Andrew Velasquez - Crown The Empire (08/10/2014)
The metalcore genre has come a long way since the early 2000’s when it first began gaining commercial success thanks to acts such as As I Lay Dying, Bullet For My Valentine and The Devil Wears Prada. Now, a new wave of bands are breaking into the scene and each are brining their own spin to the ever changing genre. Starting out as nothing more than a few friends ‘jamming’ together, Crown The Empire has grown to become an act considered to be the future of metalcore.
“When we first got together, we were all sixteen and still in high school. We were the typical garage band, playing Nirvana covers and stuff like that. We had no goals to start out with, but once things started taking off for us and getting serious, the goals started to develop and rapidly change. It’s always ever-changing, the goals are changing and our ambitions are constantly changing with where we are trying to end up”, explains clean vocalist of the band, Andrew Velasquez a day before the band play Self Help Festival in Philadelphia alongside legendary acts such as A Day To Remember and The Wonder Years.
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, it has been non-stop for the young band since they released their debut EP Limitless to the world late 2011. From there, they toured America for the first time with A Skylit Drive in 2012 and that same year signed with Rise Records.
“I had no idea where this band was going to take us, seeing how this was my first actual band. So to see the growth of us, starting out jamming in the garage, learning how to tune our guitars to now - we are travelling the world and going to different countries like Australia. People know who we are and it’s out of this world”.
Last year saw the band come to Australian shores for the first time as a part of the Australian leg of the Vans Warped Tour. They were no strangers to Warped Tour, having made their first appearance on the infamous American leg earlier on in the year.
“Warped Tour in Australia was great, it was our very first time over there. It was gorgeous when we landed, the weather was incredible and we got to do a whole bunch of cool tourist stuff. I got to hold a koala for the first time which I never thought I’d be able to say out loud in my whole entire life. It was just a super cool tour and experience”.
Now, Crown The Empire are back again and this time for Australia’s very own infamous music festival – Soundwave – and they couldn’t be more ready for it.
“It’s going to be our first time doing it. I remember seeing all the flyers the last few years and just thinking ‘oh my god if I had the opportunity to play that I would freak out!’ It happened and of course we freaked out. Dreams really do come true”
But before the band are due to come to Australia, they have a full touring schedule up until December and have just recently finished their second headlining tour of America for their sophomore album – The Resistance: Rise of the Runaways.
“It’s been a while since we’ve done a headlining tour. You know, a brand new album came out and the reception to it was great. We were shocked that people at every show knew it, knew all the songs and sang all the words back to us. It was really great to see all our dedicated fans come out and have some fun with us”.
Unlike most bands who become distant from their fans as their success grows, Crown The Empire are all about their fans and those who were dedicated enough had the opportunity to purchase a VIP package to hang out with the band before the show.
“We’ve always been about hanging out with our fans. Trying to spend as much time with them as possible because obviously they’re the reason why we are anything. We’re never going to be too cool for them, but as the new record came out and things kind of expanded it’s hard to take time to have one on one time with them. So we decided to have the VIP thing for them, to hang out, have fun and we took a group picture with them at every show”
For any band, releasing a new record to fans is always daunting, and for Crown The Empire is was no different, especially following the success of their debut LP The Fallout.
“We were terrified. Every bands second album is their worst fear. We did the best we could with the album, we had everything the way we wanted it when we put it out. We were proud of the results, it was like ‘alright this is it, just put it’ and lucky the reception was really great. We got number 7 on the billboard top 200, which was really awesome. It paid off, and all the stress was worth it in the end”
“The first record we did, we had a month to do the entire thing. It was extremely stressful, but this time around we had plenty of time to constructively work together and make the album the best we could”
“The stress was again still there, but different this time around. The whole dynamic was different, we had a different producer this time and we spent three months in New York with Dan Korneff and it was awesome. He’s an amazing producer. He’s done Paramore’s Riot and a whole bunch of stuff like that. He’s just a really awesome guy to work with. We got everything done, it was super chill and super organised at the same time. It was exactly what we needed”
The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways is everything the band promised it would be and more. They have described it as the perfect mixture of their previous work, but bigger and better. It continues with the theatrical themes the band is known for and showcases just how much talent the young musicians have from the vocals right down to the crisp sounding drums. It’s no surprise the record sold more than 24,000 copies in its first week and received a 4.5 star review from AP magazine.
They recently won Breakthrough Band at the 2014 APMA awards and there is no doubt they deserved it. With a successful sophomore album and the mentality of not being afraid to push the boundaries in the music industry with their unique sound, it is clear this is only the beginning for Crown The Empire.
The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways is out now through Rise Records.
