MUSIC - interviews [Empires]


Photos by: Matt Wysocki

Interview with Tom Conrad of Empires

Back in July, we featured the Chicago band Empires as our band of the month. In fact, they held that title for the month of August as well, because we felt that they were worthy of it and their music deserves to be heard.

MTGH recently spoke with guitarist Tom Conrad via e-mail in what was our first feature interview and here's what he had to say:

Does the name "Empires" have any significant meaning to the band, aside from how it came about?
We just wanted something simple but strong. Empires is a very self-sufficient group and we've always felt the more we can do on our own, the stronger we will be long term. So when Sean and I, coincidentally came up with the name on the same night, made sense to roll with it. Trying to come with a name you want to grow with is a hard thing to decide on.

What does 'Howl' mean to the band and why did you decide to call the album that?
Sean's lyrics for "All Night Long" are my favorite off the record. It captures the time of the writing and development of Empires in the city. The word 'howl' was taken from the song and we felt it expresses the raw, primitive nature of where the band was.

The band released its debut album 'Howl' for free online. Did you anticipate the response received at all and how does it feel to have over 32 000 downloads since it's release with fans from every corner of the world? (Congratulations on the achievement, by the way!)
It's very encouraging. What most people do not know is we spent a full year just practicing, writing, and recording almost everyday just to get our footing. A lot of music was ditched just for the initial growth for the band. But no, we did not know what to expect by any means. We joked about having at least nine people download the record the first week. No one knows who we are.

How long did the writing process for 'Howl' take? Were there any difficulties experienced during the writing of this album?
We never set out to make the record. 'Howl' was a basically a collection of demos that came together. Empires writes and records so frequently that it does not make much sense to go back and re-track songs. We're always diving deeper to find what we haven't done yet together. The writing for 'Howl' took over a year to finish and record. The biggest issues were sneaking into studios and piano stores late at night to track.

In the song "Keep the Mood", there's a line that goes "most of what is good dies fast" - what is the one thing you felt you were having the most fun doing only to realise it's ended/is ending soon?
Every time I ride a cosmic wave.

What message does Empires hope to send out through its music?
Sean, Max, Ryan, Al and I look out for each other. Between doing as much as we do on our own and the support system we have for each other, we wanted to share that. This is one of the reasons 'Howl' was released for free online, we wanted establish a relationship with everyone that our first introduction was giving you something directly and personal from us straight to you. A warm welcome if you will.

What can people expect at a live Empires show for those thinking about coming out to one of the band's gigs for the first time?
Empires live is definitely raw and electric. We're still very new at this, anything could happen.

Who or what inspires the band most, musically?
We are each other's biggest inspiration. Musically, I think we pull a lot from the early 90's but we all do listen to a lot of music, anything from Curtis Mayfield to Nirvana to Common.

What is your biggest goal you hope to achieve with Empires?
Just to take Empires as far as we can. We are always striving for growth.

How would you describe the experience of being in Empires and doing what the band does?
Feels like the first time.

All your fans seem to be of the highest dedication to you guys, why do you think that is?
We are honest and have nothing to hide. We do our very best to include you with what's going on in Empires.

Define success for us. What does it mean to the band?
Success for us is being able to sleeping easier at night. Everyday we go to war with ourselves to become better at what we do. Yes, we lose sleep over this.

What sort of creative charge is the band feeling for these new songs that are currently being worked on?
Again, there is no initial plan for these new four songs we are currently in the middle of recording. But every time Sean, Al, Ryan, Max and I come together on a new session, we make sure it's a notch up from what we did last. We are covering the same ground as 'Howl' did but more intensely captured in four songs rather than fifteen. We couldn't be more excited.

Many of our visitors may be unfamiliar with Empires so for someone who, after reading this interview is thinking of dowloading 'Howl' but aren't quite sold on it yet, what will you tell them to convince them to do it?
Its free and only takes a single click to download.

Anything you'd like to tell your fans in Malaysia and South East Asia?
Thank you. You have no idea how bad we want to travel and perform to you. To make up for the time this might take, we're already working on new songs to get into your ears. Empires will be releasing an itunes single for "All Night Long" in the next few weeks.

© MoreThanGoodHooks.com | 28th October 2008

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MTGH would like to thank Tom Conrad and Empires for their time and the interview and wish the band the best in their future endeavours. If you would like to find out more about the band and their music, visit the links below.

LINKS
Official Website: www.weareempires.com (download 'Howl' for free)
MySpace: www.myspace.com/empires
Blog: empires.tumblr.com
Photos: www.flickr.com/photos/empires
Videos: www.vimeo.com/empires
Webstore: www.empires.bigcartel.com