Unsigned Spotlight: Empty Heaven
Empty Heaven is a singer-songwriter from San Antonio, TX.
Please list all of your band members and their roles in the band.
So far, it is just me, Empty Heaven, writing/performing/recording all of the music you’re hearing. My wife Nicolette is an influence on the music; I feel free to add her as a member. Hopefully she’ll be able to play in the live iteration of the band.
For starters, what bands were you a part of prior to Empty Heaven? How long has the band been around?
Nothing major before, and nothing since. Embarrassingly, Empty Heaven started right during the dawn of COVID-19...I have not performed even once!
What’s the origin of that name and have you changed the band’s name before?
You are slowly becoming disenchanted with the ostensible world. You are exhausted from the Hyperreal; the edges are beginning to peel. The layers fall off, the channel switches, and you look different. You also look differently. What you see is no longer the world you once knew. It is now Empty Heaven, and that is the state that this project is operating in.
Regarding changing the band name, I also perform music as Cibola, the City of Gold.
Who writes your songs? What are the main themes or topics for most of your songs and do you think these topics will change over time?
I write the songs, and regarding topic, they are scattered. That said, they are unified by one theme: interfacing. The brain interfaces with Empty Heaven using the body, a flawed sense machine. All is fouled-up data, so many memories are bunk, and so many experiences can be called into question.
The trajectory of the project has followed a path: separation (from self, from friendship, from amorous love, from community, from paradigm, from Earth) and attempts at reconnecting. The failures of interfacing.
I hope these topics change.
What bands are currently inspiring the music that you’re making?
The creativity of Radiohead has always inspired me, but I don’t think my music sounds like them at all. A short list includes: Doseone/cLOUDDEAD, Bjork, black midi, Fourtet, and Say Anything.
Was there a particular band/artist or concert that inspired you to start a band?
Amazing question. Easy answer would be my first: Radiohead in 2005, right off of Hail to the Thief. But, a concert that inspired the creation of Empty Heaven in a more direct way would be Death Grips at Paper Tiger in San Antonio, a year and a half ago. Abrasive, throbbing, authentically insane, and somehow, loved by every single audience member.
What do you do to prepare for a show? Any flexing, exercises, ect …
I am preparing for our first show all the time. I prepare for it by imagining myself booking it. I seem to stop there.
What has been the biggest highlight of the band’s career so far?
The creation of the video for “The Thing” was so rewarding, along with this series of collaborations that are coming. That said, I truly believe the best is yet to come.
If you could tour with any bands, past or present, who would they be and why?
I had a dream once where I was on a bill opening for Joni Mitchell and the original lineup of Yes.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Thank you for holding my song here. Reader, thanks for reading until the end.