We are very excited to announce that Mr Mario Chrisanthou of Caroline Springs in Victoria will take the Chariot’s reins.

Congratulations to Mario and his family, and we will keep the Empire up to date with the journeys of the Chariot across the nation.

In the meanwhile, see you at the festivals!

Like to roll like Empire of the Sun royalty? Then buy a copy of the new Empire Special Edition of Walking On A Dream remixed and you could win their Chariot of the Sun.

Just tell us here why it should be yours and you’re in with a chance to win this ‘hotter than the sun’ customised beast of a Holden Sandman.

With awesome new remixes by Ben Watt, Sam La More and Shapeshifters, the new Empire of the Sun album sounds incredible. But it’s going to sound even better in your very own Chariot of the Sun. Enter now.

Emperor Steele will fly to London to attend the Awards ceremony on behalf of the band. Amongst the excitement about the nomination Emperor Steele said, “The dream was the king for this record and it is becoming wilder and wilder as the sandman keeps cooking. This is a great honour, we are walking on a dream. ”

If Empire Of The Sun win either of the Awards, they will be the first Australian band to win a BRIT Award since Crowded House in 1994; the only other Australian band to have previously won a BRIT Award was INXS. Outside of Kylie Minogue, no other Australian artist has won a BRIT Award in the past decade!

Last year’s winners of the International Album Award were Kings Of Leon and this year Empire Of The Sun are nominated alongside Jay-Z (on whose album Emperor Steele is a guest artist), Lady Gaga, Animal Collective and Black Eyed Peas.

Walking On A Dream has surpassed Gold sales in the UK (100,000 albums) and Empire Of The Sun are currently gearing up for a live assault on the UK/Europe summer festival season with dates soon to be announced.

In other exiting news, the esteemed Hype Machine has posted their Top 50 Artists of 2009 according to how frequently their songs were listed on the site.
50 visual artists were invited to create a new piece of work inspired by and including the band name. Empire of the Sun has come in at #21 with a gorgeous piece by Canadian screen-printer and designer Sandi Falconer of Dead Weight . Check out the artwork below:

Not only will you look great, by getting one you’ll be thrown into a draw to meet Empire backstage at your nearest Future Music Festival.

These limited Tees are available only at Jay Jays from 6th Jan till the 3rd Feb and there are loads of stores around so we’re sure you’ll find one.

Check out www.jayjays.com.au for a list of participating stores and how to enter.

A spectacular set design of blue pillars and an enormous sun surrounded the band and dancers as they performed to a very appreciative crowd. The performance ended in dramatic style with a shower of pyrotechnics.

Empire Of The Sun won the sought after:

• Awards for Album of the Year
• Single of the Year (Walking On A Dream)
• Best Group
• Best Pop Release

The Empire was represented by Luke Steele who thanked Nick Littlemore who plays a producing role in the band and who is currently overseas, Donnie Sloan who contributed to the creative on some tracks and Peter Mayes who engineered the album. Empire Of The Sun are taking their live show on the road with front man Luke Steele leading the charge surrounded by dancers and band members Anthony Mitolo and Surahn Sidhu.

Best Pop Release Award:

Best Group Award:

Single of the Year Award - Walking On A Dream:

Album of the Year Award - Walking On A Dream:

Check out more ARIA footage and photo galleries below:

Red carpet and awards photo galleries - SMH.com.au | ABC.net.au | News.com.au | Fox.com.au | AAP Images |
Red carpet and awards footage - Sky News | News.com.au (red carpet | backstage) | HeraldSun.com.au

AVAILABLE GLOBALLY
ORDER HERE.

Luke was unable to attend the awards ceremony due to upcoming touring commitments but recorded this brilliant acceptance speech played to all those in attendance.

Don’t forget to check out the Special Edition (2CD) version of Walking On A Dream available now and don’t miss the Empire perform live at next week’s ARIA Awards, Thursday November 26.

Luke will also appear on the special gatefold cover of the 2009 GQ Men of the Year Awards issue on sale November 25.

Go the Empire!

Emperor Luke Steele said from his home in Perth, “This record production was like quad chemistry, Mayes with the magic ear, Skittles, Sloan and Steele offering special ingredients. 4 scientists, 1 microscope, 1 formula.”

