Empire Of The Sun on (RED), Performing at Stereosonic, and Being Positive

As electronic music continues to grow and expand as a cultural force to be reckon with, headlining artists like Empire Of The Sun are setting an examp

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Complex Original

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As electronic music continues to grow and expand as a cultural force to be reckon with, headlining artists like Empire Of The Sun are setting an example for leadership. Collaborating with a host of other artists including David Guetta, Eric Prydz, Giorgio Moroder, Tommy Trash, RL Grime, Baauer, and the world-leading charity (RED), Empire of The Sun are a part of their latest compilation, DANCE (RED), Save Lives2. On top of that, Empire of The Sun is performing today at Sterosonic and just ahead of that we got to speak with Nick and get their thoughts on working with the esteemed organization.

Why don't you start by telling us how you got involved with RED?

Well, we have a track called "Celebrate" and they kind of came to us. I wasn't totally aware, like I was aware of RED in a small way, but I didn't really know they contacted us, just how much great work they're doing. It's really a privilege to be invited and be a part of this and on top of that, a lot of the acts are great as well so it works for us as well.

Yeah man, I can imagine. I know RED has been around for a long time it seems and they've been at the forefront of AIDS research and all that, so it's always great to see their work get recognized in a special way. Talk to us about performing at Stereosonic during World AIDS Day.

It's going to be special man, every time you do a show on your home turf, it's always just that much more loved up - just the nature of it - the arms reach out just that much further.

Yeah man, very true. You mentioned the track "Celebrate" and that obviously came out on your second album, Ice On The Dune, earlier this year. What's it been like to get that out there, and play and get it off your chest.

It's real cool, y'know? I think anyone working in creative areas - y'know the thing about making things is that you want it to live outside of your head, y'know? Obviously with music you can do that and anyone with a laptop can realize their vision and then it's that just one step further of having it heard by millions of people and having these opportunities collaborate with others, like RED to share our music. Essentially what we try to do with the music of Empire Of The Sun is to send a positive, healing message to people. We talk about our own discoveries, low points and high points in the hope that we can lift and encourage people's spirits. Now to do that with RED in such a physical way and with an organization that performs miracles around the world and saves lives, but we do what we can and it's wonderful to be asked to be apart of something that's such a powerful force.

Definitely, and I think it speaks volumes about your art. Given your decision to participate in such a public display of charity, and the nature of EOTS, to your fans, you've taken on this role model-

Well it's a privileged position to be in and to have your voice recognized as someone that could provide some sort of leadership. I think more than anything, we ask more questions then we answer. Recently on Facebook we asked our fans if they believe in unconditional love and we got thousands of responses. I think we're very careful to tread on giving people guidelines for specific things about their lives or the way people live their lives, but we want to put our best foot forward. We only want to ever provide positivity and love in an unconditional way and we pour that into our music. We try to make these perfect moments. Our lives outside of that aren't always perfect and they're scattered with all kinds of problems and things we have to deal as humans, but certainly within the art we create, we are trying to put a good message in there. We're trying to do something positive.

Absolutely, and I think that's evident in your music and you're doing a service in doing so. You've created special bonds with your fans and inspired a lot of people to great success. You're really articulate man, and you seem to have thought about these sorts of things on a grand scale a lot. Have you ever thought about doing more of this like editorials or anything of that nature outside of Empire Of The Sun?

Yeah I try and write, like short stories and things like that but I find it incredibly isolating and difficult. I mean that's a lot of things, but like with music, I love collaborating and working with other people and hopefully bringing the best out of them and that hopefully brings the best out of me. I love that music is about communication and it's having conversation with another person collaborating.

Yeah man, and you guys have been incredibly successful obviously doing that yourselves with the world tours, the albums, your work with RED.

Yeah now it feels real, you know? We had all that stuff and the rest of it, but the opportunity to work with someone who is truly, in a physical sense, changing people's lives and saving people is incredible. To say it's humbling is a gross understatement and as someone who does music - which is a vacation comparatively to medicine. This is the first really big opportunity to work with someone like RED and it is certainly something we want to continue doing.

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