As I sat down in a cafe with Vaughn, Greg and Adam from Perth’s Emperors, it dawned on me how little I knew about this band. They had come out of nowhere to scoop a WAMi award for most promising new act. So to get the ball rolling, we spoke about the awards night…
Adam: It was pretty good (to win). I had all these things I was going to say though, and all these people I was going to thank, and then I got up there and froze and said thanks …
Vaughn: I was mostly the same. I just stood there and stared at the cake box (which housed the WAMington, ones award for the night).
Greg: I wasn’t there because I was sick. The SMS was good though! *laughs*
A: We’ve all been involved in the WAMis in the past in other bands, but yeah it certainly felt great to get nominated and then win one. But it’s normally a pretty good night anyway, so that was just a little bonus.
G: It’s a good opportunity to see people in the industry get really hammered, who you wouldn’t normally see getting hammered. Saying things they probably wouldn’t normally say.
A bit of honesty perhaps!
G: *laughs* Yes.
Now you are a band where things have been moving incredibly fast. I mean your 10th ever show was at the Big Day Out – and now here we are, you’re WAMi winners! Could you shed a bit of light on just how we’ve arrived at this point?
G: Yeah it’s been really nice that it’s happened so quickly and everyone seems to receive it well, but we did put a lot of work into it before we played our first gig. So I don’t think it’s come together as quickly as it comes across.
A: We’re really cold, calculated guys.
G: A lot of people see the first 10 gigs and the BDO thing or whatever – but we did put in a good year of writing and practicing before we played our first gig.
V: We did our first recording before our first gig, too.
The Favourite Colours EP?
A: Yeah, that was part of the plan. To have a really well recorded song that we could come out of the gates with… and it worked really well for us.
I take it you’re pleased with the result.
*All laugh* – Yeah!
G: Surprised, but really happy. I was surprised.
V: You always hope for things, but then every time something happens you still get really excited.
G: The thing is that once Triple J play your song, it makes things a lot easier for you.
What is it about Triple J that has that effect do you think?
A: I think it’s just a very specific market of people who listen to it. I mean you’ve got your nationally based community radio stations, which are also really important – but because Triple J have got that national broadcast, it’s just really great exposure.
G: I wouldn’t say you need it to be a successful band, but it certainly helps. And we’re crossing our fingers that they pick up the next thing we do as well!
And what is this track?
G: It’s a single called “The River” which is going to be off an album we’re putting out a bit later. It’s really recorded and stuff.
A: We’ve just got to figure out what to do with it!
There’s that cold, calculated side of your band again!
A: *laughs*
G: We wanted to have it done for the WAMis but it didn’t get finished in time, so it will probably be a few more weeks. But who knows… I mean we’ve got stuff that we’d recorded with our older bands that has yet to come out…
Do you still have any involvement in your older projects?
G: Nah we’ve quite all our other bands. We’ve put all our focus into Emperors.
So could we expect some substantial touring soon?
G: Yeah, well I mean we haven’t’ done any touring yet, we’ve done 15, 20 gigs or something like that… So far we’ve basically been taking things as they’ve come, and now we’ve got a manager who’s going to be looking at that side of things.
A: I’d love to just be touring all the time.
G: I’d say it’s very likely we’ll be doing some East Coast shows later this year. Something will have gone wrong if we haven’t!
A: We’ll just all implode or something.
Dave Parkin produced your first single – is he on board for the new material?
G: Yeah he did the whole record. Good guy. He’s the best guy in Perth to do pop music with really.
A: He’s a bit of a genius. We were very lucky to get him too.
G: He’s got an interesting way of working – you’ve either got to like it or you don’t. A lot of people wouldn’t, but I think those that have made good records with him have loved his way of working. It’s a pretty relaxed approach, let’s put it that way. A no stress environment. Which is great because recording studios usually are – and this is probably one of the reasons he puts out great records.
V: It was a bit of a holiday too, because we all took some time off work. But then it ended and we got depressed.
A: Clicking our mouses at work… it does that…
So now let’s go back to the beginning – I understand that Adam and Greg founded the band, and then you became a five piece. How did the final product form?
A: Well we got together as a four piece first of all, and then there was just something … not lacking … but missing.
G: Well we originally got Zoe in because I was playing in a band with her at the time (Genghis), and she’s a great bass player and singer. And Dave who was the original drummer, I played in a band with him too. And then Adam used to play in a band with Vaughn, before Emperors… so it’s all really incestuous… and so we got Vaughn to join because we wanted …
A: A bit more versatility with the guitar bits.
G: Something a bit more interesting. And also he’s pretty good with the guitar *laughs*. He added a lot of the songs though that me and Adam had already recorded. Took on a new life. Turned out a lot different to where they started.
A: Originally we were going to be a Blues Rock band. But it didn’t really work out that way…
V: A long time ago the two of them were sitting in a pub and they were like “oh man you should buy some drums, and be the drummer in our blues band!” and I’m like (sarcastically) “yeah I’m totally going to buy a drum kit!” … and then a few months later they’re like “yeah, we’re not doing the blues thing anymore… oh and we have a drummer”. “”Um, can I play guitar?”
G: You took some convincing though didn’t cha?
V: Well that’s because I was playing in Split Seconds for a bit.
G: Zoe and Dave didn’t take any convincing…
V: … oh and also because I had to buy a guitar, and get credit debt.
G: Yeah Vaughn joined the band and instantly maxed out his credit card.
V: I now have enough gear to start my own band!
So how do you feel your recordings translate on the stage?
G: It’s definitely not as polished as our recordings, it’s a lot more abrasive. I mean they’re pop songs… but it’s three guitars turned up really loud. Add in some feedback and some shouting…
V: Heavy pop?
G: Yeah. Loud and abrasive. If anyone’s going to be shocked, that’s why.
A: I like thrashing around a bit, Vaughn loves thrashing around a bit.
G: We all love music from the 90s. So if you love music from the 90s, you’ll probably like it. It’s funny actually… I’ve played in quite a few bands over the last 7 or 8 years, and they’ll all sounded like 90s bands. You’re the same right (Adam)?
A: Yeah… different kinds of 90s music.
What sort of 90s music are we talking about here?
G: There’s obviously grunge stuff in there, and then some indie stuff like Built to Spill and Pavement.
V: There’s lots of stuff that comes out, but I don’t think you know really what comes out as the predominant influence.
A: I’m definitely enjoying playing the music in this band more than I have in any other.
V: It’s also just fun to play loud stuff.
G: And if you make any mistakes while you’re playing really loud, people don’t notice!
V: Not that we do that!
Don’t miss Emperors at the Civic (Perth) on June 12th when they launch their new single “The River”.
