One of Australia's most well known electronic acts, Pnau, has partnered with Red Rock Deli and created a track featuring sounds sampled from ingredients in the potato chips. Each of the ingredients were experimented with to “awaken their inherent or hidden musical qualities”.
The result is a track called All Your Energy, recorded by Pnau using sounds sampled from Red Rock Deli ingredients. There’s the sound of a chilli ‘clap’, lime ‘synth’ and black pepper crushed with a mortar and pestle ‘bass’.
Pnau frontman Nick Littlemore said the project was, “an interesting space for us to play in. The fusion of music and food is something we haven’t done before, and it sets a new challenge for us”.
PepsiCo CMO ANZ Snacks & Beverages, Vandita Pandey, said the collaboration was a way to bring Red Rock Deli’s branding to life in a new way, offering people a moment to experience the fusion of flavour and sound “like never before”.
“Red Rock Deli is a brand that is constantly pushing the boundaries of complex and layered flavour. Partnering with an artist like PNAU brings this message to life in an exciting new way that places the brand at the intersection of art, music, and culture,” Pandey said.
Littlemore said, “We’ve always approached music as something that is very layered. These chips are very layered. We’d like to think we’re quite complex. I don’t know if that’s true, but it certainly is true of these chips.
To create the track, each of the ingredients were experimented with to “awaken their inherent or hidden musical qualities”. The end result produced unexpected sounds you would not have thought possible from a snack, PepsiCo said.
“So, we approached this in a sort of fashion that we approach a lot of things, in the sense that we’re going to lay out different things together to try and capture more the feeling and the sensation of enjoying yourself, which is what happens when we eat these chips,” Littlemore added.
University of Queensland Flavour Chemist and Sensory Scientist Professor, Heather Smyth, said the relationship between sound and taste was “a fascinating one”.
“When it comes to auditory experiences, one example is how human’s love to hear a crunch, this comes from a primal instinct that demonstrates that a food item is fresh. Furthermore, our senses are heightened when we try a flavour combination that we find interesting and tasty, sending off a signal in our bodies conveying that a particular food is an experience worth savouring.”
Co-owner and director of Stanley House Studios, David Wasserman, told Food & Drink Business these types of collaborations are now the norm, with PepsiCo and Pnau just taking it a step further.
“Pnau has been an underground electronic band that has had an incredible following for over 20 years. They have skirted the mainstream but still managed to keep their alternate edge, which appeals to PepsiCo because its whole shtick is to do things differently,” Wasserman said.
Indeed, describing Red Rock Deli chips, PepsiCo said, “Red Rock Deli is dedicated to continually pushing the boundaries of sensory exploration to develop a range of complex and layered flavours that excite the senses.”
PepsiCo R&D manager, Kylie Bailey, said the brand was focused on providing an “elevated snacking experience”.
“Behind your favourite chip or cracker flavour is carefully considered research and analysis, working with real chefs to create a blend of ingredients that give you the perfect taste and texture.
“Most people don’t realise how many of our senses are engaged when we are enjoying our favourite snack so it’s great to see how our collaboration with Pnau brings that experience together and reflects just how much work we put into making our products,” Bailey said.
George Redmond, co-owner with Wasserman of Stanley House Studios, said collaborations like this are about cultural relevancy and a brand’s social currency.
Partnering with another brand – or artist, or influencer – that have the image, attitude, and social currency you want people to associate with your brand is hardly new.
“Obviously PepsiCo and Pnau are doing it in a more creative way, but the goals are still the same, it’s about maintaining relevancy and opening up a whole new audience,” Redmond said.
For Littlemore, “I would say historically, there have been many artists who have explored sensory things to make records. And some of the great records of our time have been responses or reflections on having your senses aroused. Right? This is not new territory, but this might be the first-time people have eaten chips and then written a new track composed solely from ingredients that go into making these delicious chips.”
