Seeking Empire
Jan 2012
Who are you?
Nikki Aclaro.
And I’m Phil Pristia.
Where do you live?
Phil Pristia: Oakland, California.
Nikki Aclaro: San Francisco, California.
What do you do?
NA: I sing for Seeking Empire.
PP: Rhythm/lead guitar and back-up vox for Seeking Empire.
When did you start?
PP: When I was 12, I found my dad’s guitar and it was over from there.
NA: I started singing in early 2001. I was a guitarist before then, but I’d always wanted to sing.
How was your first show/performance?
NA: I was really nervous, but excited—we sold out the venue! It was awesome to share that first experience with a lot of our close friends and fans. I couldn’t keep still the whole night. I was stoked!
PP: I was so nervous that I didn’t move from my spot and my hands locked up—my friends thought I was a statue. [laughs]
What would you like to gain from your work?
PP: To make music for a living and see the world, hopefully…
NA: To inspire others, and to continue making and playing music till the day I die.
What would you like your audience to gain from your work?
NA: The inspiration to sing songs, dance, rock out and just let go: To feel that freedom most of us forget about when we get caught up in our day-to-day routines.
PP: I’d like for them to interpret the music in whatever way they like. All that matters to me is that they enjoy themselves.
Who or what are your biggest influences?
PP: I would say the Deftones, Dave Grohl (he keeps the rock dream alive), Tim Kasher and Jim Ward.
NA: My parents are the biggest. They’ve been working musicians my whole life, and I’ve seen all the triumphs and struggles they’ve gone through. I admire their passion for music. As for artists: Ella Fitzgerald, Heart, Queen, David Bowie, Opeth, Pixies, Joe Pass, Deftones and Little Dragon are a few that’re in my current playlist rotation. It changes all the time; next week it could be a whole different mix.
What keeps you up at night?
NA: Being in the studio writing, playing, and singing for hours on end—time just flies by when I’m in there.
PP: Ideas for songs.
What’s next?
PP: Continue writing music, more shows and hitting the recording studio soon.
NA: We play our third show at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco on January 21, 2012, with some great local bands! We’ve also got some cool video releases coming soon—all done by http://ajapopfilms.com—as well! And we’re currently writing new songs. Check us out at our site and pick up our new EP that just dropped (it’s free to download). Say hi to us, we’d love it!
Update Required
To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.
