“A Lot Of Giggling”: PNAU Discuss Performing On LSD, And Meeting Elton John

PNAU are one of the mainstays of the Sydney scene.

Ever since founding members Nick Littlemore and Peter Mayes first put their brains together back in the late ’90s, the duo have constantly pushed the envelope of electro and dance. Not content to simply crank out the same old work for almost four decades, PNAU have instead been in the process of continual regeneration.

2017’s Change was a bold reinvention of 2011’s Soft Universe, itself a radical departure from the straight up-and-down electro that the band dropped with their debut, Sambanova. Just when you think you’ve got PNAU pegged, they come out of left field with something else altogether.

Given that constant desire to push buttons, and their sheer longevity, you’d expect that Littlemore and Mayes would have some wild stories.

And you’d be right. Yup, as part of Music Junkee’s new video series, The Artist Alphabet, the duo sat down to tell us some of their most adventurous and bizarre escapades. First up, the pair — joined by friend and collaborator Ollie Gabriel — went long on their creative experiences with LSD.

“I don’t think a lot of people should take acid,” Littlemore said as way of introduction. “But those who have, should start bands.”

From there, the duo went long on an experience they had at a Brisbane concert, where a trip strengthened and warped their time onstage.

“The show was actually really good,” Mayes said. “Or so we thought,” Littlemore adds.

“I remember Nick, who seemed quite out of it at the time, going, ‘Is this gig going okay?’ As if we didn’t know,” says Mayes. “And I went, ‘yeah, yeah, okay.’

Adding to the whole bizarre shebang, the group then transitioned neatly into a story about meeting and working with Elton John, which is kinda just what happens when you’re an acclaimed disco group, I guess. Watch the whole thing in all its bizarre glory here, and check out ‘All Of Us’ while you’re at it: