Empire Circus: The Dublin alt-rock band talk getting things right on album No. 2

David Walsh is the first to admit that he never foresaw Empire Circus making another album, and he’s not shy about admitting it.

Following the break-up of Stand – the Dublin-based rock group who always seemed to simmer below the surface of the music world during the ‘00s – David Walsh and three other members of that band formed Empire Circus in 2011. Their debut album came, inauspiciously, two years later.

“We were very sporadic with how we made that album,” David admits. “It was bits and bobs. There was no focus with it – it lacked direction.” In the years that followed that album’s release, David and his fellow band members set up Pure Music, a music school in Baldonnell. Empire Circus would’ve played together every so often, but plans were never laid for album number two.

“I was writing songs, not knowing whether I was writing them for myself, not knowing what was going to happen,” says David. “I can’t sing songs to save my life. Like I say, we weren’t sure whether we were going to continue or not. But with these songs, we felt excited. They had direction and focus. When we recorded one of them in New York [working with Bryce Goggins, producer for Pavement and Ramones], it felt like something different and new for us. It was like we found our sound – I know that sounds a bit Spinal Tap-y – but it was like we found a sound we were comfortable with.”

The songs were written by David without him ever knowing where they would end up. This sort of privacy allowed him to be completely honest with himself.

“I was writing honestly about my life experiences, whereas before I might not have been comfortable doing that with a band. It’s really the story of a person at my stage of life.”

What does he mean by his “stage of life”?

“Well, I’m married now and I’m a parent of three young children,” he explains. “I’m at that point where you’re close enough to your youth to still feel like that’s part of you, but you’re also a step closer to your latter years. You’re right in the middle, where you’re just contemplating your future and your past.”

After recording a handful of songs in New York, the band returned to Dublin to finish the album off with Gavin Glass, who helped them find a refreshing originality to their music, something they’d thought they were too long in the tooth for.

And aside from the personal elements of the songwriting, many of these songs tackle social and political topics. How did that seep into the writing?

“Again, maybe it’s my stage in life with children and all, but I’ve suddenly become very aware of my place in the world and the harm that we’re doing to it. When you’re younger, you’re told these things and you think, ‘Ah, sure what bad can happen really?’ Then as you get older, you become much more aware of the damage that we’re doing to the planet and – I don’t want to sound like Sting here! – but you know, that’s why I wrote the song ‘We March On Into The Night’ for this album. It’s about the legacy we leave behind for our children.”

Evidently more reflective with his years of experience, I ask David whether he finds it more or less difficult being a musician in this day and age.

“I think in one way it’s very tough because there’s so many bands and there are very few people to help you,” he says. “You know how it was a few years ago where you’re a breaking band and you’re looking to get that deal? That’s so much harder. Things have changed so much. But then when you look at it, an independent band can do loads for themselves now. When we started up, distribution was the biggest problem. But now with the click of a few switches you’re all over the world. Your music is everywhere. That’s really amazing.”

Tí is out now.