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sometimesalwaysmusic · 6 years

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EMPTY NESTERS

We caught up with Eric Liao, alias Empty Nesters, for a quick catch-up about the origins of his project, his favourite Ottawa haunts, and a new recording project he has on the way. Read on to learn about upcoming local festivals he’s looking forward to, and more music releases to come in 2019.

VITALS

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmptyNestersBand

Bandcamp: https://emptynesters.bandcamp.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emptynestersband/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericxliao

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/ericliao

YouTube: https://youtu.be/VlzA30VIzrE

SA: How did you first get your start in this style of music? EL: I started Empty Nesters in 2016 as a creative outlet for myself and it began as an ambient project. Then it grew into a Garage rock project. After spending most of my money for more recording gear, it eventually grew to whatever it is now. I don’t really know haha, my mind is all over the place when it comes to defining a genre for this project. I’ll make whatever I feel like making.

SA: What bands or musicians would you cite as the biggest influences on your sound? EL: There are too many to name, so to narrow it all down, I guess my biggest influences would have to be: My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division, NEU!, Duster, Modest Mouse and Unwound.

SA: Thus far in your career, what has been your biggest success? EL: Honestly, just getting the opportunity to play live shows because I didn’t think that I would. I started going to local live shows by myself frequently since 2014 discovering festivals such as: SOTO Fest, Ottawa Explosion (RIP) and Megaphono. It’s just surreal to me as a showgoer that we’ve played Ottawa Explosion twice and this year’s Megaphono festival. Additionally, we’ve played alongside with amazing bands such as Mauno for our first ever venue show, Chastity, Camp Cope, Tough Age and many more. I am just grateful that we’re playing more shows to this day and I would like to thank Ottawa Showbox, Debaser, Ottawa Explosion, PRISM, First Crush Promotion, Local Ottawa Live, Megaphono, Not For Function Network, Spectrasonic and my good friend Christopher Gray for involving us.

SA: On the other hand, what is the biggest challenge you have faced, and how have you dealt with it? EL: The biggest challenges that I’ve faced was finding a suitable space to record my tracks and scheduling a time to rehearse with my bandmates as we all work full time. Luckily now, we all live nearby to each other and within an area that’s closer to the venues that we play frequently in. Before that, we would rehearse/record at Capital Rehearsal Studios and all of my gear was in a storage unit across from the building.

SA: How do you approach the song-writing process? EL: Typically on a random day, a melody or an idea pops up in my head. I try to figure out the notes by playing my guitar/midi keyboard as I do not know any chords whatsoever. I eventually start recording the instrumentals, once that’s done, lyrics and vocals are last.

SA: What are your thoughts on the Ottawa music scene, particularly regarding the style of music you play? EL: It’s small, but it’s diverse, slowly growing and a very inclusive scene. Many of the acts/bands in Ottawa such as Deathsticks, Mark ii, Curl, Doxx, Ultra Love, Ruth Grader, Organ Eyes, etc. are not only great but filled with so much talent. They inspire me to write and record more music.

SA: If you had to choose your favourite moment off your latest release, Tired and Bored, what would it be, and why? EL: I guess my favourite moment off the EP was completing ‘Give up’ within 2 days and ‘I’m so Bored at Home’ in a day. Both tracks were written from scratch in the beginning stages and the recording/mixing process went a lot quicker than I expected as it was mostly improvised by overdubbing a track to another. I liked the way how the two tracks turned out in the end. I didn’t sleep during its process, but I think it was worth it.

SA: With respect to your lyrics, what serves as lyrical inspiration, and do you find yourself coming back to similar emotions or stories that resonate with you? EL: As mentioned before, I record music as a creative outlet for myself. I can express the way with how I am feeling on some days through my recordings and it’s therapeutic to me. I’m pretty introverted, pessimistic and generally keep most things to myself. My lyrics are usually straight forward but sometimes, peculiar with the way I word things together. My lyrics follow a general theme of self-loathing. But to answer your question, nihilism would probably serve as a lyrical inspiration for me. I don’t think I can ever write a song about happiness or romance. Although, I am a fan of it as a listener, it just doesn’t appeal to me in the creative process.

SA: A question for fun, for the locals: do you have a particularly favourite venue to play in Ottawa, and if so, why? EL: I usually prefer playing house shows (Ex: Off Peak Green Barn, Ask-a-Punk) or DIY venues, but in terms of Ottawa venues, that’s a tough one. Phil (Bassist), Robbie (Drummer) and I typically have fun at most of the Ottawa venues we play in, but if I had to pick, it would have to be Black Squirrel Books. The people there are very kind, many selections of books to browse through before doors open, great venue environment and a consistent lineup of awesome shows. Shout out to Anthony Cardozo for killing it with the upcoming shows this year. Speaking of upcoming shows, everyone should attend the SIDE BY SIDE Weekend Fundraiser on Mar. 29. The new SIDE BY SIDE Fest (July 25-28 2019) venues hosted by House of Targ and Black Squirrel is going to be sweet!

SA: What do you hope for musically in 2019? Our best wishes for your continued successes! EL: Release more music as much as possible, experiment with more genres that I haven’t touched, collaborations with other artists and maybe tour if that’s a possibility. I’m currently working on a new recording project under the name China Steps. The album should come out later this year. It might have some R&B influences and it will be a lot mellower than Empty Nesters. As for Empty Nesters, I hope to release all of the Bag of Suck compilations, two or three EPs and possibly an album by the end of 2019.

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