UTG INTERVIEW: New Empire Talk New Album, Coming To America

November 26th, 2013

Matthew Leimkuehler

Australian indie-pop act New Empire are making strides toward mainstream American success. The band are preparing to release their third LP, In A Breath, here in America this coming January.

The band finished up an Australian tour last October and are currently spinning a new single, “Say It Like You Mean It,” worldwide. The band’s music is infectious and ready to seep over the Pacific into America.

Check out an exclusive interview from bassist Nathan Cairns with UTG about the new record, tour and potential world domination by clicking “Read More.”

Your new record, In A Breath, is out early next year. What can fans expect with the new record?

Fans can expect a journey of songs ranging from your big, anthemic tracks to your intimate and reflective ones. We’ve really tried to push the boundaries on this album, whilst still staying true to our sound.

It will definitely be something new and fresh.

It’s your third LP, are there things you have learned from the last two efforts you put into the writing process this time around?

I think as with anything in life, the more you do it, the better (or more focused) you become at it. So having already done two LPs, we knew what to expect, what needed to be done, and how to do it efficiently. It made for a great recording experience.

Where did other influences come from on this record? Any songs in particular you’d want to mention?

We are all fans of bands like Coldplay, One Republic, Kings of Leon, etc., but I think with this album, we definitely drew from a few older bands like Toto and Fleetwood Mac, and also a few bands outside our “genre” like M83. It was fun to try and incorporate those influences into our tracks and we are so happy with the end result.

“Say It Like You Mean It” is out now. How has response been for this song?

The response has been great. “Say It Like You Mean It” was one of those songs where we drew an ‘outside’ influence and threw it into the track. So it was interesting seeing how fans reacted to something that sounded a bit different. But the response has been overwhelming. People have been loving the new sound and the song.

You toured Australia in October, how were those dates?

It’s always a lot of fun to tour, and to tour your home country, especially, a lot of fun for us. We hadn’t toured in a while, so it was good to get back out there. The fans didn’t disappoint, either. They turned out in numbers and made sure every night was a good night.

A lot of bands from Australia have had success overseas, especially here in America. What are you guys doing to break further into the states?

We’re currently planning some cool things for overseas. We love America, so we really want to get over there ASAP and tour again. But, for the meantime, we are planning and strategizing the best course of action, for not only shows, but for the band as well.

If you could accomplish one thing from the new record, what would it be?

World domination [laughs]. Realistically, if we can continue to play shows and make a living off of that from this album, then I’ll be a happy camper. Also, a number 1 song would be nice too!

What does the future and 2014 look like?

Touring, touring and more touring. We really want to get this music out there and get it to as many people in as many different countries as we can. All of us love touring as well, so it helps we are all on that same page. 2014 is going to be an exciting one, and we can’t wait!

Written and conducted by: Matthew Leimkuehler (@callinghomematt)