interview with Empathy Test
How was the band formed? We heard some cool music and thought, we can do that.
Can you tell us about your band? We're Isaac Howlett and Adam Relf, an electronic pop duo from London. We've known each other since we were kids. We use a lot of 80s synth sounds and write sad but uplifting electronic pop music.
Where are all band members from? We both grew up in the South East of England and now live in London. Isaac lives in South London, Adam, North and just to make things difficult, our live drummer, Casey, lives in East London. All we need now is a bass player who lives in West London and we'll have a member at every point of the compass.
Who does what in the band? Isaac writes the songs and the lyrics, Adam writes, arranges and produces the music.
What were the ambitions of the band when you started? To make some really good music.
Could you explain your music to someone that hasn't heard you? "Brooding, cinematic synth pop" is probably the best description we've heard.
Where was your first gig? Sebright Arms, London.
Where was the latest gig? Hoxton Square Bar & kitchen, London.
Who has the best since of humour in the band? Attempting to answer that question would probably break up the band!
What's good/bad with the band? We're good at what we do but we don't have enough time to do it.
What genre do you feel you are? We're definitely pop and we're definitely electronic, so we must be electronic pop, but we've been called synth pop, future pop, synth wave, dark wave, retro wave. Lots and lots of waves. In fact, our new EP (out 9th December on Stars & Letters Records) just got reviewed by Polish blog, Wave Press. Makes sense.
Why did you pick that particular style? Adam has always been an electronic dance music producer and Isaac was, up until now writing acoustic pop ballads. This was the first sound we tried that worked for us both.
What are your songs about? Failed relationships and death, mostly!
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write our own but we did do a cover of Gotye's Somebody That I Used To Know, which you can hear on our Soundcloud page.
Have you made any albums?/If yes, what are they? Not yet, we have two EPs; Losing Touch and Throwing Stones. We hope to release an album some time in 2015.
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Again, not yet, but we're working on it.
What got you started in music? Wanting to express ourselves creatively.
At what age did you start playing? In our teens.
How old were you guys when you first stood on stage? Isaac loves the stage (14?) Adam, not so much.
What year was the band started? We started writing in 2013 and released our first music in 2014.
What places will you be playing in in the immediate future? We're supporting Kirlian Camera in Dresden Germany on 6th December.
What is the best band you've seen? That's a very difficult question but Marilyn Manson at Reading Festival, Muse at Wembley Stadium and Radiohead at Glastonbury would all be in the running.
Do you always play the same songs live? No, at our EP launch we played three songs we'd not played before; Here Is The Place, Hope For Me and a new one called Siamese.
What has been the best/most promising gig so far? Our début gig was amazing, we never thought so many people would come - and from so far away!
Have you had any bigger tours from start to now? We've not done any tours yet; we hope to start touring in 2015.
How big an audience do you usually play for? At the moment it's around 100-200 people but we hope it'll be much more quite soon.
What are your plans for the rest of the year? The Throwing Stones EP will will be released, we'll do some more interviews, sell some copies of the EP hopefully, and then have a much needed break!
Where do you usually play? We've only played in London so far, but we hope to be playing everywhere soon.
How do you get psyched up for a gig? For us it's more about calming down!
What are your goals with your music? To never stop making great music and to make enough money to live off that music.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? When we started Empathy Test.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from more modern bands? We get our inspiration from anything that's good, old or new, but the difference is that the influence of older bands and artists is subconsciously ingrained in everything we do, whereas the influence of more modern bands is maybe more superficial and stylistic.
What are your sources of inspiration? Underground dance music, electronica, science fiction, art, movies and movie soundtracks - anything that inspires us!
What's the first step when making a new song? A chord and an emotion. Isaac generally writes the songs on an acoustic guitar, which is unusual for an electronic act.
What would be your dreams for the band? Many albums, many tours. The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury?
What do you hold most dear? Our creativity.
What would be your greatest fears for the future? To get to where we going and then realise hat this isn't really what we wanted.
When you are on stage, what do you fear most then? Messing up. Once you're on stage you don't really think about much apart from doing a good job, hoping everything sounds good and making sure the audience are having a good time. But in the end, it's best to stop thinking about those things and focus on having a good time, because if you are, chances are the audience will be too. They feed off you and you feed off them, it's reciprocal.
What would you do if there was no music? Make some. If that wasn't possible, Adam would still have his art and Isaac would probably write a book or something.
What's the funniest/most memorable thing a fan has done for you? Most memorable so far was a guy and his girlfriend flying from Norway to see us play in London.
How often do you rehearse? Once a month, more if we have a show coming up.
Where do you rehearse? Adam's house. Because we can control the volume it means we don't have to rehearse in a studio which saves us a fair bit of money.
Name two of your own songs you like at the moment? Hope For Me and a new song, Siamese. Hope For Me has this really interesting, modern sound for us and it's not trying to hard to be the best song on the EP, which gives it a certain calming quality. Siamese on the other hand, is a glimpse of a bright new direction for us - it's really upbeat, which is ironic considering the subject matter.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living from their music and to keep playing? Think you just answered your own question! They keep on playing to become famous and renowned and make a living from their music!
Do you have any webpages?
We have our own website http://www.empathytestmusic.com which we designed ourselves and then we have the usual social media sites:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/empathytest
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/empathytest
Soundcloud http://www.soundcloud.com/empathytest
Any pearls of wisdom for all the other bands out there? We don't think we've been going long enough to dish out advice but basically take your music to the people 'cause they won't come to you!
Describe your show, visually and musically Captivating (we hope). We have a very minimalist set-up at the moment, our emphasis is on portability and using new technology in order to do that. Adam uses a laptop and a MIDI keyboard, Isaac a tablet and MIDI keyboard and we both have customised camera tripods. Everything folds up and fits into a small rucksack. We have also recently commissioned visuals which we project behind us. Musically, we stay close to the original tracks at the moment, but that may change one day.
How do you view the music industry of today? The only way to work in the industry is to make it work for you. Things have changed a lot in the last ten years, sometimes for the better, some times for the worse. You have to adapt.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? Depends on the band; for us it's time.
What was one of the most quarrelsome times for you in the band? We have them all the time.
Do you have anything to add? No, we're exhausted!