SOUNDWAVE 2015
SATURDAY 21 & SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY - ADELAIDE
SATURDAY 21 & SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY - MELBOURNE
SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY & SUNDAY 1 MARCH - SYDNEY
SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY & SUNDAY 1 MARCH – BRISBANE
Ashleigh Minnell
“When we first got together, we were all sixteen and still in high school. We were the typical garage band, playing Nirvana covers and stuff like that. We had no goals to start out with, but once things started taking off for us and getting serious, the goals started to develop and rapidly change. It’s always ever-changing, the goals are changing and our ambitions are constantly changing with where we are trying to end up”, explains clean vocalist of the band, Andrew Velasquez a day before the band play Self Help Festival in Philadelphia alongside legendary acts such as A Day To Remember and The Wonder Years.
Hailing from Dallas, Texas, it has been non-stop for the young band since they released their debut EP Limitless to the world late 2011. From there, they toured America for the first time with A Skylit Drive in 2012 and that same year signed with Rise Records.
“I had no idea where this band was going to take us, seeing how this was my first actual band. So to see the growth of us, starting out jamming in the garage, learning how to tune our guitars to now - we are travelling the world and going to different countries like Australia. People know who we are and it’s out of this world”.
Last year saw the band come to Australian shores for the first time as a part of the Australian leg of the Vans Warped Tour. They were no strangers to Warped Tour, having made their first appearance on the infamous American leg earlier on in the year.
“Warped Tour in Australia was great, it was our very first time over there. It was gorgeous when we landed, the weather was incredible and we got to do a whole bunch of cool tourist stuff. I got to hold a koala for the first time which I never thought I’d be able to say out loud in my whole entire life. It was just a super cool tour and experience”.
Now, Crown The Empire are back again and this time for Australia’s very own infamous music festival – Soundwave – and they couldn’t be more ready for it.
“It’s going to be our first time doing it. I remember seeing all the flyers the last few years and just thinking ‘oh my god if I had the opportunity to play that I would freak out!’ It happened and of course we freaked out. Dreams really do come true”
But before the band are due to come to Australia, they have a full touring schedule up until December and have just recently finished their second headlining tour of America for their sophomore album – The Resistance: Rise of the Runaways.
“It’s been a while since we’ve done a headlining tour. You know, a brand new album came out and the reception to it was great. We were shocked that people at every show knew it, knew all the songs and sang all the words back to us. It was really great to see all our dedicated fans come out and have some fun with us”.
Unlike most bands who become distant from their fans as their success grows, Crown The Empire are all about their fans and those who were dedicated enough had the opportunity to purchase a VIP package to hang out with the band before the show.
“We’ve always been about hanging out with our fans. Trying to spend as much time with them as possible because obviously they’re the reason why we are anything. We’re never going to be too cool for them, but as the new record came out and things kind of expanded it’s hard to take time to have one on one time with them. So we decided to have the VIP thing for them, to hang out, have fun and we took a group picture with them at every show”
For any band, releasing a new record to fans is always daunting, and for Crown The Empire is was no different, especially following the success of their debut LP The Fallout.
“We were terrified. Every bands second album is their worst fear. We did the best we could with the album, we had everything the way we wanted it when we put it out. We were proud of the results, it was like ‘alright this is it, just put it’ and lucky the reception was really great. We got number 7 on the billboard top 200, which was really awesome. It paid off, and all the stress was worth it in the end”
“The first record we did, we had a month to do the entire thing. It was extremely stressful, but this time around we had plenty of time to constructively work together and make the album the best we could”
“The stress was again still there, but different this time around. The whole dynamic was different, we had a different producer this time and we spent three months in New York with Dan Korneff and it was awesome. He’s an amazing producer. He’s done Paramore’s Riot and a whole bunch of stuff like that. He’s just a really awesome guy to work with. We got everything done, it was super chill and super organised at the same time. It was exactly what we needed”
The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways is everything the band promised it would be and more. They have described it as the perfect mixture of their previous work, but bigger and better. It continues with the theatrical themes the band is known for and showcases just how much talent the young musicians have from the vocals right down to the crisp sounding drums. It’s no surprise the record sold more than 24,000 copies in its first week and received a 4.5 star review from AP magazine.
They recently won Breakthrough Band at the 2014 APMA awards and there is no doubt they deserved it. With a successful sophomore album and the mentality of not being afraid to push the boundaries in the music industry with their unique sound, it is clear this is only the beginning for Crown The Empire.
The Resistance: Rise of The Runaways is out now through Rise Records.
SOUNDWAVE 2015
SATURDAY 21 & SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY - ADELAIDE
SATURDAY 21 & SUNDAY 22 FEBRUARY - MELBOURNE
SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY & SUNDAY 1 MARCH - SYDNEY
SATURDAY 28 FEBRUARY & SUNDAY 1 MARCH – BRISBANE
Ashleigh Minnell