With the recent release of a 7” split alongside Houston band, Football, Etc., an accompanying ten day tour, and working on a slew of upcoming EP’s and Splits, Empire, Empire (I Was A Lonely Estate) have been anything but idle. Never meant to be a real band, Empire, Empire began as a solo project for guitarist Keith Latinen, who eventually changed focus to Empire, Empire entirely after his previous project, Anna Flyaway split. Empire, Empire has seen many line up changes, and “is like a big family, with Keith and Cathy always at its core. It couldn’t exist without the help of many friends.”
The band has also had a number of releases in the past year, including a compilation tape called Title it Yourself, a collection of songs from various bands put together by label manager Jacob Schoberg from Keep it to Together in Elkhorn, WI, the Summer Tour EP released as a full-length teaser to bring along on their tour, and the actual full-length, What it Takes to Move Forward released September 29th. The aforementioned full-length was a laborious DIY creation, taking roughly two years. With all the recording done by Keith Latinen in a living room, it eventually found it’s way to being pressed and is distributed by Fenton, MI label Count Your Lucky Stars Records, Strictly No Capital in the UK, Stiff Slack Records in Japan, and Keep It Together Records. The band also featured songs from the album on the compilation Almost Free Music, put together by Phoenix Productions.
Empire, Empire (I Was A Lonely Estate) continues to keep busy tonight, as they play The Beat Kitchen along with The Field Auxiliary, Mountains for Clouds, and Joie De Vivre. $10 Doors at 8:30, Show at 9pm 17+
Be sure to check out Reviewsic’s interviews with each of the bands on tonight’s bill- Just type in the band name in our handy-dandy search bar.
Visit Empire, Empire (I Was A Lonely Estate) Online:
Myspace
Facebook
Blogspot
Last.fm
Count Your Lucky Stars
This week, drummer Jon Steinhoff took the time to talk to Telegram Sam about dream shows, musical influences, and past projects.
Telegram Sam: What other projects have you each been a part of?
Jon Steinhoff of Empire, Empire (I Was A Lonely Estate): Keith and Cathy were in a band called Anna Flyaway that sounded sort of like Empire. In college, Keith also used to be in a band (he probably doesn’t want me to mention) called Sea Defeats Sparrow. Theremay or may not have been a double-bass pedal involved. I had never been in a band that played more than five shows. In highschool, I was in a pop-punk outfit called The DeLoreans, and incollege, I dorked around a bit with my friend A.C. in an instrumental two-man band.
T.S: What are your top five musical influences?
J.S: The usual suspects: Gibbard, Simpson, Kinsella(s), Nanna, Pryor, etc… But in the van, we usually just end up playing “How Can We Be Lovers,” by Michael Bolton, on repeat.
T.S: Top three favorite venues to play? Any that you haven’t gotten to as of yet, but would love to book?
J.S: Man, we have played at so many cool places; it’s hard to pick favorites. It’s always nice to play under real lights and have your drums mic’ed once in a while, but house shows are definitely where it’s at. We’re honestly more than happy to just play wherever there’s a PA and room for us to set up. Our music is usually a little bit boring/wimpy for bar crowds, but I do enjoy playing / watching shows at Mac’s Bar in Lansing, MI (I guess that’s more of a venue than a bar…) I just love the atmosphere there. I’ve seen a lot of great bands play at Mac’s, and it always sounds really good in there. Also, I wish The Local 432 in Flint, MI would finally open back up. That place was great.
T.S: If you could book your “ultimate show” to play, who would you choose to share the stage with?
J.S: I’ve had this crazy idea in my head for a while now. It’s pretty unrealistic, but I think it would be neat to see someone put together a weekend summer festival (I like to refer to it as “Second-Wave Fest”) where classic emo bands meet the revival bands of today… So we’re talking like Mineral, Braid, and American Football getting back together and playing a show with Joie de Vivre, Snowing, and Algernon Cadwallader, for instance… but with lots more bands. It’d be pretty ridiculous. We’d probably all retire afterwards.
T.S: What’s in store for your music in 2010?
J.S: There are four new songs on the way for sure:
Two will be in the form of bonus tracks- one is for the upcoming vinyl release of our first EP, “When the Sea Became a Giant.” The other song is for its cassette tape release, which will also have the “Year of the Rabbit” 7″ songs on it. The third new song will be on a Split 10″ with our label-mates The Reptilian, Annabel, and Joie de Vivre; and the last one will be on a split 7″ with Into It. Over It. All of those releases will be on Count Your Lucky Stars. After that, Keith says he wants to write a painfully slow EP (à la Death Cab’s Stability) where I am only allotted ten snare hits per song.
T.S: Most memorable show you have played to date?
J.S: For me, it was probably my first show with the band, last February. We played a festival in Fenton with one of my favorite bands, The Forecast. The long-awaited CD Release at Mac’s last October also stands out. We got to play with Moneen, another one of my favorite bands.
T.S: Is there a particular intention/concept behind your band?
J.S: It’s about following your dreams. We just try to have fun, play honest music, and reminisce about how cool the ’90s were.
January 17, 2010 at 2:10 pm |
[...] Empire, Empire (I Was A Lonely Estate) are no strangers to the Chicago scene. With a slew of releases and distributors under their belt, they showed their musical chops with a solid set, just as any online example of their performance would imply. Though widely known, and certainly popular with last nights crowd, we felt a little put off by the character created by Empire Empire on stage, mainly because of frontman Keith Latinen’s swagger and indifference to the fact that, while he was playing for a room of mostly friends, that he was giving a performance nonetheless. However, what he somewhat lacked in couth conduct, the rest of Empire, Empire made up for in solid sound and legitimate talent on stage. (Read Reviewsic’s interview with Empire, Empire (I Was A Lonely Esate) here) [...]