20th June 2020

Exclusive Interview: From Once We Came talk “Origami”!

We’ve been following London Metallers From Once We Came since we chanced upon them as they joined Faces Of Eve in supporting Eindhoven Netherlands DIY Metalcore act The Royal at The Black Heart in Camden back in April 2018. Blown away by their ferocious, high energy live set we’ve been streaming the one track they had out at that point “No Call Backs” on a regular basis, keeping an eye out for updates on their debut, long in the gestation, full length album. Now it has appeared, safe to say it’s a gem that need to be heard and if you want the full SP, check it out while reading our review! We were lucky enough to be granted an audience with guitarist David Silver to chat about “Origami” and this is what he said;

You’ve got a reputation as being a live force to be reckoned with so how did you find capturing your live energy for the album? “We definitely wanted our live energy to come through on our debut album and live up to the expectation of our live shows. James Burton has done an amazing job of capturing the essence of our energy and emotion portrayed on every song throughout the album. From the harsh in your face approach to the softer side of From Once We Came. We are very happy with the final results and hearing those songs come to life”

You originally recorded with him for the “No Call Back” single in 2017 with James Burton at Hoffen Productions, so what was it like returning to him for the album itself? How did you find working with him? “James is a good friend of ours and we’ve known him for a few years now. So returning for the album was a decision we’d already made after the release of ‘No Call Back’ back in 2017. James has been a pleasure to work with and really brought the best out of each of us on the album. He has his own style of working which makes for a very chilled but productive environment. We started the process with him in 2018 where originally we were going to record an EP but decided to turn it into an album after recording the first couple of songs. So we took the time to not rush the album process and finely tweak all the songs until we were 100% happy with them”

Obviously there was a 3 year gap between the “No Call Back” single and “Origami“, so was it ever in your minds not to include the track on the album and just to leave it as a standalone single? “It was something we considered but we decided to include it on the album, we re-recorded and updated it slightly from the original. As our debut single we wanted to include it within the collection for the debut album as a reminder of where we had come from. Especially as the concept of the album is made up of real life experiences we’ve had. Starting at the beginning of these experiences with “Cowardice” telling a story leading up to the conception of the band which concludes with the last track “From Once We Came”. The reason we chose the album name “Origami” is because each one of these experiences is like a fold in a piece of origami, helping to shape what we have become.

It has to be said, your guitar tone is seriously good – what gear are you using to achieve it and how did you settle upon that sound? “Thank you. This is what every guitarist wants to hear! For our studio sound it was James Burton that worked his magic to get that seriously saucy tone you hear throughout the album. For live shows I use a Kemper amp and profiles from Jigsaw Audio, which are the best profiles I’ve come across by far. It’s taken a lot of years of tone searching to finally get to where I’m at now with our sound. Over the years I’ve used many amps from a Orange Rockerverb, to a Laney Ironheart and finally settled on a Kemper amp and haven’t looked back since. Also being the only guitarist in the band I wanted a distinct sound that stood out and didn’t get lost in the mix.”

There are a few songs which take a risk, particularly “Lost In Thought” which pours out a broken heart. Did you think twice about taking the courage to showcase some softer sides to From Once We Came? What has the reaction been like to that song in particular? “We’ve never been afraid to show a more vulnerable side to the band and talk about hard subjects which you will hear throughout the album. In fact this is something we very much wanted to come across in our sound, which is a combination of heavy and melodic which showcases emotional ups and downs in musical form. I’m glad you picked the song “Lost In Thought” as this is one of my favourites. Our vocalist Thomas Smith done an amazing job on the lyrics for this song. The song is actually about addiction but written as a love song, portraying the inner turmoil of addiction and highlighting the struggle of getting off them and saying goodbye. When I first heard the lyrics I was instantly hooked and thought it was a great approach he’d taken on this as it was so different from anything else we have written in the past. Pushing the boundaries of where we could take our sound and song writing. Music has allowed us to Tackle difficult issues and subjects, we always endeavour to put a positive spin of how we tackled them and have come through the other side. The songs help us to stay strong through the hardships we all have to face in life. Also the songs and playing gives us an outlet to for this feelings. For me personally playing guitar and writing music has always poured from my emotions and has a healing effect for my soul. So know you are not alone out there if you are struggling and most importantly don’t give up.”

When it came to writing the album, what were the influences on it and have they changed over the time you’ve been together as a band? “Our main influences as a band have been a crossover of old and new. Taking sounds from our roots of what we grew up on and combining them with a more modern sound. With people saying we have a Hatebreed kind of sound with a hint of Meshuggah and Parkway Drive influences. I personally enjoy a lot of techy metalcore bands such as Currents, Volumes and Kingdom Of Giants which come through in my playing style and sound. I also have a great appreciation for all the bands I grew up on for instance Pantera, Killswitch Engage and Lamb Of God but also discovering new bands arriving on the scene and evolving the genre of metal. Our sound as a band has definitely evolved throughout the years through these influences and finding our own style within too. We are excited to see where our sounds goes to next and we are in the process of writing for a competition we won with Inner Sound Recordings and Mind Art Visual for a free single and music video. So watch this space for more!”

There are no guests on the record so if you could get someone to appear on one of your tracks next time around, who would it be and why? “Ah we actually had guest vocals from James Burton on the album. He features on “Origami Figurines” and “Lost In Thought” with his clean vocals. Which sound absolutely great on the album. If we could have someone to feature be great to have Michael Barr from Volumes, his distinct bark and amazing cleans would be amazing to feature on a From Once We Came track”.