Sneaky muso speaks out on Empire of the Sun allegations

“I created these tracks, on my own in 2005, long before Empire of the Sun existed… Musically, the template for Empire of the Sun is mine. They pulled the rug from under my feet and took my sound.” So says Sneaky Sound System musician and producer Donnie Sloan, who’s spoken out to the media with allegations, in the latest round of bad press for the hyper-successful duo of Nick Littlemore and Luke Steele.

Sloan told the Herald Sun this week that he had initially written We Are The People, Walking on a Dream, Half Mast and Without You for a solo album, and had passed them over to Littlemore for remix consideration. “I told Nick I didn’t want him to use the tracks. I was hoping to save them for my own project,” Sloan says. Two years later the songs surfaced when Littlemore and Steele formed Empire of the Sun, with Sloan eventually receiving credit as a co-writer and producer on the songs.

“They were trying to copy and recreate my music,” he claims. “This would have, in effect, left me with nothing. So my hand was forced into allowing them to use the backing tracks.” Sloan says it never got to the legal stage. “But I had to threaten it in order for them to recognise my contribution.”

Update – The following statement was released by Donnie Sloan following publication:

ME AND EMPIRE OF THE SUN

For anyone who may have read any recent press regarding my involvement with Empire Of The Sun I would like to make it absolutely clear that I am very happy with my credits and thank you on the album art. Any statements to the contrary have been taken out of context. I enjoy a great working relationship with Empire of the Sun and we’re all very excited about continuing this especially in the form of the second Empire LP. – Donnie