Emblem3: Artists In Music Awards Feature of the Week

Written by Maverick Hatch

Three childhood friends + a saxophone + percussion = Emblem3. In order, Drew, Wesley, and Keaton go way back while Kyle and Kenny are recently new members of the band adding the missing pieces that now make up Emblem3’s distinct sound.

I was given the go ahead to find a band, who was up for an award, that appealed to me – these guys are it. Sure there have been bands with a similar sound in the past but these guys do it right. Their hooks are perfect especially in their song “Sunset Blvd” that I’ve been humming for the past couple weeks.

Coming off a fresh win at the Orange County Battle of the Bands, Emblem3 looks to walk away with at least one award (they’re nominated in two categories) at the 2012 Artists In Music Awards.

Two nominations, "Best Rock Artist" and "Best Alternative Artist" at the 2012 Artists In Music Awards, tell us how you feel about that?

Honestly, We’re super stoked to be a part of all this and happy that people enjoy our new sound enough to nominate us. It’s basically a dream come true!

Have you ever been nominated for an award before, if so, what was it?
Our first show we played together as Emblem3, we won the Orange County Battle of the Bands at the Block in Orange. It was such a sick experience!

How did you hear about the Artists In Music Awards?
A website called ReverbNation has been super beneficial in providing opportunities for New artists like whom!

You are currently in the running to perform at the award ceremony in Hollywood, CA on February 10, 2012. How optimistic are you that you guys will be selected?
We believe in our art and we feel very confident about it!

If selected to play live, which two songs will you play?
We know one for sure, which is "Sunset Blvd!" Odds are we’ll end up playing ‘rock, paper, scissors’ to figure what other song to play! We’re constantly writing new music so it’s impossible to choose, [we] wish we could play more!

Have you listened to some of your competition's music, what do you think?
Yes we’ve checked them out! We feel super happy to have such a unique, distinct, positive sound that we believe sets us apart from all other nominees.

How did "Emblem" come to be, the band and the name?
Drew Chadwick (Hip-Hop vocals & lead guitar), Wesley Stromberg (Vocals and rhythm Guitar) and Keaton Stromberg (vocals & Bass), have been in band since we were 13, 11 & 9 so it’s been awhile for us. Very recently our destiny’s intertwined with Kenny Galbraith (Percussion) & Kyle Miner (Saxophone) who hugely participate in [our unique] sound.

As for the band name, we had gone through trillions of different names and it finally got to the point of "alright seriously, this is getting ridiculous now." So we had a little gathering and decided that we needed a name that was some kind of emblem to describe who we are. Now, as versatile artists, we couldn't put our fingers on such a label except for the word emblem. Thus, the one word that came to be was Emblem3. It’s a symbol that can rep any and everything! We threw the three on because at that point in time there were only three core members! Whew!

How many albums have you released, if more then one, which is your favorite?
None so far but thanks to the grand prize of the O.C comp, we have a couple free recording sessions at Westlake studios. We’ll have our first E.P out soon enough for everybody to bump in their cars.

Would you recommend other artists to enter this awards show?
Why not! It’s another chance to play music and make people happy! That’s what we musicians live to do!

Where can readers find more of your music and music videos?
Well, we’re really big on Mars right now so....... :) But seriously we’re all across the web on such websites as:
Youtube
Bandcamp
Reverbnation
Facebook
Sound-cloud

Lastly, what are you looking forward to most at the Artists In Music Awards?
Sharing our music with appreciative fans that love the beauty of art and shares the same passion for sound that we have! Also, to boost our following and create potential career opportunities in the music industry!