Empire Smalls started as a hand-drawn logo in 2012. It has ever-so-slowly evolved from that moment. That first period of existence as a one-man recording project saw the release of two digital EPs. I lived in Madison, Wisconsin at the time.
After moving back to Chicago, I tried to fill out the band as a trio but met the same obstacles plaguing many musicians. I needed a practice space and a drummer. It took some time but that trio emerged with old friends Mike Dixon and Tim Davison. We soon had a show and a recording session scheduled. Then came COVID.
Thankfully, that didn’t stop us. We recorded an album in my basement aka the RoosterCow Lounge.
The album was mixed by sound engineer Kris Poulin (Bonnie “Prince” Billy, Smog, Ryan Adams, Royal Trux), mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering, and pressed at Chicago’s Smashed Plastic. We followed that up with an EP, but Tim Davision soon moved to Asheville, NC.
Work is slowly underway for another release but the what and when is in flux, as always.
Pyramid Wave EP
Digital EP [Burning Empire Records] 2014
Pyramid Wave is the debut recording from the solo incarnation of the Empire Smalls recording project. The five songs on this EP were recorded in two installments. The first was in 2009 for what was intended to be a Soft Targets acoustic album. The second session was in 2014. Both recordings took place in Chicago and were engineered by Kris Poulin.
The themes on this EP are nostalgia, loneliness, fear, death, and changing (or not changing). I guess, these are the things I was thinking about. It’s a sparse record featuring an acoustic guitar, an electric one, and my voice.
TRACK LIST:
Fire Part 1
The Dust We Raise
Pyramid Wave
We Will Not Return
Change but Not Today
Listen to the Pyramid Wave EP by Empire Smalls.
Hide the Lightning EP
Digital EP [Invisible City Records] 2016
Hide the Lightning is the follow-up to Pyramid Wave. Once again recorded by Kris Poulin in Chicago in December 2015 and February 2016.
TRACK LIST:
Lighten Up Now
Trapped
Twisted Shout
Yellow Helicopter
Listen to the Hide the Lightning EP by Empire Smalls.
“Airborne, Airborne” single
This was one of a handful of songs I wrote at our Knox Avenue practice space during the COVID-19 quarantine. It is about how viruses float through the air and infect you the same way music does. We recorded the tracks separately in our respective homes. Tim played his electric drums. We re-recorded this song for our debut full-length and shortened the song title by half.
Listen to “Airborne, Airborne” single by Empire Smalls.
“Half Price Gas” single
Digital single [RoosterCow Records] 2020
This was another song recorded remotely in the early days of COVID. Working in this manner was new to all of us and it was not without its challenges. This is a Mike Dixon song about clear skies, half-price gas, and taking it to the limit because it’s on again and off again, again.
Listen to “Half Price Gas” single by Empire Smalls.
“Benjo Snippet Rides Again” single
Digital single [RoosterCow Records] 2020
Benjo Snippet is a doggone lullaby for a puppy that will not go to bed. The truth is, I wrote this song in a desperate effort to get our new puppy to go to sleep the night we brought him home. He was (and still is) a very anxious fellow but this song seemed to soothe him just enough. He still likes to hear me play it on guitar. This was also re-recorded for the Send Us Fools album.
Listen to “Benjo Snippet Rides Again” single by Empire Smalls.
Send Us Fools LP
Vinyl LP & CD [RoosterCow Records] 2022
Send Us Fools, the debut full-length from Empire Smalls, is ten songs of love, hate, fate, and foolish behavior. This includes the infectious “Airborne” — light, airy, and catchy like a virus. The soft start and destructive rise of “Mockingbird” suggest that if you can’t have it all, have nothing, while the bluesy, boozy tune “Robbin” is a decidedly non-metal ode to ‘80s glam guitarist Robbin Crosby (Ratt) who died too young at the age of 42. “Moon Flower Bloom” is a song about a love still flowering as the years go on. And lest there be any confusion as to who the object of scorn is on “We Don’t Like You,” it could be the 45th President of the United States or anyone else you don’t like.
Listen to Send Us Fools album by Empire Smalls.
Time + Distance EP
Digital EP [RoosterCow Records] 2023
Time + Distance is the follow-up EP to our debut full-length Send Us Fools. This short album features five songs with themes of time and distance. If time heals all wounds and distance makes the heart grow fonder, then time plus distance makes strong bonds. So, take the long way and take your time, hope for the best, but plan for the worst.
“You Took the Long Way” acknowledges that things that take time are worth the effort. “Benjo Snippet Rides Again” is a re-recording of that doggone lullaby recorded as a single three years earlier. “Long Time Ago” is a look back at what was important once. “We Will Not Return” highlights the permanence of leaving and “Fall Apart” shows that sometimes you have to tear things down to build something new.
Listen to TIME + DISTANCE album by Empire Smalls.