Interview: Empire Warning (Written)

The groove metal powerhouse known as Empire Warning will release their highly anticipated new EP, ‘Destiny’ on March 29th, 2024.

Brilliant. Five absolute bangers that are interesting and exciting. Their growth is made abundantly clear across the EP and the future is looking brighter than ever. They deserve the success that this EP will hopefully bring them.

Read our full review here.

1. Hello! Thank you for taking the time to chat to us. First things first, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got started.

Well the journey was different for all of us. Ben and Adam started Empire Warning with our former drummer and guitarist. As the music got heavier Ben stepped aside from vocals as his were too clean at the time.

We discussed possible people to reach out to and Elsio’s name came up, strangely after that rehearsal when leaving we bumped into Elsio in Shepherd’s Bush, we got Elsio to come down the week after and it all just slot into place. Grant came in when our previous guitarist left, the connection and chemistry was instant. Writing at that time became a seamless process and a new fire was lit.

Jordan came in after a few drummers came and went, instantly brought a musicality and knowledge to the rhythm section that brought the real vision of the band as a whole in to reality.

2. Someone comes to you and asks you to sum up what kind of music you play – what do you tell them?

A band that mixes modern metal with old school sensibilities. Crossing genres with a core EW sound.

3. What’s currently going on in your camp? New releases? Tours? Etc.

29 March 2024 we are set to release our new EP Destiny.

4. What has been the most positive experience of making music to date for you?

The connections, the people you meet, the family you form in your band but having people make comments on how the music you’ve written has impacted their life or dragged them out of dark times really touched us.

5. Likewise, what has been some of the more challenging aspects and how have you overcome them?

The Pandemic. We won Metal 2 the Masses London in 2019, there was a bit of a buzz about us, festivals and tours booked in but that train halted for 2 years. To overcome this it’s just to soldier on, keep grinding and believe in yourselves. Nothing worth having is easy and we all face bumps in the road.

6. How do you handle the modern expectations of being in a band? Always online, having to put out content constantly, your success measured in likes and follows?

This day and age you’re the promoter, booker, manager, producer, editor, videographer etc etc.

The world has changed and we love playing live and getting out but the reality is that you are measured by your online interactions. We have sidestepped slightly to focus more on our content, release music more often and give the world more access to us via content.

We wish the industry in the mainstream wasn’t such a disposable place but when you look at the alternative scene we as fans should be proud of the longevity we give to our bands.

7. What’s something that really ‘grinds your gears’ about the industry/business these days and what would you propose is done to combat it?

Disposable culture, like previously stated about the mainstream. Bands need to record all their instruments and it’s a larger process. A producer who works with soft synths, samples and midi exclusively can churn out artists with a new song every other week. No disrespect to anybody for that an amount of work within itself but you watch music become a disposable commodity.

This being said I think in the alternative scene bands that support each other such as members of the London Metal Coalition boost each other and keep other bands public with collaborations.

Also to fans, don’t be afraid to like comment and share your fave bands on social media, fans hold the power in this digital age.

8. Speaking directly to listeners – what would you ask they do to help support your music?

Comment, like, share and subscribe.

Get out to a show and stream the songs.

Like we said fans hold the power.

9. Outside of the music, what’s do you do to relax?

Between us it’s a mix…

The gym, anime, good drinks, video games, discovering new music, museums and time with our loved ones.

10. Where can people find you?

Bandcamp | Spotify | Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter