Who is Empyrean Lights
Interview conducted on May 5, 2019
by Dan Locke
Empyrean Lights is the musical outpouring of, Daniel Andrews, Krysta Sudderth and Melissa Cameron, three talented musicians and best buds. Daniel and Krysta originally came together in the Summer of 2014 with the desire to write music together. Having previously worked together in
IWrestledABearOnce, the two friends recorded a few rough tracks but were forced to put things on hold but were determined to finish what they started. At the start of 2018, the two reunited and returned to the drawing board. They added Krysta’s sister, Melissa, as a third member and with that, Empyrean Lights was born. After completion of their first single, “Sons of the Sorcerer”, Empyrean Lights signed to Revival Records.
Dan Locke: How was the band formed?
Empyrean Lights: Krysta and Melissa are sisters and played in two bands together before IWrestledABearOnce. Then, with Daniel being a part of IWABO, the three of us developed a close friendship through touring together with IWrestledABearOnce.
This band developed around some music that Daniel had written and needed vocals for, so he asked Krysta to try and do something with it. The two kept working and refining their ideas until they decided to take it to the next level and actually try to release the songs in a professional way.
How did you come up with your name?
The name has gone through a couple revisions over the years. The original name was “The Last Empress” and after a while, we changed it to, “Empress”. When we came back together last year, we discovered that another band was using that name, so we began to brainstorm. We liked the way “Empress” sounded, so we started there and stumbled upon the word “Empyrean”, which means “Relating to heaven or the sky.” I felt like it should be a two-word name, so we added “Lights” to it and “Empyrean Lights” stuck.
How do you define your new band?
A little bit of this, a little bit of that, a little bit of this….and sprinkle in a little bit of that for good measure.
How long did it take to record the new music?
Recording this music has been a roller coaster ride. It has taken quite a while to finish up the material we have. In fact, I could not be prouder of this band because we have dealt with and overcome so much adversity to get to this point.
Tell me about your new release “Sons of the Sorcerer”?
After putting so much time and effort into this song, it has been very encouraging to see such a positive response.
How did your crowdfunding project to replace your hard drive go?
Being that I don’t have much of a following, I felt like it went great! I didn’t expect much, to be honest, but was pleasantly surprised! The people that donated were super supportive and continue to be active supporters to this day.
I see you did not get what you wanted. But did you replace it?
With the money that we raised (and some borrowed money from my family ha!) I did replace the drive and have been rocking ever since!
And how did it break?
It exploded. (meteors hit it) =)
Since you had the other band before how has touring changed?
With Empyrean Lights, we have no IMMEDIATE plans of “touring” or even playing live.
We believe that, through Empyrean Lights, we have a chance to do things that are not “typical” or “normal”. Our first priority is to create and release music that comes from within each of us and moves us in one way or another. We will be drip releasing singles, as they are completed, throughout this year.
Our second priority is to create unique, interesting and meaningful ways of having interactions with our fans that don’t involve us going on tour. With that being said, however, we recognize that live shows are an essential means of connecting with our fans and will be exploring live performance options later this year.
What do fans of IWRESTLEDABEARONCE think of the new band?
We have received an overwhelmingly positive response to this new project and to our first single.
Krysta, did you do a movie back in 2012?
Yes.
How do you see your band in 5 years?
No clue. I hope that we are still making great music together and are actually playing some live shows as well. =)
Anything in closing?
Thank you for giving us this opportunity to do this interview and being patient with how long it has taken to get our responses back to you.
