HTRK, Photograph: Dylan Marriott
Melbourne/Naarm downtempo duo HTRK are turning 21 this year. As part of the celebrations, they’ve invited a bunch of friends and contemporaries to remix tracks from their back catalogue. First up is London electronic experimentalist Loraine James, who gets her hands on “Dream Symbol” from the band’s 2019 album, Venus In Leo. HTRK’s Jonnine Standish previously collaborated with James on the track “Don’t You See It” from the latter’s Nothing EP, released in 2020.
HTRK’s birthday celebrations will take in a European tour in May, including performances at London’s Wide Awake festival and Barcelona’s Primavera Sound. Standish and bandmate Nigel Yang will return home for a 21st birthday party at Max Watt’s as part of RISING: Melbourne this June. They’ll be performing a retrospective set showcasing highlights from their two decades-plus existence. A bunch of support acts are to be announced.
Standish and Yang formed HTRK (pronounced “hate rock”) in 2003 alongside the late Sean Stewart, who died in 2010. Norman Records described the band’s debut EP, Nostalgia, as “Somewhere between Throbbing Gristle and Sonic Youth.” They’d moved on from the thornier, more industrial sound of their earlier work by the time they got to Venus In Leo and 2021’s country-influenced Rhinestones, but they’ve never abandoned their commitment to sonic experimentation.
In a statement, Standish summarised the band’s lifetime as “21 years of not fitting in, not having any ideas, accepting being bad at life, talking more than making music.” Yang was more philosophical: “As we change, and grow lighter, HTRK absorbs it all, acting as an archive of our experience.”
The Loraine James remix of “Dream Symbol” is out now through Ghostly International. Stay tuned for updates on the Melbourne birthday party and the arrival of more remixes.
HTRK - "Dream Symbol" (Loraine James remix)
HTRK 21st Birthday
Saturday 8 June – Max Watt’s, Melbourne (part of Day Tripper)
Tickets and more info via RISING: Melbourne
