Posted: June 16, 2014 | Music | Crown the Empire, featured | 0 Comments
What happens when you take My Chemical Romance, Linkin Park, and Panic! At The Disco and blend them together? You get Crown The Empire, a six-piece rock and roll band from Dallas, Texas. The band (vocalists Andy Leo and Dave Escamilla, guitarists Benn Suede and Brandon Hoover, bassist Hayden Tree, and drummer Brent Taddie) spent February in Long Island, New York recording their follow-up album to 2012’s ‘The Fallout’ with Dan Korneff (Pierce The Veil, Sleeping With Sirens, Chiodos). Syke got to spend a day in the studio with them and talk about their recording process, the theme for their upcoming album, and why they choose to be smokefree.
Self-described as “rambunctious”, “goofy”, and “not as cool as you think”, Crown The Empire is a band armed with a unique sound that fans never get tired of hearing. “What sets us apart from other bands in the scene is that we have a lot of different influences, so our sound is completely different,” explained Andy, “We all have different tastes and when we bring them together, we each bring our own flavor to rock and roll.”
“You can hear a lot more of our individual influences in the new album,” added Dave about their currently untitled upcoming release.
“The new album is kind of a continuation of our first album, which was set in a post-apocalyptic world and was based on the people you love and what you would say to them if the world was going to end,” continued Andy, “This one is based around the gathering of all the people that survived through all of it, and forming resistance against a big, evil corporation.”
A new album means a new method for the band. “It’s a totally different process than last time so it’s exciting to see things done differently,” said Benn. Part of the new process also involved working with a different producer. “We chose Dan because he has a great reputation. He’s worked with a lot of bands that we look up to,” explained Dave, “We were looking for someone that would really be involved in the process of recording, and he definitely is.”
Despite the success of their debut album, the members of CTE have not forgotten that many bands have a great first album, only to have their second one flop. “We’re terrified of sophomore slump. We all went into the studio with the mindset that a lot of bands struggle with it. We’re super terrified but also pretty confident,” said Andy. Benn added, “We did everything in our power to make sure that doesn’t happen. We made the best record that we could. We’re putting a lot more heart into this one.” All members of the band agree that their upcoming album is better than ‘The Fallout’.
Another thing that the entire band agrees on is that they’re better off being smokefree. “Being smokefree helps us play live because our shows have so much energy. When we can breathe with clear lungs, our stamina is so much better,” said Dave.
“We’ve had sand blown at us and rain poured on us, but in smoke-filled venues it’s harder to breathe, and harder to talk between songs. It’s awful,” said Andy, “I used to smoke as a teenager, trying to be rebellious. Being a singer, it’s completely stupid. It’ll permanently damage the way you do things. It will mess you up.”
“We believe our fans should be smokefree because it’s something that’s just going to keep hurting them,” said Dave. ”You might not be able to do something that you wanted to do later in life,” added Benn, “All you could do is just think about what you might have been.”
“I wouldn’t date a smoker,” said Andy, “I did once and she stank. Her breath, her clothes, everything she touched – it all smelled bad.”
In addition to finding smokers unattractive, Andy is also turned off by the 4.5 trillion cigarette butts that are littered worldwide every year. “I had no idea! That’s so many. Why would people litter their cigarette butts? It’s so easy to throw them away. I think all cigarette litter is gross.”
To find out more about the effects of cigarette litter from Crown The Empire and to see a studio update from the band, head to Facebook.com/Syke and click the Studio Update tab.
Catch Crown The Empire this summer on the Vans Warped Tour.
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