Foreign Voices On the Making Of “Empiric”
What was the initial spark or idea that led to the creation of "Empiric?"
Ian (Guitar): The inspiration for the original guitar arrangement came when I discovered the Burgh Island EP by Ben Howard. I wanted to create something full of atmosphere. When we first jammed the idea the original vocal was almost a rap… so my idea of creating a Ben Howard-style track literally never worked! During the lockdown, I revisited the track and the guitar part became something entirely different.
Tom (Bass): Shortly before we went to record our first EP the band worked on the track in my living room. We added bass first, then the second guitar, and then drums. As each part was added it gradually evolved from something quite mellow and floaty – you can hear the hints of that in the verses – into something that reflects each member’s influences. The breakdown at the end is really an experiment in how we could have multiple different time signatures playing at the same time without it falling apart.
Adam (Vocals): The lyrics for “Empiric” started with me humming a little tune and the words then developed out of that... To be honest, I wasn’t at all mindful of the theme or the lyrical content to begin with. It grew into a song about societal manipulation. I'd imagine that’s a topic that bubbles under the surface in a lot of people's consciousness.
What impact do you hope "Empiric" will have on your audience?
Adam: I hope that they listen to the words and that they too feel some kind of connection to what I'm saying... Hopefully, they'll feel motivated to say 'piss off' to societies’ jobsworths a little more.
Tom: I’d quite like people to be able to dance to it! The first time we played this track live it seemed to hit well and got people moving, and I think the chorus is a bit of an earworm – it would be great to hear someone humming it somewhere innocuous.
Martyn (Guitar): I think that it’s one of our most immediate songs and that it showcases our individual musical skills. It will be an introduction to our sound as a band. A band that tries to put the song before anything else. I hope that it makes them want to explore our other tracks.
What has been one of your most favorite memories along the path to making "Empiric?"
Martyn: When we finished our first recording session and we sat in total silence listening to Define in the car (from the debut EP). That was the actual moment our band felt real and that we were all truly in the same emotional space. Since then, the bond between us as band members has become unbreakable.
Adam: That's also what stands out in my memory. All the practice sessions, all the years of making music with Ian in earlier bands and playing rough gigs where we were stood in toilet doorways as the venues were too small, having piss drip onto the stage from the toilets above, having no monitors or sound guys and not hearing a thing... Hearing our experience and work, polished for the first time was quite overwhelming.
Ian: For me, it is the anticipation in the songwriting process. We write remotely, as Adam lives 150 miles away, so once a tune is arranged there’s a period of waiting for the icing on the cake. Once the vocal edits get sent back it’s a truly exciting moment. Empiric was definitely one of these as it was quite an unusual example of Adam’s work.
Dylan (Drums): Like Ian, my favourite memory of the making of “Empiric” is more to do with its evolution as a whole. It was definitely a track I didn’t always see as a single, and I think a few others felt that way, but the slow development over the months of writing and recording just made the track blossom. Hearing its Final Cut was a special moment for me. It captured so many of our influences yet felt so much like a Foreign Voices track at its core.
How did your band members initially come together?
Ian: I met Martyn first – he was wearing a Beastie Boys T-shirt.
Adam: You worked at the Money Centre right? I met Ian at University, through a guy on my course who was also from the North of England... (They stick together). We instantly got along. I met Martyn on a night out with Ian. We talked about music all night and he said then that we should all be in a band... 14 Years later… Here we are!
Tom: I’ve played in a couple of bands with Martyn, I think we started in a funk band, then I introduced him to math rock and post-rock. He introduced me to Ian and Adam. Then Adam and I moved away. Out of the blue a few years ago Ian sent me a message asking if I wanted to make music again, then we roped Martyn in. Martyn insisted we get Adam on board, and then Dylan, who worked with Martyn, stepped in less than a fortnight before we played our first gig.
Are there any specific themes or messages that you aim to convey through your music?
Martyn: Grief and loss. All my guitar parts are ways of expressing those emotions.
Adam: I'm the dour one of the band generally, but beyond the themes of lost time, grieving, and isolation is always hope. It's the primary message that always comes after any hard process.
Dylan: A lot of our music is a journey and conveys many different emotional elements, a lot of them bleak at times. But, at its core, I find a lot of peace and comfort, and I hope that listeners feel that way too.
Ian: For me, it’s about legacy and pure creation. I like the idea of our music having its own existence beyond the individuals that birthed it. I also like the idea that the music is always there in the universe… we’re just vessels in tune enough to channel it. The fact it shares ideas of loss, passage of time, and hope is a glimpse of where we are as people at the moment. It will be interesting to see how those themes change as we do.