Interview: Empathy Test
Empathy Test is an independent synth pop band based in the UK. Friends Isaac Howlett and Adam Reif formed the band in 2013 and eventually wrote and released their debut EP, Losing Touch in 2014. Later that year, the band signed with US-based Stars & Letters Records and released their Throwing Stones EP.
In 2015, Empathy Test’s song “Here is the Place” was featured on MTV’s hit show, Catfish. Following this, the band released a new version of Throwing Stones, which included several remixed songs. The band toured supporting other acts like VNV Nation in 2016 and released a new single “By My Side” in 2017.
By November of 2017, spurred on by successful touring, Empathy Test self-released their debut albums Losing Touch Remastered and Safe From Harm. The band has since successfully toured Europe and will be embarking on a North American tour in September in support of a soon to be released third album.
Can you tell me about how Empathy Test got started? What made you gravitate toward Synthpop?
Empathy Test is two childhood friends, Isaac Howlett (vocals and songwriting) and Adam Relf (composition and production). We'd tried making music together before, but it was always with guitars and electronic beats. Nothing really sounded quite how we wanted it to, but when we replaced the guitars with synthesisers, suddenly everything clicked. Synthesisers have this amazing ability to make everything sound so atmospheric.
All bands have musical influences. Do you feel like yours have stayed the same over the years? Or do they tend to change?
Our influences are always changing. They have to, in order for our music to stay fresh. Everything good that we see or hear, flows into what we do.
You released two albums at once, Safe From Harm and Losing Touch. Can you tell me about the writing processes for each and what made you decide to release them at the same time?
Both our debut albums were a mixture of new and old songs, some of which we had made previous versions of, others that we hadn't. Having not released an album for the first four years, we'd built up too much material for one album, so we made two, and released them at the same time. You can buy them via digital, vinyl and CD formats from our website.
The majority of the songs are written by Isaac on an acoustic guitar. He then records a demo of it at his place and puts the different parts (guitar and vocals) into a shared Dropbox folder. Adam fishes them out and creates a new demo by transposing the guitar melodies into synthesizers and drones. He adds a beat and bass line and sends it back to Isaac. Then we get together and re-record the vocals and work on the structure, before Adam gets everything sounding perfect.
Many of your lyrics in songs like "Losing Touch," "Holding On," and "Demons" deal with various aspects of relationships. Are any of those taken from personal experiences?
All of them are. Including seven about the same relationship. In fact, we once ran a competition where you had to put those seven songs in the order they were written, it was pretty tough! Only a couple of people came close.
Your going to be embarking on (what I believe is your first) tour of North America in September? How do you think your experience will differ from your European tours?
Well, it's going to be three times as long as any other tour we've done so far, that's for sure. And the distances we'll be covering will be a lot bigger too. We imagine it's going to be very hard work but very rewarding. There are people who have been waiting 3-4 years to see us. The tough bit is going to be choosing what to play. By then, we're hoping to have a third album out, so we'll have 32-33 songs! It'll be difficult getting the right balance of new and old tracks. Hopefully, like we have done recently in Europe, we can get our audiences involved in picking the set list each night on social media during the day. All the details of the US tour can be found here.
https://www.facebook.com/tours/1884721568300029/
You plan on releasing two singles before touring. Can you tell me anything about those?
At this point, it's probably only going to be one, unfortunately. It's taken us a little longer than expected to choose the next couple of tracks and get them sounding how we want, but we can now confirm that the two new songs will be Empty Handed and A River Loves a Stone. As usual, both tracks will get a remix from another up and coming artist, and the single will be self-released via digital, 7" vinyl picture disc and CD with a new piece of original artwork by Adam. The release date will be Thursday, 20th June to coincide with the first date of our double headline UK tour with Canadian Post Punk band, Actors. Tickets for the UK tour can be purchased here.
https://www.ticketweb.uk/search?q=New+Blood+Tour&REFERRAL_ID=tmfeed
Any plans for a third album and when can we expect it?
Yes indeed, we're planning to have the third album land just before we head off to North America in September. Once again, it'll be self-released and crowd funded. A two-month crowd funder will kick off beginning of July and run through to the end of August, and we'll have lots of exciting and fun ways for our fans to part with their money. Sadly, due to the demise of PledgeMusic, we'll be looking elsewhere to do our crowd funding. So we hope everyone will get behind that in July.
Anything else to tell us?
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