Exclusive Interview: President Street

Tara speaks with Ruby & Pete from President Street, an Australian duo making waves in the UK. We talked about writing and recording the modern funk-inspired single “Tell Me Brother,” their songwriting process, making their mini album expected this year and more.

After the release of their medicinal single ‘Heal’ back in May, Australian-Pop duo President Street are back with their latest infectious single, ‘Tell Me Brother’, the next puzzle piece for their upcoming mini-album.

Loaded in weighty, stylistic grooves, ‘Tell Me Brother’ has brought the funk to President Street. Challenging outdated forms of masculinity, President Street create their version of an anti-war song, at a time the world needs to hear it the most. With an uptempo feel to it, contagious rhythms fill this single with bouncing danceability, luscious vocal melodies and bustling basslines, yet the strong message that runs through this single remains.

The track is brought to life by its luscious instrumentation. This owes its thanks to members of Irish folk singer/songwriter, Damien Dempsey’s band featuring on the new single. Graham Kearns (Guitar), Chris Pemberton (Keyboard), John Reynolds (Drums) and Clare Kenny (Bass) have all been a part of Dempsey’s work for years and now they join forces with President Street to help convey their message to the world.

We want to challenge the idea of what it means to ‘be a man’ and the concept of masculinity. We want to direct our message that – rather than being about violence and toxicity, TRUE masculinity is about being strong enough to lead through compassion and understanding and using strength to lift people up rather than hold them down.

Riding off the highs of 2021’s ground-breaking EP ‘Heartbreak Player’, which featured the infectious hit title single and remix’s from Adam Turner and Redondo. President Street are on a continual climb and not ready to stop till they reach the top, as they also smashed through to the No.5 spot in the Commercial Pop Dance Chart with ‘Something to Believe’ and a full host of UK and European tour dates at the end of last year, President Street have been dubbed as the ones to watch by many musical curators. The band also embarked on another selection of shows, playing at Brighton’s The Great Escape Festival and supporting the incredible Roachford on tour in May.

Check out our Discover Spotlight Podcast featuring interviews with other emerging artists. Plus listen to Channel R Discover, our 60min curated playlist featuring the best emerging artists Sundays at 10am PT/1pm ET on Channel R.