a thing.
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Hey everyone! We are playing some sweet SXSW showcases in March again this year with Joie De Vivre & Warren Franklin & the Founding Fathers and making our way down there through a few select states. We need a little help booking the tour, so if you have a basement/house/DIY…
Show in our beloved Michigan tonight!
Show in our home-state tonight with The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die at the DAAC in Grand Rapids, MI! http://www.facebook.com/events/447843085273742/
The World is a Beautiful Place & I am no Longer Afraid to Die
james brown kings of soulmo
http://theworldis.bandcamp.com/
Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate)
the emo sister hazel
http://empireempire.bandcamp.com/
saintseneca
leadbelly tribute band
http://saintseneca.bandcamp.com/
Running Shoes
jangly punk-a-long kid-rock
http://runningshoes666.bandcamp.com/
Soft Roars
aimee mann/velvet underground collab
http://softroars.bandcamp.com/
SRVVLST
if rites of spring were any good
http://survivalist.bandcamp.com/——
6P/$7 - 01/03/13
@ The DAAC
115 S. Division St, Grand Rapids, MI 49503
All ages - always. - No drinking! No drugs!
http://www.facebook.com/events/447843085273742/
POZ 100 Words Or Less Podcast: Keith Latinen (Empire! Empire!, Count Your Lucky Stars)
Our 100 Words Or Less Podcast with host Ray Harkins is back with Keith Latinen of Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) and Count Your Lucky Stars. Ray’s conversation with Keith covers paying in a band with his wife, defining success,bands moving up, and much more.
Follow the podcast on Twitter here, subscribe to the podcast on iTunes here, and stream the new episode with Ray below by clicking “Read More.”
Here are the tour dates with the Reptilian!
05.11.12 UK Sheffield @ Tye Die Tapes HQ
http://www.facebook.com/events/501354379889686/06.11.12 UK York @ Stereo
07.11.12 Scotland Glasgow @ 13th Note
http://www.facebook.com/events/178763022256461/08.11.12 Scotland Dundee @ Club Kage
You can now download our entire discography for FREE! It’ll be up free for a week! ♥ Head over to our Bandcamp page (http://empireempire.bandcamp.com/) and go wild! All of the albums say “Name Your Own Price” but you can put zero orrrr anything you wish ;) The albums are in relative order…
Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) / The Reptilian UK tour
Our favorite midwest sweethearts Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) are headed overseas for a two week stint in the UK. Dates are below (formatted DD.MM.YY for you non-Americans):
- 05.11.12- TBA
- 06.11.12 – UK – York – Stereo
- 07.11.12 – SC – Glasgow – 13th Note
- 08.11.12 – SC – Dundee – Club Kage
- 09.11.12 – SC – Edinburgh – The Wee Red Bar
- 10.11.12 – UK – Leeds – Wharf Chambers
- 11.11.12 – EIR – Dublin – The Twisted Pepper
- 12.11.12 – EIR – Cork – Cyprus Avenue
- 13.11.12 – UK – Bristol – venue TBA
- 14.11.12 – UK – Falmouth – Fish Factory Art Space
- 15.11.12 – UK – London – The Blackheart
- 16.11.12 – UK – Southampton – Joiners
- 17.11.12 – UK – Brighton – The Green Door Store
Topshelf bands on tour throughout July & August!
- Sirs are headed out with Spook Houses starting today.
- Pianos Become the Teeth afre in Euope and the UK for the next three weeks.
- Slingshot Dakota have a run of EU / UK dates with The Static Age coming up.
- Prawn is hitting the road with Calculator starting tomorrow.
- Suis La Lune is on tour right now in the UK.
- My Fictions have some dates in support of their new EP out August 14.
- You Blew It! is winding down their East Coast / Midwest / Canada tour.
- The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die have a string of amazing shows along the East Coast in August.
- Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) is in the final stretch of their tour with Perfect Future.
- Into It. Over It. will be on the road AGAIN — this August with Polar Bear Club.
For a semi-comprehensive list of all of our band’s shows, check out our tour page!
Here are the days left out on tour:
7/15 – Robbinsville, NJ @ Jake’s House^
7/16 – Willimantic, CT @ The Handsome Woman ^
7/17 – Providence, RI @ The Weak Teeth’s Practice Space ^
7/18 – Hookset, NH @ 75 Granite Street ^
7/19 – Boston, MA @ Sanddollars ^
7/20 – Brewer, Maine @ 30 Clisham Road ^
…
For me, this interview is insane. I can’t believe I landed this one but alas, here it is, my Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) interview is here. Enjoy it.
Hello Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate) could you introduce yourselves and state what you do in the band?
My name is Keith, and I play guitar, bass, drums, sing, and whatever else we decide to do. My wife Cathy also plays guitar, though I can’t seem to convince her to sing anymore. I think the last time she did it live was like 3 years ago, haha.
