DJ Ron Slomowicz: How are you doing today?
Nick Littlemore (Empire of the Sun): I'm alright man, how are you doing?
RS: Doing great. So how exactly did you meet up with Luke to form
this band?
Empire of the Sun: I met Luke about nine, ten years ago and we did
kind of connect well, and he dug what I was doing and I dug what he
was doing and we started writing, but then we kind of got torn apart,
you know, by the business, as tends to happen.
RS: Yes.
Empire of the Sun: And we've just got back together like gee, I don't
know, eighteen months ago, I guess.
RS: And all this kind of exploded out of there.
Empire of the Sun: I guess it’s exploded, I mean everyone says it is.
We’re number fourteen in the charts over here this week, it’s kind of
cool. I'm not really paying any attention to it, to be honest.
RS: Are you all gigging a lot or performing the album live, or
how are you touring with it?
Empire of the Sun: No, I mean we’re never going to do any shows,
we’re meant to be, you know, wait a couple of years, make a few more
records and then do like a proper hour and a half show, you know.
We've only got thirty-five minutes of music, so it’s not what one
would call a body of work as such.
RS: I could see that. It seems also you're focusing more on like
on a cinematic element with the music in the videos.
Empire of the Sun: Well, I think Luke and I connected pretty early on
in the heart and music means a lot more to me than just notes on a
stage, it’s an incredibly all-encompassing journey, you know, so the
visual element is equally as important as the musical one.
RS: Because wasn’t one of the videos done in China and the other
one done in Mexico?
Empire of the Sun: Yes.
RS: And I read also that it's all based on a movie – are these
videos going to be part of a bigger film?
Empire of the Sun: Well yes, I originally wrote a thirty-page
treatment for the record- about halfway through making the record I
wrote this treatment out of the hero’s journey, for want of a better
term. And yes, it all kind of does fit into place, but we have dreams
and aspirations; being lowly convict folk from Australia we don't
really have any true understanding of finances and how much money is
required to make, you know, a cinematic event- something akin to
Apocalypse Now or 2001. These things cost money, man, and contrary to
popular opinion, we’re not that cashed-up. Although I did fly on my
first Gulfstream just about a week ago...
RS: Wow.
Empire of the Sun: It wasn't mine, you know.
RS: The band name, was it inspired by the movie or the book?
Empire of the Sun: Neither. I mean, I like both, I always have and I
think they're part of my consciousness, but actually the idea- and
then coming back to the videos, it’s about traveling to all the places
where the sun has been kind of a figure of worship since ancient
times, to China or the emperors and then to Mexico to meet the Aztecs
and then, you know, the journey continues onwards.
RS: Very cool. When the two of you collaborate on music, do one
of you focus more on the music and the production and one on the
vocals, or how do the two of you collaborate with your songwriting?
Empire of the Sun: Well, Luke’s the singer, but I write all the
lyrics and we both produce with my business partner, Peter. And that's
as strict as it gets, but making music is like making any kind of art
form, it is a collision at best, you know. So you want to brace
yourself, it’s like when you're teetering right up to the top of a
rollercoaster, you just, you actually have to let go. It’s like when
you're making love to a girl, if you want to come you have to give
into the event, you know, so you just let it happen, let that ride
happen, man.