Interview with Matthew Gene & Darren Wise of EMPIIRES

Mark Randall: Introduce us to the band members.

Empiires is:
Bishop Booker on vocals, Darren D’Paul Wise on guitar,
Matthew Gene on bass, and Clay Wise on the drums.

MR: Are all of you located in the state of Texas? How close are all the band members in location?
Matthew Gene:
Yes, we are all in Texas, we always say the band is based out of Dallas. I guess the reason is, Darren and Bishop actually live in Dallas, and Clay‘s not too far down the road. However, I’m the one that’s about an hour away. I live west of Fort Worth about 15 miles. So I’m making the long run to practice a couple of nights a week. LOL

MR: How has location helped the band with writing, and recording new music?
Darren Wise:
It has definitely helped. It’s been easier for us to follow up in person on the demos we send to each other.

MR: Your last single “Love or Hate” did very well. This current single “Through the Flames” seems to be lyrically connected to the first. What is the story here?
Darren Wise:
They really aren’t connected, but they share some similar themes involving relationships.

MR: Talk about this latest single. The process for the writing, recording, production.
Darren Wise:
We came up with our ideas and shared them with the label and record producer and all agreed the song was a priority.

MR: What does each band member bring to the sound of Empiires?
Darren Wise:
Everybody has their own influences, which makes our sound unique, but familiar at the same time.

MR: What is the band’s studio space like? Describe how a practice session looks when the band is together.
Matthew Gene:
Like total Mayhem! haha We’re just in a small practice room, just kind of crammed in there together. We try to aesthetically set things up as if we were on stage and do it that way. I’m sure most bands do something similar, or the same.

MR: Are their endorsements on the guitars, drums, mics, etc for Empiires?
Matthew Gene:
Darren has an endorsement deal with Gibson guitars, Ernie Ball for strings, Dunlop for pics, and mesa boogie amps.
I have an endorsement deal with Ernie Ball music man for my basses and strings.

MR: Next single in the works? How many more is the band looking at this year?
Matthew Gene:
Yes we already have a couple of singles lined up to follow Through the Flames.
Definitely 1 to 2 more for this year.

MR: Venues are opening up. Tour dates, Festivals coming up to announce?
Matthew Gene:
Right now, we have several shows booked, this month through September, and more being confirmed.

Purchase Link: https://ffm.to/throughtheflames