It takes a keen eye to recognize any opportunity. It takes a strong hand to go forth and make something of it, be it forming a dream into reality, recognizing the talent of those around you or, in this case, building Empires.
Empires began in fall 2006 when long time friends Sean Van Vleet (vocals) and Tom Conrad (guitar) realized their musical chemistry together and, wanting to form a full band, aimed to complete the equation. They moved to Chicago in early 2007. The blessing of talented friends continued, when Max Steger (guitar) and Ryan Luciani (drums) joined in the months that followed. Though the search for a bass player was long, it was well worth it when Alfred Smith officially joined the band towards the end of the year. Their individual skills had been proven on stage and in the studio before, but there was unity and solidity together in this new band of old friends.
Throughout the whole of 2007, the as-yet-unnamed band wrote and created songs, playing and replaying and perfecting. The care and time with which the songs were formed allowed for an organic type of growth between the five members, every note and lyric being carefully placed. Their name came in natural time as well, when Conrad and Van Vleet separately had the word Empires come their minds; it worked. With Steger at the helm, the recording process began in October.
Four months later, and done entirely by the band themselves, Howl was complete. Fifteen songs vigilantly written and recorded, an effort Empires are proud to release. Though some have been able to preview the tracks at their recent (and sold out) Chicago area shows, the complete album will be made available digitally, and for free, this spring. Howl is an eclectic rock record, with a timeless sound proceeding the age of it's twenty-something writers. Empires will be bringing their completed work to stages across the rest of the country later on in 2008 but, in the mean time, enjoy its sound at myspace.com/empires. The anticipation of hearing this act over a year in the making may be hard to withstand, however, it's important to remember that Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were Empires.
