When you think of Metalcore, some associations might pop into your mind straight away. Maybe Warped Tour, maybe all the great bands from America that shaped the genre into what it is today. But of course not only the US has amazing bands to offer, Europe as well is home to new exciting artists all the time.
Today we want to shine light on the german band Future Palace, who are set to release their new album “Run” via Arising Empire on June 10th. The band is currently on tour with Annisokay throughout Europe and we asked them a few questions before hand. The questions are answered by their singer Maria.
Lost and Fading: Hey, thank you for taking the time! We are very happy to ask you some questions and want to get right into it. We are all kind of still coming out of the pandemic it seems or maybe still somewhat in it. You have a tour coming up and an album out soon. What´s your current state of mind all circumstances considered?
Maria: We really can’t wait to hit the stage and finally see some real reactions to our music, since we were never able to experience it, not even for our first release ‚Escape‘ so we are absolutely hyped!
Lost and Fading: I just mentioned it, you are about to go on a tour around Germany through all of April. How are you preparing after two years off and with so much new music?
Maria: I was rehearsing at least once a week to get my screaming skills really comfortable and also I was doing rope jumping to expand my stamina, because I was moving way less since covid started. I really want everyone who watches us live to experience the best performance possible and not be disappointed.
Lost and Fading: It´s really great to have you as another female-fronted band in the heavy music scene. Luckily this is getting more and more with bands like Spiritbox or Venom Prison adding to the list just to name a few. How do you see the situation of gender equality in heavy music?
Maria: I love the fact how many awesome and talented women are being seen in this genre nowadays. When I was younger it really helped and inspired my dreams of becoming a singer to see bands such as Paramore or Flyleaf that showed me there might also be a place for me in this world of rock-music. I really hope that this will evolve more and more, because I think especially women have a lot of powerful stories to tell and deserve more stages to be heard at.
Lost and Fading: There´s quite a number of music videos for your songs online, which is great for us to also “see” your music! What do you think about the role of visuals besides the actual music? Is it difficult to come up with new video ideas every time?
Maria: For me personally I can really quickly visualize things – especially music! Since our songs are all real stories it is also easy for me to come up with story lines or pictures that I think might fit. For our new music videos we worked together with new people who also gave us some new influences. I really love the role of music videos and enjoy watching them from other bands.
Lost and Fading: Now, speaking of your new album. It´s called “Run” and is out June 10th. The second album often is the most difficult for bands. How are you feeling a few weeks pre release date?
Maria: I feel confident. I think after releasing ‚Escape‘ we were able to explore our own sound and songwriting better but also gave us the freedom to try new things. With ‚Run‘ we tried many different things but that’s what makes it so authentic to me, we tried to give each song and it’s story a fitting sound. So I am excited to see the reactions to it.
Lost and Fading: What was your orientation when writing the new songs? Any bands, sounds or other inspiration you can give us as reference points?
Manuel: One major influence for us was definitely Bring Me The Horizon. Maria listened to Novatwins, CORPSE and Thrice a lot as well. When it comes to instrumental ideas and patterns I was going back to Posthardcore and Metalcore Classics such as Unearth and Asking Alexandria and combined them with my love for 80s and 90s sounds. A retrowave band that I discovered while writing RUN was Gunship. It totally blew my mind and sparked a ton of creativity.
Lost and Fading: And what about the lyrics of the songs? What do you want people to connect with Future Palace?
Maria: We want people to connect honesty and hope with Future Palace. Future Palace talks openly about topics such as mental health, toxic relationships and with the new Album also new topics such as climate change. I often refer to our album as a diary, it is honest and raw. But in the end we really want to point out that Future Palace is the hope for a better future, the hope for a change.
Lost and Fading: Let´s wrap up with a more general question: Being from Germany, how do you see the current scene and chances of going international? For us, the phenomenon still seems to be that US bands get big a lot and tour everywhere rather quickly, while European bands usually have a harder time. That might be a wrong assumption, of course. What do you think about this?
Maria: I think that this phenomenon might be true, it is a bit harder for European bands to get on the US radio or play shows abroad. I also think the US also has a bigger audience for rock-music. Nevertheless this is no reason for us to be pessimistic, we are already giving our all to expand and share our songs and messages with the entire world and I think we are already on the right track. Maybe we need a bit patience but we already reached a lot of people abroad and I can’t wait for our first US-shows to happen – so stay tuned!
FUTURE PALACE ARE:
Maria | Vocals
Manuel | Guitar
Johannes | Drums
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