MPF2025 FIRST TIMER SPOTLIGHT: THE EMPTY PAGE
For Kel and Giz of The Empty Page, this feels like it’s been a long time coming. The two have been playing in bands for many, many years, and The Empty Page began life as a covers band (with drummer Jim) playing the music they loved: “Sonic Youth, the Pixies, a bit of Radiohead…just a mix of cool arty punk stuff, really”. The ambition? Fun. “When you’re in a band for a long time, you get bogged down with the idea of achieving something. We just wanted to remember it’s fun to play music…” Kel grins before continuing “And…you know, bass players are dicks. So I learnt to play the bass – the fewer people there are in a band, the less chance there is you’re not going to be able to do that tour, or gig, or whatever.”
With that admittedly persuasive mission statement thundering in their ears, Kel, Giz and Jim pretty much set about world domination. It wasn’t going badly either – debut album Unfolding was recorded in far-flung Vancouver with eminent producer Garth Richardson, and they received strong radio play both from BBC Introducing and local BBC stations. They even made it to BBC Radio 1, and with a strong recommendation from Lauren Mayberry, sometime of Chvrches (“We’re happy to have them on tour with us!” smiles Kel), and now of solo stock, behind them the arrow was undoubtedly pointing up for The Empty Page.
A Difficult Chapter
Like many bands, though, it has been occasionally up and down, not least in the difficult and bumpy last few years. Not that this seems to affect either Giz or Kel, both of whom give off an easy charm and extremely chilled vibe throughout the conversation – but the unfortunate departure of drummer Jim due to health issues somewhat stalled their runaway momentum, and while they still produced excellent music, including their second album Imploding, released last year, there’s a strong sense of desire to get the train rolling forward at full speed again.
Fortunately, playing MPF should help with this – as a Manchester band, they’ve always desired to be a big deal in their hometown first. As Kel picks up, “To see loads of people in the audience who are not just, you know, your mates and your mum…but people that have come to see you because they really like your music and they’re singing along…that’s the best thing that can possibly happen.”
Finishing The Story
The sense of excitement to play this hometown festival is palpable – Giz probably sums it up best when he says: “Even though we’re not like a typical kind of punk band, we’ve got a real kind of punk attitude to us and what we do. And I think it’ll cross over really well to that kind of audience.”
I agree – I can’t see the audience appreciation index being an issue for The Empty Page coming into Manchester Punk Festival – they’ve found some stability in their backbeat, and as such, are not only able to ground themselves and being able to play almost every incendiary punk song they’ve laid down over their fantastic career so far, but they find themselves looking forward to the future with renewed vigour as well. “We’ve been able to, recently, play some songs that we’ve not played for years, because we’ve had a drummer who can rehearse with us regularly”, says Kel. “It feels really nice to be playing old songs that we’ve not played for so long…it feels almost like they’re new songs.”
Both Giz and Kel promise a set of The Empty Page’s best known work at MPF, but are also hinting at potential surprises, and even some new material, as they’ll seek to enter the studio again in the second half of the year. One thing is for sure – they’ll be hometown crowd pleasers from the off. Whether it’s the building menace of 2019’s He’s Very Good At Swimming or Medication Nation, the band’s recent ode (from 2024’s aforementioned Imploding) to dealing with mental health in a fucked-up world, these guys not only know how to craft a tune, but spit it out with fire too. While they no longer play covers of the bands that inspire them, it’s not hard to hear elements of both the Pixies and the cacophony of the likes of Sonic Youth in their sound, and it should make for a truly spectacular show.
My advice? Go grab one of their vinyls (maybe the increasingly-rarer Splatter edition) of Imploding, settle into their sound, and get ready for a party on Easter weekend.
Stay punk x
The Empty Page will play YES Basement on Saturday 19th April at 14:30pm.
Make sure you download the MPF2025 app to find out when all bands are playing – woov.to/manchesterpunk25
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