How would you describe your sound for people who don’t know you?
Empire of Fools are a melodic hard rock band with a kick that will leave you wanting more! Massive catchy guitar riffs with strong vocal hooks. Our songs vary a lot, but there’s always a lot of energy!
What’s next for you?
Mark and Steve are doing some acoustic shows with the likes of Stringer Bessant (Reef), Steve Craddock (Ocean Colour Scene/Paul Weller) and Donavon Frankenreiter, then we hit some more festivals such as The Relentless Boardmasters, Bulldog Bash, Somerrock and Looe Music Festival alongside some amazing artists!
Who were your main musical influences growing up?
Classic rock such as Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Free (alongside a lot of soul) was around when I was growing up. I then got influenced by the likes of Hendrix, Guns ‘n’ Roses and Bon Jovi, and then in the nineties I found bands such as Reef, Ocean Colour Scene and the Manic Street Preachers. I then discovered Nirvana, which lead to me being really interested in the likes of Incubus, Rage Against the Machine, Alterbrige and Slash. The band as a whole have a very eclectic taste in music and we all have different influences, but all share the love of rock!
Which song do you wish you had written?
I think I could easily say one of the typical big anthems from a massive band, but one track that really comes to mind is Naked by Reef. This was a track that really got me into playing guitar and made me want to being in a rock band.
You’ve been playing a lot of gigs and a lot of people have been hearing your music lately – are you excited for the future?
Things have been going really well recently – we’ve had a lot of positive feedback from our shows and many people have been buying our CD. It’s all coming together and hopefully things will continue to build and grow – it’s all very exciting, and a lot of fun too!
What are your hopes for the rest of 2012?
More great shows! We’re off to Holland in November and have a few big shows in the pipeline, so we are hoping that we’ll pull those off and more will come from them.
Describe yourself in three words?
Anthemic Lively Rock.