This Is An Empire

Podcast available at http://nightofthelivingfred.mypodcast.com/2008/05/This_Is_An_Empire_Interview-105686.html - WCVF 88.9 - SUNY Fredonia Radio

Video available at http://video.artvoice.com/artvoicetv.php?permalink=0000000989 - Artvoice Buffalo

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wbfo/local-wbfo-673107.mp3 - WBFO

Featured on Indie Love Radio (indielove.ca) during Canadian Music Week (3/13/10) - Indielove.ca

"one of Buffalo's best upcoming bands." - Artvoice TV

"This Is An Empire combines elements of hard electro with hard rock, and the end results will pummel you into submission." - Rochester City News

"...these guys, with rockstar hair and humble attitudes, take a do-it-yourself approach to touring and releasing their music." - Cory Perla

Interview with 94.1 FM The Zone - 94.1 The Zone

"Wholly" not only perfectly captures the band, it only plays like This Is An Empire. - Associated Content - Nicholas Ramirez

Hey Guys! So today I have something extra extra special for you guys. I got an interview with Dennis Ferry from the hot new band called This Is An Empire. You can check out their myspace here.

S: When and how did the band form? How did you guys meet?

D: The band formed in summer of 2007 we’d known each other for years before. Adam and I were in a band together a few years before TIAE formed, and we’d known Matthew from another band we had played with in the Buffalo area. Adam and I were on tour with our former band and had gotten really burned out on the bands we were playing with at the time. We took that negativity and used it to start writing a new style of music and wanted to make music that was different and fun

S: How did you come up with your band name?

D: “This Is An Empire” was the working title of a demo we had recorded years before. We were struggling to find a name that fit the new music we were playing when Adam suggested This Is An Empire, and it fit perfectly.

S: What genre of music do you consider yourselves? Who or what are your major influences?

D: It seems like every band says this, but we really do listen to everything. So we’re influences by everything – from pop to hip-hop, rock, DJs, jazz, blues, songwriters – musically and culturally. We’ve had a hard time describing ourselves by genre so we took to calling it “electro-rage” as a fun way to describe the band’s performance and music.

S: What has been your best show or greatest moment so far?

D:Shows in Buffalo are always unreal. The city has been really supportive of us from the start and it’s a great feeling to play for 500+ people from your hometown supporting you. Otherwise there have been plenty of great moments on tour.

S: Tell us a little about your song “The Whole Story”. What was your source of inspiration for this song?

D: All of our songs have double or triple meanings lyrically, “The Whole Story” can mean different things to different listeners. I think overall the song is about letting yourself go full speed ahead to something you want, which seems appropriate since the song is our first single and was one of the first songs that formed the identity of the band’s style.

S:What would be an awesome shining moment for you guys (Ex. Being featured in a certain magazine, being interviewed on a certain show, getting to play some place, getting picked on in south park, lol, etc.)

D: There are a ton of things that could happen that we’d consider shining moments. Being able to travel the country and play at home doing what we love has been great in itself. Being able to see more of the world and playing alongside some favorite bands or contemporaries would be a great next step. We’d love to be able to keep sharing what we do with more and more people.

S: What are your favorite clothing brands? Where do you guys shop?

D: Our style is pretty varied. We all like checking out smaller shops in New York and Toronto, or any bigger cities we can get to on tour. I love the color black and I’m very into jackets. Adam is definitely always checking out shoes. Matt’s into a lot of different styles. It’s hard to sort everything into favorites.

S: What is the weirdest fan you have ever encountered?

D: We’ve been really lucky, we haven’t met anyone who has genuinely creeped us out yet. This is an open invitation to anyone who thinks they can. Seriously though, our fans are very cool and supportive and Buffalo has some of the most rad fans and friends anywhere in the country.

S: If you guys weren’t doing music, what would you be doing instead?

D: I think being involved in music is unavoidable for us, it’s what we love. If we weren’t playing it now, we’d all be involved in it either directly or indirectly. We’re all very immersed in the music scene in Buffalo and it’s hard to imagine it any other way.

S: What’s the next big step for This Is An Empire?

D: Next on our plate is releasing our EP very soon, which has our new single “The Whole Story.” We spent time in Seattle, WA this past summer recording with Casey Bates (Chiodos, Portugal The Man) which was an awesome experience. Casey is great and really helped us achieve the sound we wanted to. So obviously we can’t wait to put that out. Other than that, we hope to be on the road soon and coming to as many cities as the road can take us and keep creating as many opportunities as we can to continue making music.

S:Where do you see yourselves in the next 10 years?

D: Hopefully on a tour bus somewhere in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world, haha. Right now we’re working on releasing the EP, then we’ll worry about the 9 years after that. But we’d love to look back in 10 years and say that this was a big year for us.

Thanks for the time guys! Everyone pick something up from Rotten Thread and check out “The Whole Story” on iTunes! - Rottenthread.com

Audio of interview available at http://www.wbnylocalshow.com/olddownloads.html - WBNY 91.3FM - Buffalo's Original Alternative