Empires was an indie rock band from

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The band consisted of Tom Conrad, Sean Van Vleet, Max Steger, and Mike Robinson.

Background

In early 2008, Empires was formed when longtime friends guitarist Tom Conrad approached singer Sean Van Vleet about writing music together. Conrad and Van Vleet spent the year writing music together, and the induction of the other band members soon followed, Max Steger, Ryan Luciani and Al Smith. The band's name, "Empires", was thought of by Tom Conrad and Sean Van Vleet at the same time, albeit on opposite sides of Chicago (Tom was on the 'L' Train at the time, while Sean was at their shared apartment). The band has consistently mentioned having a very DIY ethic when it comes to recording and releasing music with Max Steger as their producer / engineer, Tom Conrad as a designer and Sean Van Vleet as a writer. In 2014, the band's third full-length studio album, ''Orphan'', was produced by

John Congleton John Congleton is a grammy winning American record producer, engineer, mixer, writer and musician. In addition to his production work, Congleton has fronted the alternative rock band The Paper Chase, and writes music for a newer project entitl ...

and released on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

/ Chop Shop Records. Empires made their national television debut on David Letterman on June 17, 2014. Empires would have their song ''How good does it feel'' Featured on the

NHL 15 ''NHL 15'' is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports. It is the 24th installment of the ''NHL'' series and was released on September 9, 2014 in North America then three days later in Europe, Australia and N ...

Soundtrack in 2014. Lead singer Sean Van Vleet confirmed in an Instagram comment on August 23, 2017, that the band was no longer making music.

Discography

*''HOWL'' (2008) *''BANG'' EP (2010) *'' Garage Hymns'' (2012) *''How Good Does It Feel'' EP (2014) *''

Orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

'' (2014)

Tour history

Empires has performed and toured alongside such artists:

Geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

Alkaline Trio Alkaline Trio is an American punk rock band from Chicago. The band's current members are Matt Skiba (guitar, vocals), Dan Andriano (bass, vocals), and Atom Willard (drums). Founded in late 1996 by Skiba, bassist Rob Doran, and drummer Glenn Por ...

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who originally formed in 1996 as Runston Parva, before reforming as Parva in 2000, and releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their cur ...

, The Whigs, Augustines,

Deerhunter Deerhunter is an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band currently consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lockett Pundt (guitar, vocals, ...

Saint Motel Saint Motel (stylized in all caps) is an American indie pop band from Los Angeles, whose music has been described as everything from dream pop to progressive indie. The band is composed of singer, songwriter, and producer, A. J. Jackson (lead ...

A Silent Film A Silent Film are an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consists of Robert Stevenson (vocals/piano/guitar) and Spencer Walker (drums). Their first album, ''The City That Sleeps'', was released on 6 October 2008, with one reviewe ...

Death Cab for Cutie Death Cab for Cutie (commonly abbreviated to DCFC or Death Cab) is an American rock music, rock band formed in Bellingham, Washington, in 1997. Death Cab for Cutie's music has been classified as indie rock, indie pop, and alternative rock. The ...

The Temper Trap The Temper Trap are an Australian indie rock band formed in 2005 by , Jonathon Aherne, and Toby Dundas. In 2008, the group relocated from Melbourne to London. The band released their debut album ''Conditions (album), Conditions'' in June 2009 to ...

, Margot & the Nuclear So and So's,

Black Francis Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV (born April 6, 1965), better known by the stage name Black Francis, is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is the frontman of the alternative rock band Pixies. Following the band's break ...

, and

Chain Gang of 1974 Kamtin Mohager () is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and graphic designer born in San Jose, California. Raised in Hawaii, and later Colorado, Mohager began pursuing punk rock music in his teenage years. Later inspired b ...

. *

Austin City Limits Music Festival Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas, on two consecutive three-day weekends and is inspired by the KLRU/PBS music series ''Austin City Limits''. The festival is pro ...

(2014) *

Bunbury Music Festival The Bunbury Music Festival was a three-day music festival in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, at Sawyer Point Park & Yeatman's Cove on the banks of the Ohio River. Each annual event typically featured over 100 acts performing on three to six se ...

(2013) *Big Guava Music Festival (2015) *

Bonnaroo Music Festival Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) fa ...

(2014) *

BottleRock Napa Valley BottleRock Napa Valley is an annual music festival held at the Napa Valley Expo, usually during Memorial Day weekend, in Napa, California. The initial BottleRock was a five-day event that took place May 8–12, 2013. The event featured three s ...

(2014) *

Hangout Music Festival The Hangout Music Festival (commonly referred to as Hangout Fest or Hangout) is an annual three-day music festival held on the white sand beaches of Gulf Shores, Alabama. The main stages are the Hangout Stage and the Surf Stage (located on opposit ...

(2014) * Forecastle Festival (2015) *

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

(2012) * LouFest (2014) *

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

(2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empires Musical groups from Chicago Indie rock musical groups from Illinois Musical groups established in 2008 2008 establishments in Illinois Musical groups disestablished in 2015 2015 disestablishments in Illinois