Empires

Chicago indie rock group Empires began in 2007 when guitarist Tom Conrad, formerly of pop-punk act the Academy Is..., approached singer/songwriter Sean Van Vleet about writing music together. Over the coming year, they added guitarist Max Steger and drummer Mike Robinson into the fold and recorded their debut album, Howl, which they offered as a free download on their website in 2008. Their self-produced mix of punchy garage tones and soaring, tuneful songcraft quickly won them a following and they continued their D.I.Y. approach by releasing their next EP, Bang, as a series o...