Dots: Last time our paths crossed was a while ago in what was once the Oxford Zodiac at a Sleepy Jackson show. Empire Of The Sun being an entirely diverse entity, was the band born of a relentless desire to write out-and-out pop nuggets?
Luke Steele: I think music’s quite a high-fidelity field and sonically, Empire Of The Sun represents my first venture into this genre of hi-fi pop. I’ve always been gifted at writing top lines and melodies and I’ve always loved the likes of Daft Punk and Prince, and the concept of the music sounding expensive so I think that’s the real root of the current project...
Dashes: Empire Of The Sun pertains to a more visual aspect too. A fair old fuss has been made over your live shows, which we over in the UK haven’t yet had the opportunity to witness. Why exactly have you not made it over here yet?
LS: I guess the visual incorporation stems from the melodies being so pretty. As to the live shows, we’ve just been waiting on some way to actually afford to put them on. Once you become enveloped by a project as big as Empire Of The Sun’s become you can actually turn around and lay down exactly what you want in terms of specs, props, visuals, podiums and every other artistic aspect you feel to be integral to the overall perception of the band. We can now source almost everything we’re after...
Dots: In terms of playing live, do you feel that Empire Of The Sun is proving to be the most engaging project you’ve been involved in thus far?
LS: Yeah, I would definitely say so. Having to have everything from the music itself to everything else going on around us entirely in sequence is completely new to me. We never really had any such visual luxuries with the Sleepies. The guitars hardly ever worked and the drummer sometimes sounded crap so it was always a little like roulette when it came down to what we actually sounded like..! Having dancers onstage with us live now’s really exciting and makes me feel as though I’m one step closer to that show you have in your head when you’re a kid. The elephant walks on, someone jumps off its back, landing in a swimming pool when a bunch of swordfish jump out and run into some drunken guitarist who falls over, gets electrocuted and plays out one final guitar solo as he slowly perishes.
Dashes: Empire Of The Sun’s first UK show takes place this month down on Worthy Farm, Glastonbury. You’re up against Stevie Wonder and his Songs In The Key Of Life. How have preparations developed, and how significant is the festival show to you?
LS: It sounds like a big one- every British interview I’ve done over the past year has been quizzing me as to how it feels to be booked. Honestly, it’s like a dream for a kid from Perth that used to play for $50 and a couple of hamburgers, couldn’t be better. It’d be like a journalist getting the opportunity to interview Prince, it’s the holy grail.
Dots: Regarding the Glastonbury Park Stage headline slot, many bands often aren’t in the capacity to play out their full live show in the festival setting, having to cut back on lighting, dancers, gimmicks etc. Will your UK debut performance feature any such toning down or are we in for the real deal?
LS: The first shows we ever did were over in Australia, playing a couple of festivals and thus far, we’ve only played one club show. Some Mastercard thing. They told us they’d give us a million bucks if we played it, so we shrugged and accepted really. We designed the set in such a way that it could be assembled and dismantled really quickly, what with the restricted changeover time at festivals so yeah, Glastonbury will see the full-on Empire Of The Sun show.
Dashes: Presumably to transport your dancers and swordfish outfits and what have you around with you, you need about three buses...
LS: Well, we do normally fly but we need about three cargo containers to lug everything around with us so how it’s all going to fit on one tour bus, God only knows. It’ll feel a little like Polyphonic Spree II I’d imagine...
Dots: You mentioned you’ve only played one club show thus far. Can we expect to see you gracing the grubbier stages of Britain when you’re over later this summer?
LS: I don’t think we’re doing any really, no. It’ll just be the festivals we play over there so Glastonbury, Latitude and Lovebox I guess. That’s probably enough anyway..!
Dashes: I suppose in a way that adds a sense of exclusivity to proceedings...
LS: Yeah, it’s always kind of been like that with the shows I’ve chosen to play, gets boring when you find yourself just playing everywhere endlessly and exhaustingly. Our first main club tour’s kicking off in America after Lollapalooza when we’re doing two shows in New York and then four in LA and then I guess we’ll see what happens from there. It’s all a little unpredictable as per..!
Dots: Hope this isn’t too close to the bone, but is Nick Littlemore going to be touring with you at all..?
LS: No...
Dashes: Is it a little difficult trying to staple down a band together with this estranged wanderer of a band mate?
LS: Well, he never wanted to come with us out on the road so even from the first show he said he didn’t want to tour. We didn’t have a fight or anything, although we haven’t spoken for a year more or less...
Dots: Moving swiftly on... Following on from the universal success of Empire Of The Sun, particularly through Walking On A Dream, how have you found it becoming something of a rather high-profile character almost, recording with Jay-Z etc., especially given how much time you’ve already spent in music I suppose..?
LS: I still find things a little bizarre, yeah. I mean I’m pretty frank and upfront with people so it’s not like I spend my whole day peering out from behind the curtains. I’m quite happy to talk to anyone but you do notice people staring at you a little, which is a bit weird. Occasionally it’s really exciting to meet people deriving such pure enjoyment from the music we’re creating and to have been given a unique experience from it but then on the other hand, this girl approached me the other day, demanding a photo. I was with my wife and my daughter, trying to find a suit for this wedding we’re going to in New Zealand, and just effectively wasn’t in the mood, at which point she stormed off, exclaiming how she’d tell all her friends I’m an idiot. All you wanted was a photo with me, as if I were some sort of wax model of Han Solo, to say you were with this thing. So it’s swings and roundabouts in its essence really...
Dashes: Finally, without meaning to sound too overtly sycophantic Lovers was probably one of, if not my favourite record of all time. With swordfish costumes and futuristic mirrored headdresses forming your present, do The Sleepy Jackson feature in your future?
LS: Most certainly, yeah. I’m sitting on about three Sleepy Jackson records now that have already been written so more than anything, I’m a little confused as to what to do next and which direction to head in; one’s quite upbeat, super hi-fi, like Kraftwerk crossed with The Beatles so it’s pop, another’s been recorded entirely in my Lennon/ Traveling Wilburys/ Brian Wilson style and the third is a bit more along the lines of dirty rock so the material’s there, I just don’t really have any indication of which route to head down. I’m really struggling with what to record, what’ll be in the next record, but the plan is certainly for the next record to be a Sleepy Jackson record. But it’s been bizarre recently, particularly with the Empire thing, as initially we were just recording a couple of demos in my studio, the seed was planted really early on you could say and it’s just grown consistently over time. It takes a while making a record, it’s a convoluted process that should boil down to about two weeks. I’m effectively waiting for God to show me the light...
Luke Steele's Empire Of The Sun play Glastonbury, Les Eurockéennes, T In The Park, Oxegen, Latitude & Lovebox festivals over the coming sweltering months.
