Austin is a city spoiled by quality punk rock bands. From Spray Paint to Ghetto Ghouls, Massageinist to Breakout, many of the rowdier bands that call the Texas capital home feature on 2015’s excellent [We Jam By Condos](http://monofonuspress.com/store/we-jam-by-condos compilation) compilation. One of the highlights of that comp was Empty Markets, a three piece led by Drew Schmitz, a musician who has done time in Brain Attack, Gremlins UK, Party Garbage and the Hex Dispensers.The band are set to release their debut LP Stainless Steel on local label 12XU and Drew just sent us through a video he produced for the title track.Watch below and read a brief interview with Drew.Noisey: I like the abstract imagery. It seems like machinery of some kind but you’re never quite sure.
Drew Schmitz: I wasn't really sure what it would end up looking like when I started but I knew I wanted it to be sort of, but not quite abstract. Once I got far enough along to narrow down the look and concept, a lot of it was just luck and time spent finding the right source material that could be manipulated to share that same vibe. I'm not even sure what some of the original clips are of exactly.You’ve played in a number of bands. Sound wise did you want Empty Markets to be different from the others?
I've never really set out to try to sound a certain way and probably don't have the sophistication or chops to accomplish it if I did. The main difference between this band and the others is that I do all the writing in Empty Markets. As a result this band is more densely guitar driven than Cruddy, the last band I fronted, where a lot of the songs were built around bass riffs. The drums are very different as well, but not really by design, just because of the stylistic difference between the two drummers. My only real qualification when choosing bandmates is they want to play what I write (or I want to play what they write), so the end result is more the outcome of an experiment than a plan.You are originally from Milwaukee. How does Milwaukee and Austin stack up band/music wise?
I've been in Austin for 10 years so I'm not exactly sure how the Milwaukee scene is doing these days. It was very happening back in the early-to-mid '00s. Austin is really a unique place as far as music goes, the size and scale of it on a per capita basis just has no comparison. There's a constant influx of new musicians which produces a constant churn of great bands. You don't get the lulls that smaller scenes experience. I do miss how in places like Milwaukee everything gets thrown together more and people don't have the luxury of being so discerning or dogmatic about what shows they'll go check out or what bands they'll put on a bill together. Every punk subgenre sort of has its own little separate scene here for better or worse.'Stainless Steel' will be available April 8 on 12XU records.
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Drew Schmitz: I wasn't really sure what it would end up looking like when I started but I knew I wanted it to be sort of, but not quite abstract. Once I got far enough along to narrow down the look and concept, a lot of it was just luck and time spent finding the right source material that could be manipulated to share that same vibe. I'm not even sure what some of the original clips are of exactly.You’ve played in a number of bands. Sound wise did you want Empty Markets to be different from the others?
I've never really set out to try to sound a certain way and probably don't have the sophistication or chops to accomplish it if I did. The main difference between this band and the others is that I do all the writing in Empty Markets. As a result this band is more densely guitar driven than Cruddy, the last band I fronted, where a lot of the songs were built around bass riffs. The drums are very different as well, but not really by design, just because of the stylistic difference between the two drummers. My only real qualification when choosing bandmates is they want to play what I write (or I want to play what they write), so the end result is more the outcome of an experiment than a plan.You are originally from Milwaukee. How does Milwaukee and Austin stack up band/music wise?
I've been in Austin for 10 years so I'm not exactly sure how the Milwaukee scene is doing these days. It was very happening back in the early-to-mid '00s. Austin is really a unique place as far as music goes, the size and scale of it on a per capita basis just has no comparison. There's a constant influx of new musicians which produces a constant churn of great bands. You don't get the lulls that smaller scenes experience. I do miss how in places like Milwaukee everything gets thrown together more and people don't have the luxury of being so discerning or dogmatic about what shows they'll go check out or what bands they'll put on a bill together. Every punk subgenre sort of has its own little separate scene here for better or worse.'Stainless Steel' will be available April 8 on 12XU records.