"The mixture of McKean's growl and the excellent lyrics evoke a sound reminiscent of Leonard Cohen or Tom Waits... quality songwriting" - Record of the Day 07/07/08
"Live, they're capable of making audiences weak at the knees" - Metro (One to Watch, May '08)
"Tom McKean is in possession of a deep, rich voice and dark, moody songs.
Fantastic" - Time Out, London
"Plaintive, bleak and beautiful" – Stephen Merchant, BBC 6 Music
"They've been causing a stir and quite rightly too. Certainly one to watch out for in 2008" - Strummerville
"You really get a sense that the Emperors are seasoned veterans of the London music scene and I can't believe they won't be playing much larger venues very soon" - livemusic.fm
“What I'm listening to here is beautiful” – Kokomo web radio
“Nick Cave jamming with Tom Waits playing in a Jazz Bar during a Tarantino movie… toe-curlingly good” - livemusic.fm
"Evocative and cinematic, the Emperors explore the darker shadows of rootsy blues and jazz with the moody maturity of experience and stellar musicianship" - Twenty Cell Revolt music blog
"Like a Southern States whisky preacher, McKean is at his best when he takes his listeners on a roller-coaster emotional journey, from the lows to the highs, and from the dark to the light … exorcising the drab and dreary spirits from his congregation, re-invigorating us all for a few precious moments" - livemusic.fm
Tom McKean: vocals/guitars Bobby Williams: guitars/vocals Andy Simms: keyboards/clarinet/horns Iain Ross: drums/vocals Ed Miller: bass Many thanks to Fay Walsh (cello and banjo), Nick Loe (bass) and John Parker (double bass)
Influences
Sounds Like
Watch the band play "This is a War" live at The Borderline on 21st December 2007
This is a new band of disappointed idealists and disillusioned optimists.
We’re 18 months into Tom McKean & the Emperors and in that short time we've seen and done many new things. Some have been uplifting, some frustrating, at times surprising, often exhilarating and sometimes just downright depressing but always faithful to our band’s absolute commitment to writing great music and playing the most exciting shows we can - we might be miserable buggers but we still want you to have a good time.
So far in the little universe of the Emperors we’ve recorded an album’s worth of tracks (join our mailing list if you want to download them for FREE by sending an email to theemperors@btinternet.com), played some packed shows in the UK, headlined the incredibly civilized Bloomsbury festival, got a little practice in drunken crowd-control at the slightly more rowdy Wye Fayre, discovered that not everyone at the Big Green Gathering is into peace and love and triumphed through a haze of cider and sunburn at this year's Glastonbury (the triumph was making it to the stage at 1.30 in the morning).
We've just found ourselves a manager and are planning to do a bit of touring, release a couple of singles and an album over the next 12 months.
In short, things are looking pretty interesting. But, dear reader, that means nothing to the fickle lover we find ourselves courting so we will continue to write, rehearse and play for the sheer love of music and maybe some of you will be kind enough to listen.
The Emperors consist of multi instrumentalists Andy Simms (hammond, horns and clarinet) and Iain Ross (drums, mandolin, lap steel), guitar ace Bobby Williams, Ed Miller on bass, singer and guitar player Tom McKean and an evolving coterie of strings players and other part time Emperors.
Some of us have had a bit of success in the past with other bands but there’s something different about Tom McKean & the Emperors. Through the vagaries of luck and hard work we’ve found ourselves making the kind of music we always wished we could.
The tracks featured here were recorded live - either at Livingstone studios in London or in Bobby's living room. We haven’t spent days building layers and overdubbing. It’s 5 guys in a room playing the songs the way they did in the old days – 3 or 4 takes of each track, pick the best one and then move on. Hopefully this means that they capture something of the moment. We hope you enjoy them.
We wish you every success and hope that one day you might like to buy our music but, until then, fill your boots – it’s all free!
All the best,
Tom McKean & the Emperors
Tom McKean & the Emperors are based in London, UK.
JOIN OUR MAILING LIST AND GET FREE DOWNLOADS BY SENDING A MESSAGE TO theemperors@btinternet.com
FOR ALL OTHER ENQUIRIES PLEASE CONTACT richard@autonomymusicgroup.com
Will we be seeing ya at this month's Red Eyed & Blue on Tuesday March 11th? We sure hope so! It's taking place at the Hawley Arms' brand spanking new music venue The Wilmington. We've got a crackin' lineup with Adrian Crowley, Trevor Moss & Hannah Lou, The Snakes and DJ sets from the Truckin' Lauras and DJ James Steel.
Hi Tom McKean-it's Aoede from San Francisco-It's been nice to hear you and read you across the oceans...I'm pleased we're friends and am excited to announce that our new album, Push and Pull, is finally here! Would love it if you could take a listen-posted a bunch of stuff from the album just yesterday! Cheers. Aoede-muse of song www. aoedemuse. com
Eris ensue - I believe this is the first invitation to a bands page that I have received on myspace that is worth while - You are truly great and deserve publishing, gods damn the system that I will probably never get an officially released cd from you - you deserve success.
Helped with the sound at the Small World tent when ye boys played Big Green but forgot to write down the name of the band. I didn't make the same mistake after i seen you again in Small World festival. Great music lads, the fact you are giving it away gives you massive brownie points. I'm heading back to Ireland were I'll be throwing your music in a few stereos. Talk to you soon
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