http://www.BalconyTVMelbourne.com <br />'Like' us on Facebook - http://on.fb.me/oga1dP <br /> <br />PRESENTED BY CASSIE WALKER BROUGHT TO YOU BY <br />PRINCE BANDROOM - www.princebandroom.com.au <br />MISCREANT RECORDINGS - www.miscreantrecordings.com <br /> <br />If it was hard to ignore New Empire before, it's impossible now. The runaway rock outfit have already clocked up a stellar 2011 with national supports for Good Charlotte, Simple Plan and Owl City, a worldwide publishing deal with Native Tongue and a string of singles all over radio and music TV. <br /> <br />Now with their long-awaited second album Symmetry out September 16, they're ready to cement their status as one of the country's brightest new stars. Combining the arena alt rock of The Killers with the bombast of 30 Seconds To Mars and emotional power of OneRepublic, it's the sound of everything clicking into place for the band as both songwriters and independent artists. <br /> <br />"Symmetry is defined as 'beauty as a result of balance or harmonious arrangement' and we felt like that's where we're at as a band in terms of our relationships and in our music,'" explains frontman Jeremy Fowler. "It feels like everything is aligning and the pieces of the puzzle are falling into place at this point of our journey." <br /> <br />New Empire's journey started back in 2006 when Sydney school friends Jeremy and drummer Kale Kneale met guitarist Pete Gillies and former bass player Sam after high school (Sam was replaced by Kyle Lane this year). They began writing songs and playing gigs around Sydney under the moniker of Freedom 1 and quickly learned some shows could be more painful than others. <br /> <br />"At our second ever show, there was a massive beach ball in the crowd and someone launched toward me," recalls Jeremy, who's laughing about it now. "It hit the mic stand, which smashed into my face and my mouth started bleeding. Everyone was just cracking up and I just wanted to cry but I realised this is rock 'n' roll." <br /> <br />As luck would have it, their courage under fire caught the attention of their soon-to-be manager Andy Mak (a respected producer/engineer who's worked with Silverchair and Boy & Bear) who was in the crowd that day. <br /> <br />With their live reputation growing, they recorded two EPs, before they were forced to change their name because "an old American duo who'd released twenty albums" already had it. "People were going 'I got your album on iTunes!'" says Pete, "And I was like 'we don't have an album nor is it on iTunes. They were like 'it's pretty different to what I expected.'" <br /> <br />Read more at www.facebook.com/newempireband <br /> <br /> <br />recorded two EPs, before they were forced to change their name because "an old American duo who'd released twenty albums" already had it. "People were going 'I got your album on iTunes!'" says Pete, "And I was like 'we don't have an album nor is it on iTunes. They were like 'it's pretty different to what I expected.'" <br /> <br />Read more at www.facebook.com/newempireband
