The Death Set

Australian noise rock trio the Death Set blends punk energy with experimental production that twists across genres and frequently incorporates electronic textures into its frenetic, high-intensity tracks. Shortly after forming in 2005 the group left Australia and spent roughly a year each in Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn. Remaining prolific through the late 2000s and early 2010s, the band sustained its output despite repeated relocations and the loss of a founding member; after the 2011 release Michel Poiccard the collective fell quiet until its fourth album, How to Tune a Parrot, appeared in 2021.

Although founders Beau Velasco and Johnny Siera had crossed paths while growing up amid the compact music community of Gold Coast, Australia, their connection deepened only when Siera witnessed Velasco’s guitar work and stage antics inside the local outfit Black Panda. Velasco was the one who ultimately invited Siera to join Black Panda on guitar; once the remaining members departed for other obligations the pair carried on as a duo. An East Coast Australian tour alongside the kindred Brooklyn act Japanther prompted a move to Sydney, where the two developed material using guitars, keyboards, and sparse laptop beats while Velasco constructed makeshift microphone setups for vocals. Now operating as the Death Set, they opted to relocate to the United States, passing briefly through Brooklyn before establishing themselves in Baltimore. Their self-released debut EP To—largely composed in Sydney—attracted Morphius Records, which reissued the recording in 2006. Rad Warehouses Bad Neighborhoods followed in 2007. By spring 2008 the lineup had stabilized around Siera and guitarist/vocalist Peter O’Connell, supported by a rotating drum section, and the band delivered Worldwide on Counter Records, Ninja Tune’s rock-focused imprint; Velasco still contributed to the album. The following year founder Velasco died, prompting the addition of Jahphet Landis. The revised group then completed its third album, Michel Poiccard, issued in early 2011. The 2014 EP King Babies marked the final release for several years as membership shifted once more. In 2021 the Death Set, now comprising Siera, Daniel Walker, and William Broussard, returned with the studio album How to Tune a Parrot.