Performing on the last Warped Tour later this year, Crown The Empire show that they aren’t slowing down anytime soon, having performed all over the globe, and recording for an upcoming album. As they geared up for their performance at Slam Dunk Festival in May, we chatted to the band about their plans for the set, and even English Breakfast!
You’re playing at the Impericon Stage later today; what have you guys been up to beforehand?
ANDY LEO VELASQUEZ: South East Asia; we just got back, it’s was our first time. It was great out there! It was surreal, it felt like I was on another planet in some places – there was a lot of McDonalds there though, so it was something comforting. We ate a bunch of weird food, had some ox tongue! A lot better than you would think!
BRENT TADDIE: Went to Asia for the first time, went to the Philippines for the first time.
A: Now you have to name all of them! We did Thailand, Taiwan, Singapore.
BRANDON HOOVER: We did Japan; did Osaka and Tokyo again. We’d done those before, but those are always good.
A: Super cool!
Your last album Retrograde was released back in 2016 – are you working on anything for the next album?
A: We are working on new shit; we’ve been playing one of the new songs called “20/20” for months now. 4 months. We’ve just been going crazy for playing the same songs for so long, we had to throw something fucking new into the mix. So we’ve been opening with it, become comfortable with some of that stuff, but yeah new music’s on the way. Obviously there’s a lot more stuff behind the scenes that has to be worked out before, just dump out, which I’d love to do, just my favourite thing to do is dump it out.
You got any surprises in store for your performance later?
BH: I know Alex [Biro] from Selfish Things said that he has a surprise for the set, he had to order it a week before, mail it to his [tour manager]. I’m not entirely sure what it’s gonna be, but something’s gonna happen! There’s also gonna be surprises in the set!
A: It’s gonna be the best set you’ve heard all night.
BH: Yeah, surprise! Best set ever!
You’ve also recently announced a UK tour – you looking forward to that?
A: Yes, we’re huge fans of the UK, this is the first place away from home I get to rebel, so everytime I come here, the smells, the people, the accents, the food; all that is a fun time! Had a Full English Breakfast about an hour ago! Double sausage.
BH: 4 pieces of toast!
A: The black pudding, I just crush it up, and drain lines of it! That’s to get into the spirit! You can’t have a rock ‘n’ roll day on just cereal!
What are you looking forward to most about Slam Dunk Festival?
A: If the vibe is good, the show will be good. The sound is always sketchy outside, so-
HAYDEN TREE: We’re inside today!
BH: Today we are!
H: That is the weirdest thing about festivals, when you expect play outside, but when you get there, you’re just in an aeroplane hanger. Ok, cool, we’re not outside!
BH: It’s an outdoor festival or and indoor festival.
H: Outdoor festival inside!
Finally, after Slam Dunk, and your UK tour, what’s next for the band?
A: It’s not announced yet.
BT: Probably new music. We’ve been working on our new album for a while now, so we’re gonna have some songs, some videos coming out pretty soon.
UK/EU Tour Dates below – visit their website for ticket and VIP info
Sep 18 The Haunt Brighton, United Kingdom
Sep 19 Talking Heads Southampton, United Kingdom
Sep 20 The Fleece Bristol, United Kingdom
Sep 21 O2 Islington London, United Kingdom
Sep 22 Asylum Birmingham, United Kingdom
Sep 24 Green Room Dublin, Ireland
Sep 25 Oh Yeah Centre Belfast, Uk
Sep 27 Classic Grand Glasgow, United Kingdom
Sep 28 Riverside Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Sep 29 Academy 2 Manchester, United Kingdom
Sep 30 Waterfront Norwich, United Kingdom
Oct 02 Kavka Antwerp, Belgium
Oct 03 Kellerklub Stuttgart, Germany
Oct 04 Dynamo Zurich, Switzerland
Oct 05 Backstage Club München, Germany
Oct 07 Arena Wien, Austria
Oct 08 Futurum Prague, Czech Republic
Oct 09 Hydrozagadka Warsaw, Poland
Oct 11 Musik & Frieden Berlin, Germany
Oct 12 LOGO Hamburg, Germany
Oct 13 Gebaude 9 Cologne, Germany
Oct 14 Petit Bain Paris, France
Oct 15 Melkweg Amsterdam, Netherlands