Interviews: The Forgotten Age

In this new occassion we have had the opportunity to interview the Alternative Metalcore/Metal band The Forgotten Age, from UK. Check out this band and give them a like on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?

We tossed around a few ideas for a while but nothing really felt right; then one day we were at a networking session for local musicians, and decided we needed a name there and then. Out of nowhere, Ben suggests The Forgotten Age. We figured, “hey that's not bad, we'll hang on to it for now” and...well it just kind of stuck.

2.Why did you want to play this genre?

It's the kind of stuff we were all into as teenagers, back when digital TV was new and suddenly having access to all these different music channels was super exciting. Youtube was still in its infancy so this was the best way we had of discovering new music, and we discovered a lot of our favourite bands this way.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

Ben and Alex are cousins and pretty much grew up together. Mike met them through a mutual friend when they started jamming together, she was our other guitarist for a time. She said to Mike that she'd been jamming with these two guys and it seemed pretty promising and they were going to meet up again. Mike said “do they have a singer?” She said “no.”

Mike: said “can I tag along?” She said “sure”. So we met up for the first time, smashed a couple of covers, and pretty quickly wrote our first original song. It just rolled from there.

4. Each band member favourite band?

Mike: I've got so many bands competing for top spot, it's changed a few times over the years; so I'll go with a group that's always been consistently high and say “Within Temptation”. Sharon has such a beautiful voice, and every album has been packed with the kind of emotion and grandeur of storytelling that I always aspire to capture when I write new material.

Ben: The band that influenced my guitar playing the most over the years was ‘Bullet for My Valentine’. They have so many iconic guitar riffs, catchy choruses and always do themselves justice in front of a live audience.

Alex: It has changed so much over the years, but the band that has influenced me the most as of late would be Gazette. Gazette is a Japanese metal band who infuses Japanese music with western metalcore.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Mike: Usually events or people in my life, but they'll always have had some strong emotional impact. I also get inspired by human psychology, spirituality, and the way we train ourselves to view morality; or occasionally, I'll just hear something spectacular, and be determined to write something even better.

Ben: I normally get inspired when I’m just sat around messing with my guitar. Most of my ideas for the band start off with one cool guitar riff. If my riff gets the seal of approval from the other guys, I’ll just carry on adding bits, until eventually it resembles a song.

Alex: My main influences for writing are actually the other guys in the band. I like to bounce off their creativity and try to come up with parts that compliment what they write. Otherwise I just jam out riffs and pick out ones I think the guys would like.

6. Where was your last gig?

Bangor, our home town. We always get people out there, especially when the uni students are about, and they're a great crowd, friendly to talk to, and always up for anything.

7. Where would you like to act?

Download festival, but not the Main Stage, too impersonal. All the best shows I've seen at Download have been on the Second stage. The sound is always great, but there's not so much of a divide between the acts and the crowd. You want people to be part of your show, not just watch it.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?

Mike: Avantasia, Nightwish, Sonata Arctica – all my male vocal idols in one place, plus Tobias Sammet and Tuomas Holopanien, the two main reasons why I decided I wanted to write music.

Ben: Breaking Benjamin – Benjamin Burnley’s vocals are brilliant. Great scream, growls and angelic clean vocals.

Alex: Vocally, I would say Matt heafy of trivium, Howard Jones of light the torch and spencer sotelo of periphery. Why? - I think these guys are great dynamic vocalist and would complement the band sound. Guitar wise I’d love a john petrucci solo, I mean who wouldn’t.

9. Whom not?

Maybe deathcore groups? Not because of the bands per se, but for some reason a lot of deathcore fans don't like us. Maybe we're too clean, or just too cheerful.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

Mike: I've been nervous, sure, but never so much that I couldn't go on. Waiting around is the worst part. At the end of the day, just remember that it's all about you. I'm quite a reserved person in my day to day life, so when I get up to play, that's my time to show what I can do, and as long as I'm happy with what I'm doing, then to me it's been a good gig. And have fun, that's the most important thing. When I watch a gig, there's nothing more enjoyable than seeing a group that doesn't feel the need to fake anything, they're genuinely passionate about what they do.

Ben: I sometimes get a bit antsy if we have to wait a long time before going on stage. In terms of advice, I would say, don’t get caught up on every little mistake you make on stage. 90% of the time no one is going to notice and you shouldn’t let a few mistakes ruin a show for you.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?

Avenged Sevenfold, Dream Theater, Nightwish, Bullet for My Valentine, Killswitch Engage, Trivium.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

The weirdest request we’ve had is a fan desperately wanting us to cover Bon Jovi ‘Living on a prayer’ and we had to promise to play it at our next show. That was the only way to make the requests stop coming.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Their support means a great deal to us and we want to continue to deliver great quality music as a sign of our appreciation. Even when we faced difficult times with our band line-up, everyone still remained supportive and got us to where we are now.

14. What do you think of our site?

We think the website is very well designed. Having the music separated by genre makes it really easy to navigate and find what you looking for. With diverse content and support for unsigned acts, we think it’s a great platform for artists.

15. Something add?

Our upcoming e.p ‘Paradigm’ has the best songs we’ve ever written, so be sure to get your copy when it’s released on the 29 th June 2018.