was accredited gold record status by ARIA.
At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2009 the EP was nominated for
ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single
The ARIA Music Award for Breakthrough Artist – Single was an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards. It was presented from 1989 through to 2009 and 2011.
This, and the ARIA Award for Breakthrough Artist – Album was merged in 2012 t ...
.
They also received two
AIR Award nominations for 'Best Independent Single' and 'Breakthrough New Independent Artist' and won 'Best Independent Dance Album'. With their colourful mix of pop, French electro, and rock they won the Fasterlouder Festival Award for 'Best Local Act' in 2009.
The band's track, "
Parlez Vous Francais?
"Parlez Vous Francais?" is a song released by Australian electronic band Art vs. Science as a radio single. It was released as the second single from their debut self-titled EP. Sales towards the track counted toward the EP; however, the song ...
", was added to rotation at community radio, Triple J and
Nova 96.9
Nova 96.9 (call sign: 2SYD) is a commercial radio station operating in Sydney, Australia.
The station is owned by NOVA Entertainment along with sister station, smoothfm 95.3
Audience
In 2014 Nova had a 4% share of the Sydney audience on ...
.
The song was listed at No. 2 on the
Triple J Hottest 100, 2009
The 2009 Triple J's Hottest 100 Volume 17, was announced on Australia Day 26 January 2010. It is the seventeenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J.
Voting commenced ...
.
The video for "Parlez Vous Francais?", directed by Alex Roberts, was nominated for 'Australian Music Video of the Year' at the 2009 J Awards. By the end of the year Williams had to give up playing drums in his other Sydney band, Philadelphia Grand Jury, in order to concentrate full-time on Art vs. Science.
2010–2018: ''The Experiment'' and ''Off the Edge of the Earth and into Forever, Forever''
Art vs. Science started to gain international recognition, following the inclusion of "Parlez Vous Francais?" on BBC 1 DJ Kissy Sell Out's cover-mount compilation on UK taste-making magazine ''
Mixmag'', airplay on John Kennedy's
XFM
Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...
's show and blog attention, courtesy of a remix package including tracks by
Bumblebeez and Nadastrom. XFM also named the band one of the 20 Bands to Watch in 2010. In 2010, the group toured the United Kingdom in support of
La Roux in March and then
Groove Armada in May.
[
] Their track, "Hollywood", appears on the soundtrack of the basketball video game ''
NBA 2K11
''NBA 2K11'' is a 2010 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It was released in October 2010 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and Nintend ...
''.
The band released its second EP, ''Magic Fountain'', in August 2010, which reached No. 14 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
The title track reached No. 9 on the
Triple J Hottest 100, 2010
The 2010 Triple J Hottest 100 was announced and played on Australia Day, 26 January 2011. It is the eighteenth countdown of the most popular songs of the year, as chosen by the listeners of Australian radio station Triple J.
Voting commenced at ...
. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2010 the band received three nominations,
ARIA Award for Best Dance Release
The ARIA Music Award for Best Dance Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Indus ...
,
ARIA Award for Best Independent Release and Best Video for "Magic Fountain".
In October, Art vs. Science started recording their debut album, ''
The Experiment
''The Experiment'' is a 2002 BBC documentary series in which 15 men are randomly selected to be either "prisoner" or guard, contained in a simulated prison over an eight-day period. Produced by Steve Reicher and Alex Haslam, it presents the fi ...
'', in Queensland with producer
Magoo.
The band's next single, and official lead single from their debut album, "Finally See Our Way", premiered on Triple J's ''
The Breakfast Show'' with
Tom
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
&
Alex
Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis.
People
Multiple
*Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people
* Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people
*Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple pe ...
on 22 November 2010
and was released on 26 November. In March 2011 the group supported
The Chemical Brothers
The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester in 1989. They were pioneers (along with the Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, and other acts) in bringing the big beat genre t ...
' Australian tour.
Art vs. Science signed with Kobalt Music Australia, the label's first local signing. Their album was released in Australia on 25 February 2011.
In early 2014, the band released a single entitled "Create/Destroy", as well as releasing a music video for a new song entitled "I Was a Child Once". "I Was a Child Once" is the result of an experimental collaboration and recording project open to the public, dubbed a world first. The project, named "Open Studio" was presented by Pedestrian TV and
Ben Sherman, who opened a recording studio at Ben Sherman's
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
Arcade flagship store for five days in February 2014. The completed video and song was published to YouTube on 23 March 2014.
