Empty Ensemble

Eponymous 4 first formed in 1999, but it didn’t really get traction till 2005. And when it did, the moniker became the catch-all for every musical thing I did. Rock songs ripping off Japanese punk bands? Sure. Pop songs ripping off Duran Duran? Absolutely. A string quartet imitating Dmitri Shostakovich and Samuel Barber? Fair game.

It’s many years later, and while the popular music work of Eponymous 4 inches closer to completion, some of the more classically-minded stuff just sat in limbo. I labeled them as Eponymous 4 projects, but were they really? I’ve been working as Eponymous 4 for a while now, and honestly, I’m kind of tired of it. Or rather, Eponymous 4 has hit a wall.

The urge to create a new identity has been creeping into my consciousness bit by bit, and now, it’s finally happened.

Welcome Empty Ensemble.

The name Empty Orchestra was already taken by a band in Michigan, who were also inspired by the term “karaoke”, which itself is an abbreviation of “kara ohkesutora” (空オーケストラ). But I’m not an orchestra, and while I won’t rule out that possibility in the future, I wouldn’t mind being an ensemble — an Empty Ensemble. It’s also a literal description — there are no members in this ensemble. Just a sample library.

And someone trying to coax some humanity out of a machine.