Co-Presented by Destroy All Lines and premier pop culture convention Supanova, Galactic Empire are bringing their Star Wars Metal extravaganza to both Supanova events in Adelaide and Brisbane and to rock venues throughout Australia in Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney and Gold Coast. From a foreboding rendition of ‘The Imperial March’ to the sweeping guitars of ‘Duel of the Fates’ or soaring melody of ‘Rey’s Theme’, the band’s faithful translations of John Williams’ classic scores has created a new “force” where fandom and music overlap.
We caught up with Bass Commander (Carson Slovak) to discuss the tour, how the idea for the band started and a little bit about Star Wars.
Andrew: So we are looking forward to seeing you in Australia, is this going to be your first time?
Bass Commander: It will be my second time in Australia. I was there once before but I wasn’t playing, me and my production partner Grant who is the drummer for Galactic Empire, we were producing a band in Australia for about a month a couple of years ago called Polaris.
Andrew: Oh yeah I know them.
Bass Commander: Yeah we recorded their album in Mollymook, we rented a house and recorded the whole thing in the house. It was a really cool experience and Australia is really cool, we’re very excited to come back and actually play there.
Andrew: Nice so you got a bit of experience coming this way and obviously it’s a long flight but the fans are certainly looking forward to see you guys perform and be a part of the Supanova comic / pop culture events. Very cool idea and the US obviously has a lot of that stuff there as well with Comic Con and stuff like that, you guys have done lots of that kind of stuff before there right?
Bass Commander: Sure yeah, we’ve actually played a variety of different things. We’ve played Comic Con festivals, we’ve done traditional touring, we’ve actually even played on national television and strangely enough our first performance ever was on the E channel for their coverage of the Oscars because I guess episode 7 was nominated for something and our video had come out when they called us and had us play during a Star Wars themed runway model segment. It was really bizarre, we were playing and was so weird but that was technically our first performance. But we try to play a variety of different things!
Andrew: So for those who are not familiar with Galactic Empire, especially for the Aussie fans, tell the back story behind how all this started for you guys?
Bass Commander: Well I guess it would of started a couple of years ago, Grant and I work in this recording studio together and we’re both big Star Wars fans obviously and he thought it would be cool to put together a drum arrangement where he played along to the Imperial March and he filmed it and put it on Youtube and it was just kind of a drum playthrough video and then about a year later we dug up the session of his drum part and played the rest of what the orchestra was doing on guitar and just kind of made it into a metal song and it just turned out really cool and we then decided to do another one and we did the main theme and did the Force them and before we knew it we had an entire album done. So it just kind of snowballed and then at one point we thought it would be hilarious to make a music video where we dressed up and now here we are.
Andrew: What kind of reactions have you been getting from people? Not just at the shows but in general online and general feedback from people?
Bass Commander: I mean people who see us play, typically I can always tell when someone’s not familiar with us when we’re about to play by the look on their face but within about 30 seconds it’s like they understand what’s going on. They get it pretty much immediately and then they pretty much always smile and that’s the thing, we think it’s kind of a fun concept and we have a good time with it. We certainly don’t take ourselves too seriously, I think we take ourselves seriously as musicians, we try to play the music as closely and accurately as possible. We’re always very self critical on that but beyond that it’s just a fun thing to do and it’s kind of an excuse for a vacation every once in a while!
Andrew: [laughs] Sounds fun to do! I was checking out some of your videos actually on Youtube before the interview and you were talking about how you take the music seriously, you guys have a progressive style of playing and are quite technical in the way you approach it. I guess you would describe the music side of things outside of the theme as a sort of progressive metal sort of thing?
Bass Commander: Yeah and that was kind of an organic thing that happened as silly as it sounds to say that. But the original idea was let’s not change anything about the score, let’s stick to the exact key, the exact tempo, let’s pick out all the parts that are happening in the different octaves and the different sections of the orchestra and represent those parts on guitar whether it’s the higher octave melody stuff or the lead guitar or like the lower octave kind of rhythmic thing would be like the bass and rhythm guitar. We just kind of transcribed all the different elements of the orchestra as exactly as we could to guitar and we play them in metal style but we stuck to it exactly and then Grant just wrote drums with the guitar and we end up with what we got which is essentially a kind of tech metal, weirdo, spazz out once in a while played thing.
