PVT is an experimental band based between London and Sydney and are currently signed to US imprint Felte and have released records on Warp Records in the past. Band members are Richard Pike, Laurence Pike and Dave Miller. Brothers Richard and Laurence grew up in Sydney, later meeting Dave Miller who originally comes from Perth, Australia. The band have released five albums, three EPs and a number of singles. They have toured internationally.
History
In 1999, PVT was formed as Pivot in Sydney by brothers Richard Pike and Laurence Pike. The band spent the subsequent four years developing their sound and working on their debut album, with guitarist Richard Pike producing. They released their debut album, Make Me Love You, in August 2005 on Sensory Records. It was nominated for a J Award by national youth broadcaster Triple J. The band added Perth electronica artist Dave Miller in late 2005, omitting the old members from their line up and becoming a three piece. In 2008, PVT signed to UK label Warp Records. Their first EP In the Blood was released in May in the UK, Europe and Australia. O Soundtrack My Heart was released in August in Australia, the UK and Europe. It was tracked at BJB Studios Sydney, Australia, with Scott Horscroft, and mixed with John McEntire, at Soma Electronic Music Studios in Chicago, Illinois, USA. O Soundtrack My Heart was the 'Sydney Album of the Decade' for the 2000s, by FBi Radio, Sydney. 2008 saw the band tour across Europe and the UK. Notable shows included an appearance at 2008 Meltdown with Yellow Magic Orchestra, Glastonbury and invitations from Arctic Monkeys, Sigur Rós and Gary Numan to support on Australian tours. The band has been known to cover Talking Heads' "I Zimbra" live using live sampling to replicate up to 12 parts, and included a live version of the song on the B-side of their "O Soundtrack My Heart" tour-only 7". PVT were invited to perform as part of the Brian Eno curated Luminous Festival at the Sydney Opera House in June 2009, while completing their third studio release, Church With No Magic, with engineer Burke Reid in Sydney. In 2009 they contributed a cover of the Grizzly Bear song "Colorado" to the Warp20 compilation, as well as having their song "Fool In Rain" covered by Scott Herren's 'Diamond Watch Wrists'. They released the album Church With No Magic under their new name 'PVT' in July/August 2010. After the album's release, they featured as Stereogum's Band To Watch. In 2012, the band performed as part of the Vivid Live Festival at the Sydney Opera House. They were also announced as the support for Gotye's arena tour of Australia in December. In the same year the band signed to Felte and to Australian independent record label Create/Control in 2012 and released their 4th album Homosapien on 8 February 2013 in Australia and New Zealand.
Name
The first two releases by the band appeared under the name Pivot. In 2010, the group decided to remove the vowels from their name after a legal claim was made from an American band of the same name. Although in print it is 'PVT', the band can legally be called Pivot in all territories outside USA. Richard Pike said "It was frustrating and kind of ridiculous, but it became quickly obvious that it was a legal battle in the US we may not even win, and one we just couldn’t afford to lose. So in the end, we weren't fazed by it. Altering the name just seemed to be another step in the process for the record to come out and be heard… At the end of the day it’s small change..."
