Last time we had Manchester’s The Empty Page on a LOUD WOMEN stage it was 2016, which is pretty much a lifetime ago. This awesome trio are coming to play our festival on 18 Sept and we can’t wait to see them! Our roving reporter Kris Smith caught up with them for a quick pre-Fest interview …
What are you looking forward to/who are you looking forward to seeing at LOUD WOMEN Fest?
There are a few bands I already know and like (I Doris, ARXX, IDestroy) who I will definitely make a point of catching but I am always most looking forward to discovering new artists that I haven’t come across before. That’s what things like this are brilliant for isn’t it? So I’ll be watching as many bands as poss.
What can the audience expect from a The Empty Page set?
We’re foul-mouthed, angst-riddled Mancs so there is always a nervous energy in the room and sometimes we say daft things – especially Jim our drummer. Expect lots of energy and an imperfect but heartfelt iteration of our “biggest hits”.
What’s your favourite song to play live?
It depends. We have a song called He’s Very Good At Swimming which was sparked by the Brock Turner rape case but talks about these kinds of victim-blaming situations in general. It’s a tough song and it makes me cry a bit when I sing it. It is good to feel that discomfort in the room sometimes and that raw emotion. Other times I just like playing the ones we’ve been playing since we first started 6 years ago because I more or less know how to play them now so I can have more fun and jump around a bit.
What have you been up to? How has the last 18 months been for the group?
Is that a trick question? I think the past 18 months has probably been extremely hard for most musicians. We haven’t rehearsed much and to be honest we haven’t written much because real life and interaction is what inspires us more than being sat in our houses eating crisps and watching Netflix. I also never stopped working and – for boring reasons I won’t go into – have probably worked more than ever this past 12 months at least so it’s not been great for us musically. We had to postpone a recording session three times due to covid but I just got the tracks back this morning and they are sounding incredible so things are turning a corner I hope.
You released two new singles pre-lockdown [one is featured on LOUD WOMEN Volume 3]; what’s next for the band?
Yes, and we had planned to keep releasing songs in intervals from spring 2020 onwards but obviously, that went out the window. We have found a producer we click with really well for our new stuff so we are looking forward to releasing at least a couple of singles soon. Maybe an album if we can afford it. We are going to take our time deciding what to do with the new stuff. This time it would be good to put something out on a slightly bigger label after being fiercely DIY forever. Punk Fox has been really good to us so far with 7″ releases but we are looking at other options too. Watch this space.
Last time we saw you live in London, Simon from Desperate Journalist was in the audience; have you got any other celebrity fans? 🙂
Simon’s obviously the biggest celebrity in our fan club but we have also had fan mail from Basil Brush, Owain Wyn Evans and Rochdale councillor John Blundell.
Who would you love to see on the line-up next year?
Oooh False Advertising, The Hyena Kill, Dorcha, A Void, Nova Twins, Crake, Cultdreams, ILL, Bully… So many!
Come see The Empty Page live at LOUD WOMEN Fest on 18 Sept, along with 19 other awesome bands!
LOUD WOMEN 