I Am Empire is an American

rock band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

from

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

. Formed in 2008, the band currently consists of Austin Lyons (lead vocals) and Joshua Case (bass and vocals). The band's first label release, ''Kings'', was released by

Tooth & Nail Records Tooth & Nail Records is a Christian rock record label founded by Brandon Ebel in California in November 1993. The label later moved to Seattle, Washington where it is situated today. It is home to many well-known musical acts, including Underoat ...

on January 25, 2011 and has since made ''Billboards

Top Christian Albums Top Christian Albums is a weekly chart published in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the best-performing Christian albums in the United States. Like the ''Billboard'' 200, the data is compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly ...

and

Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers are "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new an ...

charts.

History

The band originally went by the name Vespera, but after unsuccessful touring, two member departures, and legal threats from another band with the same name, they took the name I Am Empire in August 2008. Following the name change, the band independently released a self-titled album, ''I Am Empire'', in April 2009. While the album itself did not chart, its two singles, "You're A Fake" and "The Elevator", peaked at No. 15 and No. 11 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

/ R&R's Christian Rock chart. They toured through the remainder of 2009 and toured in 2010 including an appearance at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

. Features on AOL.com, KingsofA&R, and Myspace Music, garnered the attention of

. The band was signed to Tooth & Nail Records in May 2010, on which they released their second album, ''Kings'', on January 25, 2011. It went on to make Billboard's

and

charts, peaking at No. 35 and No. 40 respectively. In support of Kings, I Am Empire has toured with Emery,

Brian "Head" Welch Brian Philip Welch (born June 19, 1970), also known by his stage name Head, is an American musician. He is one of the guitarists and founding member of the nu metal band Korn and his solo project Love and Death, where he also provides vocals. ...

Project 86 Project 86 is an American metal band from Orange County, California, formed in 1996. The band has released ten albums, which have collectively sold nearly 500,000 units worldwide, two EPs, two DVDs, and one live album. In 1998, BEC Recordings ...

The Letter Black The Letter Black, formerly known as Breaking the Silence, is an American Christian rock band that was formed in 2006 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. The band consists of lead vocalist Sarah Anthony; her husband, lead guitarist and vocalist Mark Ant ...

Icon for Hire Icon for Hire is an American rock band from Decatur, Illinois. Formed in 2007, the band's current lineup consists of singer Ariel Bloomer and lead guitarist Shawn Jump. They released two EPs independently before signing to Tooth & Nail Records ...

and Children 18:3, as well as headlining the "Kings and Queens Tour" with support from

Nine Lashes Nine Lashes is an American Christian rock band from Birmingham, Alabama formed in 2006. They independently released their first album, '' Escape'', in 2009 before Trevor McNevan of Thousand Foot Krutch brought them to the attention of Tooth & N ...

and Blood and Water. In December 2011, I Am Empire performed at Christmas Rock Night 2011 in Ennepetal, Germany. On June 7, 2012, drummer Eric Martin officially announced via a blog post on Tooth & Nail's website that the band was recording their second album with producer

Brian McTernan Brian McTernan is an American musician and record producer from Baltimore, Maryland. McTernan was the lead vocalist in the hardcore punk band Battery, the guitarist in Ashes, and is the singer in Be Well. In 2009, he was named one of "the 50 m ...

at his Salad Days Studio in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The new album, ''Anchors'' was released on March 26, 2013. Andrew Stanton, the lead guitarist, left I Am Empire to play with the band

Disciple A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...

. Eric Martin, the band's drummer, left in 2013 to play with the band Talkie. In 2020, I Am Empire released an EP, ''Another Man's Treasure'', recorded during the '' Anchors'' sessions but never before released, featuring three new songs, "Airwaves", "Clever Nightmare", and "On a Rainy Sunday", as well as acoustic renditions of "You're a Fake" and "Foxhole".

Band members

;Current * Austin Lyons (2008-present) - lead vocals * Joshua Case (2008--present) - bass guitar, backing vocals ;Former * Eric Martin (Talkie)(2008--2013) - drums * Dan Otis (2008--2011) - guitar * Andrew Stanton (

)(2008--2013) - guitar

Discography

;Albums ;EPs ;Singles ;Music Videos

References

External links

I Am Empire
on Myspace
I Am Empire
on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2008 Musical groups from San Jose, California Alternative rock groups from California American post-hardcore musical groups Emo musical groups from California Tooth & Nail Records artists