2019–present: ''Big Overdrive''
In May 2019, the band released the non-album single "Zeus in the Architecture"; the first taste of their most recent sessions.
In November 2021, their first single in 18 months "SWEAT" was released alongside a music video directed by Angus “Beef” McGuigan. The band started touring again with the SWEAT tour for a few months after the single's release.
In July 2022, the band released "I Saw You" and announced their third album ''Big Overdrive'', which was released on 5 August 2022.
Members
* Jim Finn – keyboards, bass, vocals
* Dan McNamee – keyboards, guitar, vocals
* Dan Williams – drums, vocals
Discography
Studio albums
Extended play
Singles
Notes
Awards and nominations
AIR Awards
The Australian Independent Record Awards (commonly known informally as
AIR Awards) is an annual awards night to recognise, promote and celebrate the success of Australia's Independent Music sector.
, -
, rowspan="3",
AIR Awards of 2009
, ''Art vs. Science''
, Best Independent Dance/Electronic Album
,
, -
, ''Art vs. Science''
, Best Independent Single/EP
,
, -
, Art vs. Science
, Breakthrough Independent Artist
,
, -
, rowspan="3",
AIR Awards of 2011
The AIR Awards of 2011 (or Jägermeister Independent Awards of 2011) is the sixth annual Australian Independent Record Labels Association Music Awards (generally known as the AIR Awards) and was an award ceremony at Revolt Art Space, in Melbourn ...
, Art vs. Science
, Best Independent Artist
,
, -
, rowspan="2", ''The Experiment''
, Best Independent Album
,
, -
, Best Independent Dance/Electronic Album
,
, -
APRA Awards
The
APRA Awards
APRA Awards may refer to one of two awards ceremonies:
*APRA Awards (Australia)
*APRA Awards (New Zealand)
The APRA Music Awards are several annual and two-yearly award ceremonies run in New Zealand by Australasian Performing Right Association ...
are presented annually from 1982 by the
Australasian Performing Right Association
APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...
(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".
Art vs. Science have received two nominations, both for Dance Work of the Year.
, -
,
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, "Parlez Vous Francais" (James Finn, Daniel McNamee, Daniel Williams)
, Song of the Year
,
, -
,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, , "
Magic Fountain" (James Finn, Daniel McNamee, Daniel Williams) , , Dance Work of the Year
, ,
, -
,
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, , "
Finally See Our Way" (James Finn, Daniel McNamee, Daniel Williams) , , Dance Work of the Year
, ,
ARIA Awards
The
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
are presented annually from 1987 by the
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...
(ARIA). Art vs. Science have won one award from six nominations.
, -
,
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, , "
Art vs. Science
Art vs. Science are an Australian electronic dance band based in Sydney, New South Wales. Formed in February 2008, the three-piece consists of James Finn (styled as Jim) on vocals and keyboards; Daniel McNamee (styled as Dan Mac) on vocals, guit ...
" , ,
Breakthrough Artist - Single , ,
, -
, rowspan="3",
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, , rowspan="2", "
Magic Fountain" , ,
Best Independent Release , ,
, -
,
Best Dance Release , ,
, -
, "Magic Fountain" – Alex Roberts , , Best Video
, ,
, -
, rowspan="2",
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, , ''
The Experiment
''The Experiment'' is a 2002 BBC documentary series in which 15 men are randomly selected to be either "prisoner" or guard, contained in a simulated prison over an eight-day period. Produced by Steve Reicher and Alex Haslam, it presents the fi ...
'' , , Best Independent Release
, ,
, -
, ''The Experiment'' , , Best Cover Art , ,
J Award
The
J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...
's youth-focused radio station
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
. They commenced in 2005.
, -
,
J Awards of 2008
, ''Alibis & Other Lies''
, Unearthed Artist of the Year
,
, -
,
J Awards of 2009
, "Parlez Vous Francais?"
, Music Video of the Year
,
, -
,
J Awards of 2011
The J Award of 2011 is the seventh annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). For the fourth year, three a ...
, ''The Experiment''
, Album of the Year
,
, -
,
J Awards of 2011
The J Award of 2011 is the seventh annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November). For the fourth year, three a ...
, ""A.I.M. Fire"
, Music Video of the Year
,
References
External links
*
Art vs. Scienceon
NovaFM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Art Vs. Science
Australian house music groups
Musical groups established in 2008
ARIA Award winners
Australian DJs
Musical groups from Sydney
Electronic dance music DJs