Also acknowledged were the creative visual team who work tirelessly alongside Empire Of The Sun to create and deliver the unique artwork and video clips that have become a synonymous part of the band’s image. Both Debaser and Mathematics have been part of The Empire family since the beginning and the stunning visuals they have created have taken on a life of their own and become almost as much of a talking point as the music itself.

Empire Of The Sun and those who work creatively with them were awarded in the following categories:

• Best Cover Art - Aaron Hayward & David Homer – Debaser
• Best Video - Walking On A Dream: Josh Logue - Mathematics
• Producer of the Year - Empire Of The Sun and Donnie Sloan with Peter Mayes

Empire Of The Sun will be the fourth act (following Block Party, Little Birdy and The Veronicas), in a series of intimate concerts that MasterCard is hosting exclusively for Debit MasterCard holders. This is an over 18’s event. To get hold of a Debit MasterCard contact Commonwealth Bank, Westpac or Bankwest and apply for your access to future Priceless Music experiences

Click through to the Mastercard website for some exclusive Empire Of The Sun wallpapers too!

Emperor Steele will perform at the awards at ACER Arena in Sydney, whilst (no doubt!) cleaning up at the awards with the Empire’s incredible eleven nominations. It’s gonna  be spectacular.

If you’ve missed Empire’s phenomenal live festival shows, you can witness this one-off performance up close and personal - more details at www.ariaawards.com.au/event-general-tix.php

2009 ARIA Awards
26 November 2009
Acer Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush
Telecast on Nine Network, 8.30pm, 26 November

A very special live red carpet broadcast will take place on MTV Australia from 7.30pm on 26 November,
followed by an encore screening from 4.30pm on 27 November.

GENERAL PUBLIC TICKETS:
Go on sale at 9am on Friday October 16, from www.ticketek.com.au
Arena Floor ‘Premium Plus’ – *$85
Main Concourse ‘Premium’ – *$70
Club Level ‘A reserve’ - *$70
*All prices include GST and booking fees, but transaction fees apply

Nominations include:

• Album of the Year – Walking On A Dream
• Single of the Year - Walking On A Dream
• Best Group
• Best Pop Release
• Highest Selling Album - Walking On A Dream
• Highest Selling Single - Walking On A Dream
• Producer of the Year - Empire Of The Sun and Donnie Sloan with Peter Mayes
• Best Video for Walking On A Dream - Josh Logue from Mathematics
• Best Video for We Are The People - Josh Logue from Mathematics
• Best Cover Art - Aaron Hayward & David Homer from Debaser
• Engineer of the Year - Peter Mayes

As ARIA observers reach for the record books it tops off a great 12 months for The Empire whose acclaimed debut Walking On A Dream album has surpassed 100,000 album sales in Australia and is on its way to Double Platinum, propelled by singles Walking On A Dream, We Are The People, Standing On The Shore and Without You.

Of the haul of nominations Emperor Luke Steele said, “This is wild, solid marks of recognition to the music. How can I explain, I’m talking to myself. I’m walking on a dream.”

But there’s more music to come!

On November 20 the Walking On A Dream special edition will be released both digitally and as a 2CD album. It includes the Walking On A Dream album on Disc 1 along with a new song Girl and live favourite Breakdown as part of the 12 bonus tracks on Disc 2. The track listing for Disc 2 is as follows –

1. Breakdown
2. Romance To Me
3. Walking On A Dream – Sam La More 12” Remix
4. Standing On The Shore – Losers Remix
5. We Are The People – Shapeshifters Vocal Mix
6. Without You (New Version)
7. Swordfish Hotkiss Night – Fron Mezza Remix
8. Standing On The Shore – Hey Today! Remix
9. Walking On A Dream – Ben Watt Remix
10. We Are The People – Shazam Remix
11. Girl
12. Etude

If you missed the Empire Of The Sun debut performances as Parklife toured the country with a feature film’s worth of visuals, dancing swordfish, pink guitars and more, fret not as the band has also today been announced as the very first headliner of the Future Music Festivals for 2010. The full Future Music Festival line up will be announced next Monday and tickets are on sale from Wednesday 21st October.