Instant Empire

Artist Information

Biography

Three songs. Ten minutes. Instant Empire’s third EP, Keep Up!, is all sharp edges and lean muscle. It is fighting weight.

Keep Up! is a reckoning, an awakening, an act of contrition. It's one final attempt at clarity. Inspired in part by T.S. Eliot, the EP imagines the voice of a younger (and slightly more intoxicated) J. Alfred Prufrock. It’s the bastard son of blackout nights and mornings coming down, and it begs to be turned up loud as the band stretches out more powerfully than ever before.

Both the title track and “Flickering Youth” are standouts.

Since releasing Heavy Hollow in May 2012, the band has been writing and gigging as much as possible. They bought a van and are convinced she has it out for them. Meanwhile, the guys continue to refine their craft, and 2013 is slated for more touring and a full-length. They are growing this thing slowly, one step at a time, pushing the rock up the hill. And they love it.

Instrumentation

Scotty Saunders - Vocals, Guitar
Sean Connaughty - Vocals, Guitar
Aaron Stone - Vocals, Bass
Doug Chase - keyboards
Matt Grizzell - Vocals, Drums
Lou Kucera - Vocals, Guitar

Discography

2013 - 3 song self-produced EP "Keep Up!"
- "Keep Up!" and "Flickering Youth" receiving air play
2012 - 6 song self-produced EP "Heavy Hollow"
- "Canyons" received radio play
2011 - 5 song self-produced EP "Instant Empire"
- "Marco Polo" received radio play

Official Website

http://www.instantempireband.com

Links

• Facebook
• MySpace
• Twitter
• YouTube

Audio

• Keep Up!
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• Flickering Youth
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• Counting Backwards
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• Canyons
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• Without Wires
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• Crooked (and Broken)
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• Marco Polo
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• Appalachian, Part Two
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• Broadcast on Your Behalf
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• Missing Elderly
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Lyrics

• Without Wires
• Marco Polo
• The Light and the Shadow

Video

Full [FINAL]sonic.mov

Photo Gallery

Press

• Instant Empire - Keep Up! Album Review [+ Show ]
  

  Keep Up! is the head on collision between Manchester Orchestra and the jagged guitar work of Desapar...Keep Up! is the head on collision between Manchester Orchestra and the jagged guitar work of Desaparecidos. It’s as much of a rock record as can possibly be crammed into ten minutes.

• Exclusive Download: Instant Empire’s “Counting Backwards” [+ Show ]
  

  Denver’s Instant Empire recently released its sophomore EP, Heavy Hollow. On the new EP, the band we...Denver’s Instant Empire recently released its sophomore EP, Heavy Hollow. On the new EP, the band went for a huge, wide-open sound—and succeeded. The new release is filled with big, arena-ready tracks, so it makes sense that the group has drawn favorable comparisons to Death Cab For Cutie.
  
  The first track on the EP, “Counting Backwards,” weaves a tale about a woman who doesn’t have the life she envisioned when she was younger. The slow-building song is infectiously catchy and anthemic, with shouts of “Hooray! Hooray!” acting as a glorious climax.

• Heavy Hollow Album Review [+ Show ]
  

  The musicianship on Heavy Hollow runs the gauntlet between Death Cabesque indie pop and the heavier... The musicianship on Heavy Hollow runs the gauntlet between Death Cabesque indie pop and the heavier indie rock to come out of Saddle Creek. Instant Empire smoothly incorporate a multitude of styles to create a dynamic release. Listening to one track off of Heavy Hollow may be a satisfying experience, but you have to listen to the whole EP multiple times to truly appreciate the entire scope of what Instant Empire have to offer.