Andrew: Yeah that’s the first thing I picked up was you guys were not just paying tribute to the Star Wars franchise but you guys are good at what you do and so there’s a seriousness to that side musically and technically I guess.
Bass Commander: Thank you, I appreciate it. I think we definitely take that side seriously but I mentioned Grant and I our production team, our careers recording bands and producing music and so we take that side of it, the sonic side and the creative side very seriously and just trying to make musicianship live up to the source material.
Andrew: So not to stray too far away from the main subject but outside of Galactic Empire, are you guys in any other bands?
Bass Commander: Chris and our friend Mike who played guitar for a long time in Galactic Empire are both in a death metal band called Alustrium and they’re actually just about to release a new album pretty soon, they’re just finishing it up and from what I’ve heard it’s ridiculous and really great if you like death metal and they’re a great band. So Chris is Vader and CJ our other guitar player is in a band called Tethra and they kind of have a bit of a Killswitch Engage vibe but a lot more technical and have a more modern metal feel and they’re just a really good band. A solid band, great vocals and Grant and I were lucky enough to produce their full length album that I believe they’re releasing pretty soon and I think they’ve released a few singles and it’s a really good album, I’m very excited about it.
Andrew: Cool so you mentioned that when you first started Galactic Empire that it was a fun project to do, did you ever consider the possibility of where you guys are now where you are touring around the world to play this kind of music to people?
Bass Commander: We certainly didn’t expect it to get to this level where we are actually traveling and flying and playing in different countries and stuff and festivals and that sort of thing. We never really aspired to that, it just all kind of grew out of our initial kind of art project that was this music video that got enough of a response that we were able to figure out a way to make it as a band that could go and play and we have a lot of fun doing it. It’s a lot of work, it’s a challenge, it’s especially a challenge to play in costumes and do it to the level that we want to do it musicianship wise but it’s worth it just because it’s a blast to do, we have fun playing.
Andrew: Well we are looking forward to seeing you in the country to perform everything Star Wars related. Obviously there’s a new movie coming out so I’m assuming you are keen to check it out when it comes out.
Bass Commander: Oh yeah I just checked out that trailer that was released, it looks amazing.
Andrew: What’s your response been to the more recent Star Wars movies? Have they been living up to expectations?
Bass Commander: I think so yeah, I really appreciate them. I think it’s awesome what they’re doing with the franchise now and how they’ve diverted away from what the prequel trilogy felt like and they kind of went back to what I feel like was more the essence of what made the original trilogy special just in terms of how they shot the movies and the writing and the character development and stuff and everything felt more authentic and not like it was on some green screen with the kind of emotionless cardboard cut out like the prequel trilogy. So yeah I think it’s awesome what they’re doing with the franchise now and I think it’s cool that younger generations can get as excited about it as I was when I was a kid. I have 2 boys, 8 and 11 years old and they’re both big Star Wars fans and it’s really cool to see them get excited about the new movies coming out.
Andrew: Yeah I agree they definitely done the right thing with these newer ones so great to see. Look forward to seeing you in Australia, thanks for your time really appreciated and we will see you very soon.
Bass Commander: Yeah absolutely thank you very much, I appreciate it man.
GALACTIC EMPIRE AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES
PRESENTED BY DESTROY ALL LINES & SUPANOVA
Friday 1 November – Supanova, Adelaide Showground
Sunday 3 November – 170 Russell, Melbourne
Tuesday 5 November – The Basement, Canberra
Thursday 7 November – Factory Theatre, Sydney
Friday 8 November – Supanova, BCEC Brisbane
Sunday 10 November – Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast
SUPANOVA TICKETS
TICKETS AT HTTP://TICKETS.DESTROYALLLINES.COM