Short and simple, how did you all come together to form this band?
I started this as a solo project while recording a band Cathy and I were in called Anna Flyaway. It broke up, and we decided to make this a full time band. We already had an entire ep recorded, so it was a nice jumping off point.
What’s the story behind your very unusual but very catchy band name? What attracted you to the idea of having a long name?
Ah, thanks for calling it catchy. It’s overly wordy, haha.- I admit it. When I started recording under this moniker it was never meant to be anything more than a solo project, so I felt the freedom to name is something very ornate and elaborate. It reminds me of the time my friend and I had started a project called “I Shall Strike You Down From Where You Stand”, which was a line from some fantasy book I was reading at the moment. Empire! Empire! is less ridiculous, but not that much so. In all honesty, given the chance to rename it, I would. It’s not that I don’t like it, per se, it is just that it is a nuance. I hate telling people the band I’m in- it’s bad enough to try and describe the sound after that. The average person’s responses to my answers are almost always met with glazed eyes, so nowadays I just say “Empire! Empire!” and that I play “indie rock”.
You’re pretty huge right now in the general emo scene, please explain how amazing it is to have kids buying your records and spreading your name even further around.
Well, I don’t know about being huge, but I guess the important clause there is the ‘general emo scene’ bit. It’s a pretty small scene and most everyone knows everyone- band-wise, at least. I have honestly sort of lost the perspective of how it has grown past that, because that is what I deal with every day. But the fact that anyone has ever bought any of our records still blows my mind. We’ve sold out of at least the first pressings of every release we have done up to this point, and some of those pressings were decent sized numbers. I can’t thank everybody enough for supporting us, be it through monetary means or word of mouth. Thank you!
I know we’ve got plenty of your releases to listen to, that’s great and all but is there any news you can share on upcoming releases or anything else exciting?
Sure! We recorded a batch of songs (nine in total!) late last year/early this year, and they are divvied up as follows: two songs to a split with Rika, two songs to a split with Arrows, two songs for a split with Malegoat, one song for a four-way split with Driving on City Sidewalks, Mountains for Clouds, and Two Knights, one song for a split off a subscription 7” for Time as a Color Records, and one song for a tape compilation that we have single-handedly help up for like a year.
Besides that, we are now ankle-deep into writing our new full length. I say ankle-deep when we should be at least knee-deep, but we’ve been so busy with other things that it has been put off for a bit. We are trying to remedy that! Expect that in fall.
Do you feel like you’ve progressed as a band since you first started in your little town of Fenton in 2006?
I do- After being a band for almost seven years (wow that feels strange to say aloud), I think you almost have to. So far, we have managed to mostly avoid the general decries of “Your earlier stuff was better”, etc, though that may change or maybe I just don’t have my ear to the ground. But I’ve learned to sing better, write more succinct, and hopefully have become a better musician. We’ve been fortunate to see the entire country and some nice chunks of the world too, so if nothing else, this band has validated my purchasing a passport.
Obviously you guys most write lyrics about many different topics but what is a main preference of yours while writing?
I write it as a poem and never sacrifice word choice for a better melody or flow. I try to be as descriptive and specific as possible so the reader/listener can place themselves as though they were there too. I think in some of my earlier work, my style was more vague and symbolic so the reader had to work to unravel the meaning. But I have had a complete shift since then, and everything now is literal and plaintive. I think there is beauty in simplicity, but I find that writing simply is much more of a challenge that writing complex, if that makes sense.
I know you’ve just come back from a tour of bits and bobs of the US, how was it? Do you have any funny stories or not so funny stories from your tour?
Yes, we got back from our first West Coast tour. I think one of the funnier moments came in California. We were staying with our friend Mark at his Grandma’s house, and he told us the night before that he had work the next morning, so we had to be out before that. He left us the electronic gate opener so we could open the gate when we were ready to go. Right before work, he came to check on us and we weren’t ready to leave, but he had talked to his Grandma and told us just to lock up when we were done. When we packed up our things and got ready to go, we realized that Mark had taken the gate opener, and we were literally locked in. We had gotten in late the night before and had not met his Grandma, and after going through our options for a good 15 minutes, we ended up sheepishly knocking on the door and asked her to let us out. Is this one of these stories that isn’t funny if you weren’t there? Anyway, the concept of a gate keeping us in instead of out is pretty funny. We also ate Del Taco that night.
You’re touring Canada soon correct? How excited are you about that?
Very excited! Being from Michigan I’ve been to Canada several times, but never on tour. I’ve never been as far north as we are going either, so it should be a blast. The drummer coming with us refuses to believe that they sell milk in bags, and I am looking forward to making him eat his words.
