Although starting out at a young age, Crown The Empire had already managed to secure a slot within an ever-expanding genre of music by supporting huge acts such as Memphis May Fire, it didn't take them long to gain the recognition all bands desire and only still in their teens they're doing well.
Having had their faces splashed across both magazines and websites, could things go any better for the band from Texas...we sat down with them for a chat to find out.
R13: So, you're here in the UK supporting Pierce the Veil, how's it been so far?
AV: Fantastic, so far every show has been sold out and all the fans are great, you know we're really excited to be on stage.
R13: What's your first impression of London?
AV:Fantastic.
BT: It's great, cultural; reminds me a lot of south-street in Philadelphia with all the shops in Camden, it's really nice.
R13: Camden's mad isn't it?
AV: Oh it's nuts.
R13: So, the majority of summer you spent recording, what else did you get up to? We know you got a second vocalist...
AV/BT:Yeah.
BT: I was out of the studio in about a week doing my tracks and Andrew and Dave were in there the whole time tracking and everything like that so erm, other than that we've just been getting ready to this 6 month tour cycle and getting everything ready for the new album.
R13: Why the decision to add a second vocalist; do you feel it's strengthened your music?
AV: Oh definitely. Dave's an incredible screamer, he's so much better than I was, and with him primarily doing screaming and me primarily doing singing, it's a lot. Well, we didn't want to be one of those bands that people saw live and were like they don't sound like the record as obviously screaming and singing constantly takes its toll and so we just both sing and both scream and at the end of the day it sounds good.
R13: You recently released the official video for Johnny Ringo what was the theme behind that, was it kind of just thrown together?
AV: Yeah, we just wanted it to make it kind of creepy, we had our friend take us to this barn, this old school barn; all dusty and stuff and we just wanted to make it all weird with the song.
R13: Do you feel it gained the response you were after from fans; it's had a lot of views now hasn't it?
BT: For sure, it was kind of like the last hurrah of the EP and kind of a hint towards our new sound and everything like that. We're obviously sticking to our roots with the new CD but Johnny Ringo was kind of the perfect transition into the new record and how everything is going to sound.
R13:Have you got an album out now?
AV: No, we have one EP and our debut album is coming out in November 2012.
R13: You were featured on the latest Pop Goes Punk?
AV:Yep.
R13: What sparked the decision to do the Maroon five song; are you all good fans of the band?
AV: Well, we actually did Moves like Jagger before that.
R13: So do you like them as a band, or was it just a random choice?
AV:It just happened to be random.
R13: Really?
BT:Yeah, it just seemed to kind of work. They have that similar like classy like image behind them and Andrew's voice works really well with Adam's and everything like that. The fact that we did two Maroon 5 covers is kind of a coincidence, but it's kind of cool that we are still associated with them like that in that way.
R13: Is there anyone you'd like to collaborate with on the album?
BT: Yeah, we threw out a whole bunch of ideas. I mean personally for me, I'd love to collaborate with Davey Havok or Gerard Way; someone outside the genre that no-one has really seen to something like that just to mix up the genre a bit and mix up the scene. Give them something they've not heard before.
AV:Sweet.
R13: For anyone who's not heard your music, how would you describe your sound?
AV: Like erm...ah man I'm so bad (laughs)
BT: I mean Andrew's said it in an interview before, he said like a hard-core Panic! At The Disco meets Slipknot, it's kind of a weird thing to say but we take a lot of the subject matter and imagery from Panic! At The Disco and we take like the energy and intensity from Slipknot and it kind of mixes both of those and everyone has different influences and stuff like that. So we just really try to make the music we like and put a tonne of energy behind it and put a tonne of emotion behind it.
R13: Do you feel that with making a record you get enough time to do it or do you feel you're on a constant time limit?
AV: Well this is actually our first record done in a studio where we had to stay, it was the first time we had a full label and first time we had to live in the studio and we had to get used to it for a little bit but it was definitely great.
BT: Yeah, we were kind of blessed that we knew exactly what we wanted to do on this full length, we'd been waiting so long with touring, and when we got in there we were so excited so ready to put out a record that even though we were on a time constraint we still kicked it our pretty quickly.
R13: So, (touch wood) if it all ended today, would you all be happy with everything you've achieved?
AV: I wouldn't be, obviously I'm excited to be here and I'm grateful for everything, but I want to keep going.
BT: Yeah, always got to strive for more.
R13: What would be your greatest achievement as a band?
AV: Greatest achievement ever... hmmm, for people to remember us in ten or twenty years.
BT: To leave some sort of legacy. I mean you see the Led Zepplins and the Black Sabbaths getting practically worshipped and putting that bit mark on music and being that turning point, I'd like Crown the Empire to be a turning point in rock and roll.
R13: What would be the one country you'd love to tour given the chance to?
AV: I personally love the UK more than anywhere, so I'm excited to be here, but other than here, erm...Japan.
R13: A lot of people say Japan...
AV:Japan would be sweet just because it's so weird.
R13: Fans out there are so crazy aren't they?
AV/BT: Yeah (laughs)
BT:We've heard Thailand is great too.