• Instant Empire sets the modern American struggle to sound
  

  Instant Empire sets the modern American struggle to sound

• Instant Empire [+ Show ]
  

  In a perfect world, one in which the Mountain Goats and the Hold Steady run in slow motion across fi...In a perfect world, one in which the Mountain Goats and the Hold Steady run in slow motion across fields and inhabit a pastoral bungalow in Denver, Instant Empire would share a literal and figurative home with them. Dripping with ambition and driven by personal history, the five local storytellers craft big ideas into big arrangements while never taking the focus off the stories themselves. Dotted by nuanced rhythm and expertly paced melody, the six songs on this sophomore release narrate brief moments of punch-drunk love, summer ennui, habitual betrayal and the search for personal identity...
  
  ...At its lowest, Heavy Hollow is blunt-force drama. At its highest, it's the next morning.

• Show Review: The Parlotones, Ryan Star, and Instant Empire [+ Show ]
  

  From the first chords, the crowd was hooked. There aren’t very many bands that can engage a crowd as...From the first chords, the crowd was hooked. There aren’t very many bands that can engage a crowd as diligently as Instant Empire. Several times I glanced around the main bar area and it was empty – everyone was in the main venue area, enjoying the music thoroughly.
  
  In my experience, it’s one thing to hear someone say they’ve been engaged by the music and the musicians, it’s another to truly witness it. The entire room was captivated.
  
  I can’t say what it was that drew everyone in – whether it was Scotty Saunders melodic and passionate vocals, Sean Connaughty’s or Lou Kucera’s haunting-at-times and uplifiting-at-other-times guitar work, or the often powerful lyrics. Whatever it was, whatever it is, Instant Empire had the crowd completely enthralled.

• Instant Empire [+ Show ]
  

  ...tight arrangements, assured melodies and a palpaple sense of earnestness and conviction, particul......tight arrangements, assured melodies and a palpaple sense of earnestness and conviction, particularly on standout tracks like "Crooked (and Broken)," like a less frantic sounding Conor Oberst fronting Desparecidos.

• Steal This Track: Instant Empire [+ Show ]
  

  ...the outfit cranks out anthemic tracks that ring with honesty and sincerity. Most important, howev......the outfit cranks out anthemic tracks that ring with honesty and sincerity. Most important, however, is the fact that they rock — with intensity and absolute certainty.

• Instant Empire, Ready To Bring The House Down [+ Show ]
  

  …an extremely well rounded sophomore effort that will knock you on your ass. The crew will pull you ...…an extremely well rounded sophomore effort that will knock you on your ass. The crew will pull you under right away with the first cut, “Counting Backwards” and won’t let you up for air until the disc is over.

• Quick Spins: Instant Empire [+ Show ]
  

  Part barroom rock, and part indie pop, Instant Empire’s Heavy Hollow comes across like a Hold Steady...Part barroom rock, and part indie pop, Instant Empire’s Heavy Hollow comes across like a Hold Steady album, if it were written and recorded by Death Cab for Cutie

• Instant Empire
  

  The EP is so strong, in fact, that it leaves you wanting more.

• Instant Empire EP [+ Show ]
  

  ...truly a stellar achievement: The lyrics are outstanding on each hook-driven track, and, for havin......truly a stellar achievement: The lyrics are outstanding on each hook-driven track, and, for having formed only last year, the band sounds truly gelled.

• Local Love [+ Show ]
  

  Writers Saunders and Connaughty deliver astute observations and commentaries on society in a way tha...Writers Saunders and Connaughty deliver astute observations and commentaries on society in a way that is beautifully poetic.

• Steal This Track: Instant Empire [+ Show ]
  

  ...the musical maturity on the sextet’s debut EP belies the newness of the band. The three songs on ......the musical maturity on the sextet’s debut EP belies the newness of the band. The three songs on the EP deftly balance urgency and intensity with humor and humility to create an appealing, charismatic and radio-friendly brand of rock.

Setlist

Keep Up!
Crooked
Without Wires
Broadcast
Marco Polo
Caterwaul
Counting Backwards
Appalachian Pt. 2
Canyons
Missing Elderly
The Light & the Shadow
Scenes from the Front Yard
Motel Room
Cadillac Road

Covers:
Guided by Voices - Glad Girls
Spoon - Don't Make Me a Target
The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy!

Basic Requirements

Calendar