Count Your Lucky Stars is the label you’re signed to, do you feel like they do whatever they can to help you out and do you love being a part of it?
Well, given the fact that we also run the label, I would say that they have done a pretty good job, haha. Actually, running the label we are on has its real ups and downs. I spend far more time on the label then I do the band, and if I ever need to cut something- be it time or release-wise, Empire! is first on the chopping block. But I absolutely wouldn’t trade my label for the world. All of the bands are my best friends, and the sense of community is astounding. I feel like they are all my family and we all help each other out as much as we can. It’s very special.
What’s your favourite release that you’ve put out so far?
Home After Three Months Away, by far. In recoding chronology it is the newest release, even though some other releases have come out after it. It’s the first release I felt like I accomplished everything I set out to do. The lyrics convey a story and read much more fluently. I also feel like this is the first release I actually learned how to sing on. It feels much more natural singing these songs live than any other batch of songs. The entire work pays homage to my favorite writer, Robert Lowell. The album title and song titles are all lines taken from his work. He is my biggest influence when it comes to writing.
Any chance of a UK tour any time soon? I know a lot of my readers would love to see you over here and obviously I would too!
We can now confirm that we will be coming in the fall with the Reptilian! We will announce more details as they come in.
Are there any bands/labels/anybody you can think of that you’d like to recommend or thank?
Any label that we have worked with has been excellent, no horror stories! We would especially not like to thank You Blew It! Those guys suck. Tell them we said that. While you are at it, call Tanner “Stephanie”. HE HATES IT!
Who are your favourite bands to tour with? (But let’s not hurt anybody’s feelings guys)
Not You Blew It! TWO BURNS IN ONE INTERVIEW?! YUP.
Last Question, If you could tour with any 4 bands in any 4 locations. When, where and why?
I am going to assume this question can literally be any band, active or not. I would choose Mineral, Death Cab for Cutie, Knapsack, andddddd I would put a band behind Andy Merrill- the dude who voices Brak from Space Ghost/The Brak Show. How awesome would that be?
I am tempted to say something stupid for the ‘where’ portion, like Dominaria or the U.P., but it would probably be a US tour of some sort.
As far as ‘when’, it would have to be 1797.
Check out Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate) here:
http://empireempire.bandcamp.com/
Buy their merch and music here:
Follow: http://try-hardzine.tumblr.com
Empire! Empire! & Perfect Future tour dates!
Empire! Empire! & Perfect Future present: Old Friends & Old Wounds Tour
- July 10 - EMPIRE! EMPIRE!/WARREN FRANKLIN ONLY:
East Lansing, Michigan @ Harriet Brown - July 11 - EMPIRE! EMPIRE!/WARREN FRANKLIN ONLY:
Pittsburgh, PA @ The Stained Raven - July 13 - Washington DC @ Casa Fiesta - 4910 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
w/ Carved Our Names In Snow, Warren Franklin, Studying, and The Harrison Four - July 14 - EMPIRE! EMPIRE!/WARREN FRANKLIN ONLY: BrambleJam II
Southington, CT (Southington American Legion) 66 Main Street 06489 - July 14 - PERFECT FUTURE ONLY! Baltimore @ Haus Casanova
w/ Boatwater, Unfair Roots, Muted Songbirds, and Dry Clouds. - July 15 - Robbinsville, NJ @ Jake’s House - 7 Donna Street
w/ Our Sunday Affairs, Marietta, and Modern Baseball - July 16 - Willimantic, CT @ The Handsome Woman
271 Ash Street - 6PM - - Vegan Potluck - w/ TWIABP, State Lines, Hotel Year - July 17 - Providence, RI @ Weak Teeth’s Practice Space
Ask a punk for an address - July 18 - Hookset, NH @ 75 Granite Street
6PM - - w/ Old Gray & William Bonney - July 19 - Boston, MA @ Sanddollars
w/ Old Gray, Kill Giants, and William Bonney - - Brewer, Maine @ 30 Clisham Road
6PM - - w/ Tar Drinker and Outre - July 21 - Burlington, VT @ 242 Main Street
w/ Tyler Bean - July 22 - Binghampton, NY @ 16 Walnut Street
6PM - - Shake Shake Shake - July 23 - Philadelphia, PA @ IHOP Estate
1712 Diamond Street - July 24 - Columbus,OH @ Cafe Bourbon St.
2216 Summit St. - July 25 - Akron, OH @ the Kling house
- July 26 - Ann Arbor, MI @ the Metal Frat
w/ Brave Bird, TBA
Perfect Future will play these two dates alone:
- July 27 - Huntington, WV - house show
w/ Enzuigiri and The Company Time - July 28 - Frostburg, MD @ The Warren
6PM - donation - w/ Jon Felton
The event page for the whole tour is here.
