Biography

Born out of a need to vent pure emotion through music, Million Empire came hurtling onto the Midlands music scene in October 2008 like a starved lion released from a cage. Lacking in direct-to-vein, sincere alternative music, the scene was awash with mediocre, stale metal bands and bland-but-catchy pop kids. What set Million Empire apart was that their music was honest, unintentially difficult to pigeon-hole and not trying to be something that it’s not.

Drawing on influences from the band’s collective love of 90’s alt-rock and singer/guitarist Wes Knight’s love of singer-songwriters, the band cultivated a sound that juxtaposed thunderous rampaging choruses with sensitive, whispered verses. Helped by drummer Paulie Willis’ distinctively incendiary drumming style, the band soon gained a reputation for being the heaviest melodic band in town.

They played every show like it was their last, and soon began clawing their way up the ladder to play bigger shows and gain impressive reviews. They got to the final of a major competition, performing at the famous Wolverhampton Civic Hall in the process. Several festival appearances led them to support slots with the much lauded ‘And so I watch you from afar’ (ASIWYFA) amongst others. They played Birmingham Artsfest not once, but twice in one day, the latter headlining the Kerrang stage. But, like a hyena on a gazelle hunt, the band was never built to sustain the pace they set out and split for a couple of years amid burnout and personal issues.

Cut to 2012 and the band decided to start again. Former bassist Matt Ingram decided not to re-enlist so former Turn off the Sun vocalist/bass player Andy Crawford stepped up, having long been an admirer of the band and previously playing in bands with both other members.

It soon became apparant that Million Empire had changed for good, adding a song-writing partner to breathe fresh ideas and give the band a much needed shot in the arm. Getting back to what they do best, terrorizing stages around the Midlands and beyond, the band worked on a new batch of songs and developed a sound that added dual vocals to the bipolar sonic bombardment.

In the Spring of 2014, Million Empire went into Univibe Studios in Birmingham to record their first EP in 4 years with producer Elliot Vaughan. Four songs were recorded for what was to become ‘The Lion Tamer EP’. Released on the 22nd of August 2014, the EP received glowing reviews from bloggers and fans alike, and the band played a run of packed-out shows in support of the new music.

The song and music video for ‘Rabbit Punch’ was released to critical acclaim, gaining media attention by BBC WM and local newspapers, heralding a creative spurt for the band. The shows were getting bigger, the highlight being asked to perform at The HMV Institute supporting the hotly-tipped Max Raptor, The Assist and a DJ set by post-punk legend Frank Turner.

By April 2015, however, real life began to rear it’s ugly head and get in the way of the bands progress. Personal issues forced Million Empire to go into indefinite hiatus. Not knowing whether the band would ever re-form, the three members disappeared from the music scene with the frustrating sense that things could have been a lot different.

Eighteen months later, a few simple text messages and a meet-up confirmed that the three band members were ready to release the beast from it’s cage once again. With a new-found vigour, new ideas and a hunger to get back onstage, Million Empire returned to the live scene determined to do things on their own terms, performing a self-promoted intimate comeback show in front of an eager sell-out crowd crammed into the upstairs room of The Bristol Pear pub in Selly Oak. The new songs were sounding good, each stronger than the last so after a couple more shows the band decided to hit the studio again in the winter of 2017.

Returning to Univibe and once again utilising the skills of producer Elliot Vaughan, Million Empire recorded five new songs over the course of a couple of months. “It sounded massive from day one” comments Andy Crawford. “It’s as if we’d purposefully written the news songs to sound fucking epic, but in reality the new songs came about completeley organically. That’s just where our heads were at I guess. The frustration of the last couple of years surfaced and a big burst of creativity appeared out of no-where”. “I believe this is our most ‘straight from the heart’ collection of songs to date” adds Wes Knight. “The last couple of years have taken it out of us for many different reasons and we’re a stronger unit for it. I like to think that comes across in the songs.”

The new EP ‘Visceral’ will be available on CD and from all major online music retailers on the 30th of March 2018.