Empire Of The Sun’s Nick Littlemore Addresses Their History Of Cultural Appropriation
"I'd hate to think we ever offended anyone, we've only ever tried to express unity and create a magical world."
Empire of the Sun member Nick Littlemore has spoken out about the band’s past outfits and aesthetic, saying he “would not wear those same costumes” nowadays.
Littlemore, who started the band in 2007 alongside Perth musician Luke Steele, told The Age that their aesthetic, which incorporated Native American headdresses and clothing, was definitely drawn from cultures across the world.
“There’s no denying the inspiration of other cultures that were woven into the first album. We shot music videos in China and Mexico and their cultures certainly carried the visual narrative from the landscapes, cityscapes and costumes,” Littlemore told The Age’s Robert Moran. “I’ve also personally always had a love of psychedelia and dream states which traditionally belong to shamanic cultures.”
Littlemore, who also helms PNAU, went on to say that society has progressed, and has “learned a lot over the years about the sensitivity of using other cultural identities to drive their own projects.”
“It’s important to listen to these voices and I do support them,” Littlemore continued. “It wasn’t ever the motivation behind Empire, however today I would not wear those same costumes as I did 13 years ago. I’d hate to think we ever offended anyone, we’ve only ever tried to express unity and create a magical world.”
His comments follow the uproar over a recent image of Adele wearing a Jamaican flag bikini with bantu knots in her hair, kickstarting another discussion over cultural appropriation by white artists in music.
Littlemore has recently stated that Empire of the Sun have been recording a stack of new music. As reported by NME, he told The Green Room Podcast with Neil Griffiths that he and Steele had done “a lot of work” on an album, which would be the followup to 2016’s Two Vines.
“We went to Japan a few times and made some really interesting recordings out there and then we worked back here in LA,” Littlemore said, but refused to give a specific release date.
“I don’t know, I can’t really say for sure,” he said. “We’ve got some really good music. We’ll just see, but it’s a strange time.”
Photo Credit: Sequoia Emmanuelle