Introducing Interview: The Empty Page

Just over a year after forming in a cold Manchester warehouse, The Empty Page are already wowing with their fuzzy, gritty but ultimately uplifting sound. The trio combine raw, grunge-inspired sounds with catchy melodies that’ll leave you hungry for more.

With their fantastic debut album next month, we caught up with The Empty Page to find out more about the release, their inspirations and the experience of working with the infamous Garth Richardson…

Hi guys, what have you been up to today?
Jim: Hiya! We’ve actually been rehearsing for our album release show in Manchester.

Your new album Unfolding is due for release in October, can you explain the inspirations behind the album?
Kel: With this band we’re really channelling our 90s alt-rock indie roots. We all love bands like The Pixies, Sonic Youth, The Pumpkins, The Manics, Radiohead, The Smiths etc and we just wanted to write good, melodic songs with that warm fuzziness that all those bands have but with modern, relevant lyrics.

Being a big fan of grunge, are there any other new grungey artists and bands that you’re listening to right now that you’d particularly recommend?
J: There are a few bands we’re really into who we love watching and playing with. The Hyena Kill and False Advertising – both from Manchester, Stay Voiceless from Cardiff, Merrick’s Tusk from Nottingham. Maybe not grunge sounding but reminiscent of Sunny Day Real Estate, who were on Sub Pop, so they kinda count.
Giz: I really like Metz, they have a grungy noise-rock element to them and Bully have a pretty cool alternative vibe.
K: I agree with all of the above but some other bands that have caught my attention recently are Mums, Sweet Deals on Surgery and All Hail Hyena. I’m not sure any of them fall into the grunge category but they are all making cool, quirky alt-rock with character.

You’ve been compared to the likes of Hole and the almighty Bikini Kill – both notable, inspirational female-fronted bands. Who would you say has been your biggest musical inspiration?
K: Both of those are awesome bands and we’re honoured to be compared in any way to them, we like all kinds of music so it’s hard to say who our biggest musical inspirations are. As a singer I’d probably say Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Kurt Cobain and PJ Harvey. If you asked me tomorrow I might say 4 different singers but they are definitely all a big influence.

We love your empowering video for ‘Deeply Unlovable’ featuring women of all shapes, sizes and ages – is this balanced and realistic representation of women in the media particularly important to you?
K: Yes, that’s exactly why we made the video. We actually didn’t pick specific people for any reason, we just put it out there that we wanted to make a video featuring all types of women and we got a lot of interest. When it came to the shoot, those that were available came down and I think we got a pretty wide representation of ages, backgrounds, body types etc. The fact that people have been so positive about the video and have said it is powerful, proves how limited the representation of women in the media is generally. This is a problem because it makes people feel like they don’t look right, not tall enough, thin enough, pretty enough, whatever. Actually this isn’t just a problem for women, but men too.

I’ve heard that you’ve worked with producer Garth Richardson on your upcoming album, how was the experience of working with someone who’s previously worked with big names such as L7 and RATM?
J: Humbling, terrifying, eye opening, exhausting, and the most fun we’ve ever had.
G: Yeah it was a really great experience making this record, we pretty much set up live and only did a few overdubs so it’s got a really raw, organic feel. Garth was awesome, we got on really well with him.
K: I was VERY nervous at first because of Garth’s history, I couldn’t quite believe we were there, to be honest. But on the first night we had a couple of drinks after setting up, Garth told some stories and asked us about the message in the songs, and he said he really liked them, which made me feel a bit less terrified! He was a pleasure to work with, and he showed us some cool videos of his time with some legendary bands!

As well as influential artists and bands, what inspires you most to create music?
G: For me it’s just a release, it’s a thing that I HAVE to do. I have to play guitar and as soon as I do I’m creating, it just happens!
J: As cliched as it might sound, it’s all we really want to do. The feeling of a tune coming together in the practice room is better than anything else. Playing that tune in front of a load of people who also love it is better than that!
K: I’m the same as Giz, I can’t not make music, I feel like there is something really vital missing if I go away from it for any length of time. I’m inspired by all kinds of things lyrically: films, news stories, conversations, photographs, books, philosophy, art, science, life, death….

And what plans do The Empty Page have for the near future? Will we be able to catch you live any time soon?
G: Yes! We’re on tour in September and October, we have about 15 shows coming up all over the UK, come see us!

SEPTEMBER

Sat 10th – Our Black Heart Camden LONDON
Fri 16th – The Castle MANCHESTER
Fri 30th – The Underground PLYMOUTH

OCTOBER

Sat 1st – DERBY Hairy Dog (acoustic)
Tues 4th – LIVERPOOL Jupiters
Thurs 6th – COVENTRY Arches
Fri 7th – TOTTENHAM – T Chances
Thurs 13th – GLASGOW Ivory Black’s
Fri 14th – LEEDS Temple of Boom
Sat 15th – BOLTON Alma
Thurs 20 – CANTERBURY Lady Luck
Fri 21st – LONDON Some Weird Sin @ Nambucca
Sun 23 – CARDIFF The Gwdihw café
Wed 26 – EDINBURGH Bannerman’s
Thurs 27 – DUNFERMLINE Monty’s

K: The album comes out on October 21st but you can pre-order it now from iTunes, pledge, Amazon, Bandcamp etc and get the two songs we have released so far (Deeply Unlovable and Big Wheel) immediately if you do. We have two more singles on the cards before the album’s out too.

Huge thanks to The Empty Page for answering our questions!

Unfolding, the upcoming album The Empty Page, is out 21 October via Vociferous Records.