E M P I R E

  B I O

Read about Empire,and get to know this hardrock act from Germany,Rolf Munkes tells the story of the band:

After the release of my first solo CD, No More Obscurity, which contained instrumentals as well as vocal tracks, I soon decided to compose new songs, but I wanted to do more straight rock songs (though with sophisticated guitar solos).

So I shut myself away for six weeks and worked on the songs. The results were impressive. Ten fresh and powerful rock songs, with great sounds and melodies. Together with my drummer Gerald Kloos I invested a lot of time working on the music and lyrics. After that I needed to find musicians who could give to these songs what they deserve: emotion, atmosphere, variety, professionalism, power and magic...and I found them.

First I recorded the guitar parts in my Legatomizer Studio so that I had the basics to send guide tracks to the musicians I was interested in using. My friend and superb drummer Gerald Kloos played the drums for most of the tracks.

Then I got the legendary Neil Murray (ex-Whitesnake) to play the bass by pure chance. His musical past is impressive - take a look at his biography on the Empire Site. We got in touch with the webmaster of the Company of Snakes web site, the band which Neil plays with. I contacted Neil by email and sent him demos of the songs and he was very pleased to be able to play on the Empire album project. It was like a dream come true!

In January Neil was in my studio for a week and we recorded ten tracks for the forthcoming album. It was so great to have the chance to work with such an amazing bass player. We had a lot of fun and along the way I learned a lot. He has a great tone and so much experience. He gives to a song exactly what it needs - you don't have to say a word - just let him play and record it. Neil is more than just 'one of the best' bass players, he is a warm-hearted gentleman as well. We talked for hours about touring with all those great bands and recording sessions he's done and, and, and... it was really cool.

My favourite singer for this project was Lance King (Balance Of Power), because he has so much warmth in his voice. Cool! That was what I needed for the Empire songs. I had the pleasure to meet Lance on his tour last year in Germany. I asked him to sing a song on my first album and he did a great vocal interpretation of the Police song "Message in a Bottle". So I asked him if he`d like to become more involved in my next album. I was so happy when he agreed. I sent him the material and he enjoyed what he heard. So in March, I flew to the USA and there I recorded the vocals with this fantastic singer.

He did a great job. I enjoyed staying and working with him in Minnessota/St.Paul. The results of the recording were amazing.

I also had to look for guest musicians who could make the songs complete, and I found three world class musicians:

My drummer Gerald Kloos had some contact with exceptional drummer Anders Johansson, who is having lots of success at the moment with his band Hammerfall. We had the idea to ask him if he could play a little guest solo on my first CD, and so we did a drum solo called "Drumatic".  The cooperation with Anders was really nice and he said immediately "Yes" when I asked him to do the drums on two songs for the new CD. I was very proud of that. He recorded two incredible tracks. I have to say - WOW! I had the chance to meet him while he was on tour here with Hammerfall. We enjoyed Thai food together and had really crazy conversations about (I'd better not tell that here!) and a lot of fun.

Mark Boals, who had by now finished his world tour with Yngwie Malmsteen and had just released his first CD with his own band Ring of Fire, was the only choice for the two songs that I left for a guest singer, "Into The Light" and "I Will Always Be There" - vocals that blow your mind.

We got in contact with his Japanese promoter and she passed my first CD on to Mark. He liked what he heard and he was very interested in doing vocals on my new songs. I couldn't believe it, but it was true. I met him in Frankfurt on his tour with Malmsteen and we had a very nice time. He is a real fine guy!

For the song "Spread My Wings", I found another superb player - Don Airey. I dared to ask him at a Company of Snakes concert here in Germany and he instantly agreed. With his long experience (he participated in bands like Rainbow, Ozzy and ELO) he played the keyboard so sensitively on that ballad.

With such great musicians involved, I thought it was no longer only a solo project and so I named my band project Empire.

In July, after the recording of the songs had been completed, I went to Roxx Studios in Cologne. There I mixed Empire's debut album, entitled Hypnotica, with Stefan Kaufmann, who had produced bands like U.D.O. and Accept. Manfred Melchior at MM Sound then mastered the CD. I must say, both did a great job!

You will hear an album full of straight hooky rock songs with exciting guitars, great vocals and lots of drive behind it. I'm very satisfied with the result.

Empire did also a song on the Jason Becker Tribute CD Warmth In The Wilderness, a version of David Lee Roth's "Dogtown Shuffle".

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