Strip away the hyperbole and the buzz, dismantle the column inches, and what’s left? Just what is, and who are, Empire Of The Sun?
The short answer: an Australian duo comprised of Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore, both of whom have worked in different musical fields prior to this project. Their debut album, ‘Walking On A Dream’, was released in the UK on February 16 (having been out in their homeland since October) and is reviewed HERE.
The longer answer: takes some open-minded understanding. Flamboyant, colourful, imaginative… excessive? There are so many adjectives one can attach to the twosome who sit before Clash on a rainy London lunchtime, and many will be cast aside as improper, inaccurate, misrepresentative. Both are fully made-up, a la the imagery on their album sleeve and in their videos. Yet the band allows no photographs to be taken.
“When we first signed we said there’s no photography allowed,” says Littlemore, draped in black with face-paint and a feathery headdress to match (I guess you’ll just have to believe me). “We’ll never let a photograph go. These images (gesturing at promo artwork), these are paintings. We will allow illustrations.”
So I could have brought a court artist with me for this interview?
“You could! We’re happy to do that. If it involves creativity then it’s okay.”
And it’s this ‘rule’ that seems to underpin so much of what Empire Of The Sun is – the need to express one’s imagination, their creativity and their artistic vision. This band is, as we discover, not a band at all, and they’re already tipped as one of 2009’s hottest… um… well, bands, actually. Let the rhetoric commence.
So, must be pretty amazing to be sat here, now that this little idea of yours has become a reality?
NL: I guess we like to think of it as quite a big idea. It’s great. We met years ago, but this has come together over the last two years – we thought if we were going to do anything, we should do everything.
LS: I think we reached that point… We’d been talking about how music stimulation is invisible – it’s with your eyes closed. But once it becomes visual, it’s 50/50, and if the visual element is strong, as strong as the music in your ears, then it gives the music more power. Everything about it is more dynamic… There’s more electricity.
NL: I think music for us has always been about stories and landscapes, and colour. Tonally it’s more… it’s a load of different colours to me.
Which makes Empire Of The Sun what, a rainbow?
NL: I guess it’s like Rothko’s early work – the honeyed yellow and the pinks, and the subtleties within them. We try to paint with emotion.
And, via intent or otherwise, you’ve wound up with this excessive record of huge commercial potential…
NL: Well, I don’t think that was our intention. The thing that was always apparent from working with Luke was that his voice is so strong. I wanted to work with him to embrace his genius, to create a coupling around his voice; to frame it, if you like. I guess we kind of knew that if we were to create something round an element that was already so strong, and enhance it, it would be popular, because Luke probably has the best voice in the world.
And the sound of the record – it’s rich, warm, almost excessively sweet at times…
NL: You keep saying ‘excess’, but I’m not sure it is excessive in that sense. I think it is something of a backlash against so much demotivating music, as music can be so colourful. This is only 20 per cent of how far it will go, too. I think our music is colourful, but it’s really just about getting closer to how we hear and see things anyway. We can create anything.
LS: And, sonically, you do want it to be good enough to be played on the radio, on any radio station around the world.
NL: Yeah, the meter for us still is the superstars – why would you make anything if you weren’t trying to make it the biggest thing in the world?
But when you aim for the stars, you’ve got to at least be wary of not losing touch with the ground. You can’t put yourself in a position where achievements and successes are taken for granted.
NL: I think when you make music, you do it to communicate with people, and it is largely a very selfless act of laying down your emotions for the good of the world, and if we can heal people through songwriting then I think we’ll have achieved something.
The reaction to your music has, so far, seemed unanimously positive.
LS: It’s all positive, eh? There have been a few negative things, but not much. I was listening to this preacher, and he said: When you have a big dream, it stirs up small-minded people. And I think that the ones that do say that we’re gaudy or comical, or whatever, I think they’ve got a small-minded approach.
NL: Yeah, I think it’s important that people realise we’re doing this with all of our hearts in it.
You must understand the sceptics, though. I mean, the way you present this project, visually, isn’t in keeping with the notion of authenticity…
NL: We’re happy people, and that comes through on the record. But there have been acts throughout time that have done these sort of projects, for whatever reason, and they can be for the greater good of the world. And that’s what we’re about.
And when it comes to taking Empire Of The Sun live…?
NL: It’s going to be more like a play than a rock show, as we want to distance ourselves from that sort of guitar-and-drums set up. Music, as Luke said, is clear, it’s invisible; we really want to create something that’s visible, and that takes you somewhere further than just sonics could.
How do you feel about being seen as a fashionable act, what with the various tips for the year…
LS: We don’t want to be fashionable. We never want to be fashionable!
NL: That’s because if you’re fashionable, it’s a transient state of being. We don’t ever want to be transient. Would you say that the Aztecs were a fashionable civilisation? I think this is more about creating a lasting thing, that’s better than it was.
What I would say is that the record doesn’t sound very ‘now’; it does have a ‘70s, ‘80s sound to it.
LS: I’ve heard people say it’s got an ‘80s feel, but I’m not so sure about that.
NL: Most of the equipment is from the 1960s and 1970s, but we also worked with hardware engineers on building new machines. We’ve got this robotic device that attaches to one of Luke’s guitars, and we’re getting a lot more into that, although the development of such things is obviously financially difficult.
Do you feel invention, on a practical, equipment level, is important in the progression of music?
NL: Well, we want to be untouchable, so to be that we have to invent. Once your concepts are really strong, then nobody can touch you.
As a tipped act yourself, do you follow what’s hot and not in the music industry?
LS: We don’t really follow the industry. We’re completely, like, not in the world. If you want to change the world, stop acting like the world. It’s like, don’t lay your treasures where rust decays, lay them elsewhere. This vision is bigger… It’s not like of Montreal, or MGMT, or those comparisons or whatever.
I’ve seen you compared to both those acts, but they’re not bad bands to be associated with, surely? I’d say both appeal to a fan with a certain degree of open-mindedness.
NL: But we’re interested in appealing to single-minded people too, and expanding their horizons. The thing with these comparisons, though, is that we’re not a band. Compare us to ancient Rome, or the Milky Way. Those comparisons are just as relevant. Or to a flower opening, or to making love. I can’t see that we’re like a band. We’re a prophecy of hope, with positive energy. The sun is our energy.
Does saying things like that play up to those who will view Empire Of The Sun as a light-hearted, almost comical project?
LS: It’s imagination, you know?
NL: We just want to unlock this potential in people, and we’re going out there on a limb, so that people can do so in much smaller ways.
What I would say is that the record does feel uplifting.
NL: We put a lot of love in that record, and even though there are sad moments, we’re channelling all those wasted tears towards a useful future; we’re creating a positive vibe as people don’t want depressing music. It’s beautiful to make it, but it’s also contrary to what artists should do. We’re here to teach people. I mean, ‘Without You’ is a very sad song, but it also comes… it also gives a lot of hope.
Releasing in Australia before the UK must act as something of a commercial barometer. How has ‘Walking On A Dream’ done back home?
LS: It’s exceeded our expectations, I think.
NL: It just keeps growing, and keeps moving up the charts. It’s fantastic. But we really try to make global music, that can be accepted by everyone. Australia’s a great place and all that, but it’s just another place for us, musically. It’s wonderful that we’ve had the opportunity to come here, and we’re going to France and Germany, and all over. I hope we never stop travelling because we are travellers, and that’s more what this is about – spreading the word and learning along the way.
Find more on Empire Of The Sun on MySpace.
