New Release – Living our Way by Distant Emperor

Distant Emperor is rock delivered with authenticity, originality, and thought-provoking observations of our place in the world. A studio project and fusion of Marc Di Camillo’s alter egos Lance Gunn-Shott (flamboyant guitarist and songwriter) and W. Thurston Friday (the shy bass player and lyricist). Thundering and emotive vocals are delivered by Aliz AJ accompanied by drummer Chris Brush who forgoes sticks and attacks the pig skins with his bare hands. The essence of the 80’s underpins the sound with a canvas of influences ranging from classic rock, metal, synth rock and Chuck Norris to add a little kick. The Emperor is not stuck in the past and is paving the way for a new sound for the 2020’s. 2023 is the year the Emperor unleashes their debut album ‘Generation Salvation’ taking you on a sonic journey of powerful, dramatic, and uplifting soundscapes. But first the single ‘Living Our Way’ will be released.

What inspired you to write ‘Living Our Way’?

“I start off writing all the music parts and once I have a sonic concept the lyrics are written with inspiration from how the music makes me feel. The working title of the song was ‘Quark’ and thought it would be interesting and a challenge to make the song about subatomic particles but humanize them.”

What movie or tv series should feature your song and why?

“There is a sinister feel to the song’s intro followed by a drop featuring a long scream. You have to listen to it as that statement makes it sound kind of weird! It could work well with a suspense/thriller show.”

Where was it recorded and mixed?

“I work from my home studio in Brisbane and do all the writing up to a demo version. I play all the instruments except the drums which I program. I send the drum tracks off to be professionally played and recorded in the US. I also work with my singer, Aliz, who performs the vocal parts. The final mix and master is then done in Melbourne by Dr Mike Trubetskov.”

Is the release accompanied with a music video?

“Yes, there is a music video with the song. I create all my own music videos and they can be found on the Distant Emperor YouTube channel. I make the video to visually enhance the music and display the lyrics so the listener can follow what is being said and derive their own interpretations from the song.”

Is there a story behind the cover artwork?

“I do all my own artwork. It is inspired by the sound of the word “quark” which is also associated with the sounds that ravens make (quark, croak, caw) which also gets a mention in the song.”

‘Living Our Way’ is out 11th August. A pre-save is available here.