Awaken the Empire is Damien Lawson (vocals); Jaymz Martinez (bass); Rufus Wax  (guitar); Adam Robert (guitar).   How did you first get started? The band started out as Damien's solo project, and over the last year it evolved into the band.    How would you describe your sound? Alternative/Electronica meets Big Epic Movie Score.   From where do you draw inspiration for your music? Everywhere, relationships, other bands, movies, art, personal experiences.   Do you engage in, or draw inspiration from, any other forms of art? We get a lot of inspiration from movies and the way sound is used to build emotion in movie scores. Rufus does graphic design, Damien does a lot of illustration and design, and Adam is a TV and Film major.   What do you love most about what you do? The escape. Being able to lose ourselves in the music and affect other people.   From start to finish, explain your songwriting process; what does a typical music-making day look like for you? Damien typically comes to the band with a song where he has written the major chord progressions, structure, and vocals. The band as a whole then gets together and the song evolves from there. Rufus is really great at developing melodies that build on what's already there, and Jaymz is really great at shaping the energy and rhythm of the song. Adam is really new to the band, but we have confidence he will add a lot when the time comes.   Are there any specific reoccurring themes that you explore most in your music? Damien's lyrics tend to be very personal and relate to actual things that have happened to him, as opposed to being based from a preconceived concept.    Why showcase at RAW? Because RAW cares about artists, and we love that they work hard to push artistic collaboration. It's something that doesn't happen enough on its own.   When not making music, anything you enjoy doing? Everything, but we try to limit that as much as possible.    Any previous albums/shows/collaborations that you are most proud of?
Our first show as Awaken the Empire was at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles and it was really an amazing experience. The response we got from the crowd was ridiculous!   Any current rising stars within music that you would recommend we look out for? Oh No Not Stereo, Hexham Heads, Red Light Sky are some of our friends bands that are putting out some great music.