‘Post Mardi Gras, Sydney is back from the dead’: Peking Duk

Aussie hitmakers Peking Duk are back on the road, and the electronic duo said Sydney ‘feels alive’ for the first time in almost a decade. Here’s why.

Peking Duk band members Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles ahead of their show at the Enmore Theatre, part of their first Australian tour in four years. Picture: Jonathan Ng.

Sydney night-life is back from the dead, according to Aussie electronic hitmakers Peking Duk.

Canberra natives Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles are currently in the midst of their first national tour since 2019, and played Sydney’s Enmore Theatre last Friday.

“This year feels like everybody’s back outside,” Styles told Confidential. “There’s a freedom in the air after the three-year s …. storm we’ve all been through.”

Hyde: “I don’t think I’ve had this feeling in Sydney, of it being such an alive city, for eight years. It’s insane.”

Peking Duk are in the midst of their first tour in four years, hitting Australian capital cities, as well as visiting regional towns they’ve never played before. Picture: Jonathan Ng.

The pair first moved to Sydney from Canberra in 2012, and fondly recall sunrises spent chugging beer at late-night food spots like Golden Century while “smashing some friend rice”.

“It was so surreal, and then it all got shut down,” Styles reflects.

“The lockouts sucked the soul out of the city. Adsy moved to Melbourne, and I stuck around going: What am I doing here? But since Mardi Gras [where they performed], it feels like Sydney is back. Very much so.”

Decades of night-life cultivation were lost when live music venues were turned into boutique gyms and cafes, they lamented.

“But there are a lot of great things happening in Sydney,” Hyde said.

“There’s a party called Lost Sundays, and it’s one of the funnest raves I’ve been to in my life. It was on a Sunday night in the middle of the city, completely full of kids having the greatest time, listening to dance music. If Sydney continues to flourish with this trajectory, in 10 years we’ll be laughing.”

Peking Duk have earned themselves a reputation as Australia’s most beloved, most bonkers electronic music act with over a decade of consecutive bangers. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Peking Duk have earned themselves a reputation as Australia’s most beloved, most bonkers electronic music act with over a decade of consecutive bangers that have racked up over 530 million streams.

After working on their own solo projects, unveiling their weekly podcast and releasing a 2023 remix of their childhood favourite, Savage Garden’s ‘I Want You’, they’ve been chomping at the bit to get back on the road.

New father Styles joked he’d take babysitting “10,000 ravers over a baby any day”.

“Being at home is very hard work. It’s such a line of work that I have no prior history or skills in, so being on the road is ten times easier,” he said through laughter. “In saying that, [his son Remi] does make life itself that much more special.”

PEKING DUK’S UPCOMING TOUR DATES:

Tuesday 21 March – JCU Uni Bar, Townsville / Gurrumbilbarra Country

Thursday 23 March – Gilligan’s, Cairns / Yirriganydji Country

Friday 24 March – Magnums, Airlie Beach / Ngaro Country

Saturday 25 March – The Tivoli, Brisbane / Meanjin

Sunday 26 March – Miami Marketta, Gold Coast / Yugambeh Country

Friday 31 March – Hindley Street Music Hall, Adelaide / Kaurna Country

Saturday 1 April – Metro City, Perth / Boorloo