They'd gone through over a dozen identities in their time together, but as Emblem3, they felt they'd found something permanent. It's also the question that has led the youthful three from small Sequim, WA to the brink of Hollywood glory. Music has always meant more to them than just a radio tune or a tool to market a product.
Their lives were transformed by music. Their lives were saved through music. And music offered them a new life, the one they had always desired. Their lifelong friendship has already proven to be more eventful and significant than bands a decade their senior. The Emblem3 tale begins in Sequim, Washington, about three hours north of Seattle.
Drew and Wesley were leading parallel lives despite being separated by a grade: each was the quarterback for their own football teams and played guitar in different bands. Despite their similarities, they were once adversaries.
“We genuinely didn't like each other,” Wesley admits, “but the whole time, we pondered 'what if we were friends?'" Meanwhile, the younger Keaton was already a home recording prodigy, sitting in on Wesley and Drew's sessions. They weren't ready to let Keaton join the band as a 9-year-old, but these early rehearsals would prove important in forging the relationships.
Music took precedence over everything while they were barely out of their teens, and Drew spent his high school years traveling up and down the West Coast. His difficulties sparked a massive artistic and spiritual transformation.
“I suddenly had this revelation; why was I trying to be stupid when I had this universe full of possibilities?” Drew began creating poetry in the style of raps, inspired by Eminem, and would put his abilities to the test at parties and events.
His favorite phrase, "I like my women like I like my juice – nude," wound up in the first song they composed, "Sunset Blvd," when they realized they had something genuinely unique. Drew eventually took a leap of faith and relocated to California to join Wesley. Emblem3 began to take shape in every aspect in Huntington Beach and Long Beach.
Drew and Wesley became heavily involved in the local extreme sports scene, learning to surf and snowboard. They challenged one other to try singing and rapping. Keaton was eventually convinced that he needed to go to California and join his pals while enrolling at a local art school after seeing the possibilities of what Drew and Wesley were accomplishing.
Similarly, the music was beginning to reflect their journey: each of the three members had become skilled multi-instrumentalists capable of synthesizing the melodic and emotional tenets of pop while incorporating Drew and Wesley's raps, Keaton's growing proficiency with ProTools, and the influence of Long Beach's legendary Sublime.
They had won the top prize in Rock N' Road's Orange County Battle of the Bands and were performing to adoring crowds all over the Sunset Strip. But the ambitious three knew they needed a larger break as they stared at a blank white board and their diminishing financial reserves.
They were handed one when they auditioned for The X Factor, where they stunned Simon Cowell with their original rendition of "Sunset Blvd." However, as Emblem3 proceeded through the show's procedure, they felt misunderstood and shaped - as three young guys who could readily be seen in adolescent magazines, Emblem3 could easily feel the push for them to be regarded as a "boy band." Their refusal to compromise may have cost them in the near term, since they did not make it to the finals of X Factor.
However, with 15 million YouTube views and an international audience, they were unquestionably the show's breakout band. They signed with Syco Music and Columbia Records, and their debut was executive produced by award-winning composer and producer Savan Kotecha (Maroon 5, Usher, One Direction). It is both a celebration and a conclusion of their long and difficult journey.
They begin off their highly anticipated "Goin' Back 2 Cali" tour in April, a series of free, fan-driven performances that are literally "by popular demand." The Stromberg brothers and Chadwick collaborated with a virtual dream squad of famous composers, including Joel Madden of Good Charlotte, Jack Antonoff of Grammy-award winners fun., Nicki Minaj, and Ke$ha collaborator Kool Kojak, to bring their creative vision to life.
Emblem3 demonstrate their remarkable versatility as avid listeners and real polyglots in uplifting, inspiring, and catchy tunes such as "XOXO," "Just For One Day," and lead single "Chloe (You're The One That I Want)." Working with the industry's top songwriters, though, has not daunted Emblem3, especially given how far they've come.
“Sometimes, we're with these incredible songwriters and they want us to bounce ideas off of them,” Drew says. There was nothing planned at all. That's how we came up with the name 'Chloe.'" It's appropriate: nothing has ever been planned for Emblem3, and things always seem to take an unexpected turn. However, it always ends up at the correct location.
