Last October 2008, brought with it the 20-year anniversary of The Empire Hideous.
It came and went in the blink of an eye. And I must have blinked. Unfortunately,
I didn’t have any band members or a band of any sort, pieced together to play a 20-year
anniversary show, or I would have. Perhaps in another 20 years I may be so fortunate.
As some of you may already know, I am currently in the process of recording music for the last
Empire Hideous album. This will be thee very last album released from the band. Though I would
love to continue making music and (most of all) continue performing, I simply can’t keep Empire
Hideous afloat anymore as a result of both finance and constantly having to seek new musicians
every few months. After all the time I spent doing The Empire Hideous, I realize circumstances
like that shouldn’t happen as frequently as they did and quite frankly, it exhausted me to the
point of frustration. Perhaps somewhere in the future I may find myself in another band with
musicians that don’t necessarily mind doing what needs to be done when working together in a
band. Under the current circumstances, all the music on this upcoming album will consist of songs
written, produced, programmed and performed entirely by myself and guitarist Johnny Nickel.
Johnny was a member of Empire Hideous in 2004 and will be engineering, co-producing, programming
and performing the music on the album with me.
As I am typically behind schedule on this album, I’m not in the least bit typically surprised that
it’s taking as long as it is to complete. This is due to the fact that I don’t have the necessary
funds available to pay for this project’s completion in a timely fashion. Doing everything myself
without a budget or a band is not exactly easy. Same ol’, same ol’. But I won’t bore you with the
nagging details. Though the idea of having a deadline to finish the album was a charming idea at the
time, the thought has evidently been trashed as we’ve already passed the album’s due date. Not having
any budget what so ever truly has an impact on the results of a project like this. Furthermore, the
creative process of producing an epic album is indeed a delicate and timely procedure in itself and
we all know that haste makes waste... I certainly wouldn’t show one of my paintings unless I knew it
was completed. The same principals indeed apply here for the completion of this album.
But not to worry, I’m here to tell you that the final Empire Hideous album is being worked on every week.
So far, the music for six songs has been recorded and another six to eight songs are waiting to be done.
Here is a list of song titles currently awaiting vocals:
“Pretty Faces”
“Stand Off”
“Dancing Dead Rhythms”
“Serpents Trance”
“Rise Of Cthulhu”
“Sahara”
To promote the release of the album, I will be posting a sound bite sample of one of the new tracks
on the Hideous web site for fans to check out before the album is released. This should take place
in less than one month from the writing of this newsletter.
In addition to new Hideous things coming out, production will begin in May 2009, for the making of a
DVD documentary that will feature yours truly, spanning my work as a musician in EMPIRE HIDEOUS,
THE MISFITS, SPY SOCIETY99, THE BRONX CASKET CO. and my work as both an artist and a writer.
This full-length, feature film is being shot, directed and produced by Pawl Bazile and will include
many different interviews from personalities in bands, art and the music industry.
Another addition to the list of new things coming out by summer 2009 will be a numerous selection of DVDs,
featuring performances never seen before of THE EMPIRE HIDEOUS (both new & old, sonic & acoustic), SS99
and performances of my tours with THE MISFITS in 1998. A list of all the shows available will be posted
in the MERCHANDISE link of the Empire Hideous web site by mid summer 2009.
I’d like to invite everyone who is interested in art go to the Horrible Artwork web site and take a
look at some of the designs that have recently been posted. There will be a 25% off sale on everything
available until the end of June 2009.
There are less than 10 remaining copies left of the book “King Of An Empire To The Shoes Of A Misfit,”
available for purchase ONLY from:
hideous777@yahoo.com.
They’re almost all gone, so if anyone is interested in buying one, then now is your very last chance to do so.
They’ve already resold as collector’s items at prices as high as $125 per copy. The last few (new) copies are
available for $50 (soft-cover) and $60 (hard-cover). *Shipping fees are included in the price.
Also, all Hideous T-shirt designs are available, as well as the rest of the Horrible Artwork designs
(ALL on long sleeve shirts ONLY). To view all the designs click on the MERCHANDISE link on The Empire Hideous
web site. ALL DESIGNS ARE ON SALE NOW FOR $25.00 EACH!! (Shipping fees apply.)
I am currently creating 10 new T-shirt designs that will be coming out very soon. Please stay tuned for further updates.
Thank you,
Very SINcerely Yours,
Myke Hideous