#once foretold

Where did the name ‘Once Foretold’ come from? Robin and Nathan were always complete nerds growing up, and after like 2 weeks of really stupid names in the group chat Nathan found a Magic the Gathering card called “As Foretold” and one of us (can't remember who) decided to change the “As” to “Once” and that was that really. We were seriously pushed for time since we had our debut show not far after that and the band name was kind of the last thing on our minds at that point.

Where did you guys all meet? Nathan and Robin: We mostly met each other through school, Nathan (being a good friend to robin at the time, and just starting to learn how to scream) came along to a practice for Robin's old band called "Our Last Days" and we ended up making a band called "A Reflection of Yesterday" where we became mates with Lily through SFRQ and playing local shows (rip kings arms...). Nathan also used to play in a band called "Overseer" and that's where he met Max. We met shay after our first drummer Ross left us, he had just finished playing with Fire For Glory and I was at his last show with them where the frontman Josh said that if anyone wanted him for a band they should snatch him up quickly because of how good he was. A little while later we put out a post on facebook looking for a drummer and he hit us up.  Lily: I used to play in a post-hardcore band in high school called “Hello Headache” and when we did Smokefree Rockquest Nathan and Robin’s band “A Reflection of Yesterday” was at my local heats. They fucking killed it and I was their biggest fan haha. We actually ended up becoming really good friends over time. I asked Max to join the band when I happened to stumble across a guitar demo he posted to Soundcloud and asked if he was interested in joining the band. I met Shay at an EP release show I was playing with my other band REI back in 2017 at the UFO and I totally didn’t know how amazing of a drummer he was until I got him to audition. Will be sad to see him go after these last shows we have booked.

Where do you guys draw inspiration for your music? Robin: Periphery, Architects, Dali Thundering Concept Lily: Maximum the Hormone Max: Thornhill, Silent Planet, Erra Nathan: I draw inspiration from whatever the other guys listen to. Also Parkway Drive, and Killswitch Engage.

Do you find that the creation process of your music is equally collaborative? Or do certain members take on certain elements? Robin and Max: We make a basic layout and present it to the band where they'll tweak it from there during the learning process, we tend to give Nathan creative freedom vocally which tends to yield the best results as it's something most of us are not exactly familiar with doing.

You guys just completed a little run of North Island shows - if you could put together a full NZ tour featuring any other two NZ bands - who would they be? Robin: Seas of Conflict, Pale Flag Max: Pale Flag, Seas of Conflict Lily: Banks Arcade, Lookin Up Nathan: Cripple Mr. Onion, Liit

Do you have any fun stories to share from your tour? Robin and Lily: it was a reaaaallly cold windy day (like 4ºC) when we got wellington, but max decided he wanted to jump into the harbor from the jumping platform they have in front of te papa, he called Lily who was at our accommodation with the guys from REI and made him meet us there with max's towel. After max jumped in and came back up we noticed a bunch of signs warning people not to jump in as the water was polluted quite badly. after this for the rest of the night max was freaking out thinking he was going to get sick and googling all the different illnesses he could get from it. We just kind of kept adding fuel to the fire by telling him he was screwed and was going to start growing extra limbs and stuff haha. Max: Getting a speeding ticket for going 87 in an 80km zone. Nathan: Playing out of Auckland.

What can we expect from you guys in the near future? Unfortunately Shay will be leaving us soon, which is a huge bummer for all of us but we are extremely grateful for all he has done with us, so we will be on the hunt for a new drummer soon. We just finished pre production for the EP we have been working on and will start tracking the songs very soon, Shay will be recording the drums with us before he leaves which is awesome as he really contributed to the material we have made and it wouldn't really feel right for us to not capture that.

Lastly - convince our readers to come catch you at ‘Auckland Will Be Laid To Waste’ in 3 words Robin: Break downs, spin kicks, best friends. Nathan: Free eternal erections. Lily: Crash Team Racing Max: Defend Pop Punk

Quick Fire

The one song I wish I wrote is... Robin - Garden of Sankhara by Monuments. That band really meant a lot for me when I was learning songwriting and this song really showed me that even if you are a crazy technical band, less is more sometimes. Nathan - The Final Episode - Asking Alexandria Max - Indonesia - August Burns Red Lily - Z Densetsu: Owarinaki Kakumei - Momoiro Clover Z

Three things I can’t live without are... Nathan - Coke, Oxygen, skin Max - Bikes, Defending Pop Punk, open notes Lily - Fried chicken, pho, Tekken

If I could only play music in one genre for the rest of my life it would be... Max - Probably metalcore/progressive metal because I find it most fun to play on guitar but. Pop punk is up there though although if I was just playing guitar in the genre I wouldn't want to do it forever. Robin - Progressive metal, the nature of it is to experiment and try new stuff, so it would keep me happy. Lily - Post-hardcore. I am das uber emo mans.

Three adjectives that describe my life are… Robin - Impulsive, chill, creative Max - active, nerdy, fun Lily - Dance, Gavin, Dance

If I held a world record it would be for… Robin - Losing a phone the most times in one party. Max - Having the most hobbies. Lily - The most powerful roundhouse kick in terms of weight to power ratio.

My first memory of loving music is… Robin - My sister used to show me a bunch of music and I owe a lot to that, but I remember hearing Metallicas “wherever I may roam” for the first time and being like “duuuuuuude”. the ambient intro into that chunky ass riff immediately got me hooked and I wouldn't stop listening to it. Max - Buying my first CD which was Linkin Park’s Meteora. Lily - Being introduced to Linkin Park by my older brother. I literally only listened to LP up until year 9.

The song of mine that I am the most proud of is… Robin - one you guys haven't heard yet! Max - Parallax Lily - Sovereign. It’s a song I wrote but tbh I’m mainly proud of it because the working title for the song was “Anus of God”.

My favourite venue I've ever played is… Robin - Kings arms, 100%. so many crazy bands have played there and I genuinely feel honoured to have been a part of it's story. Max - Kings Arms Lily - I’ve never played the Kings Arms but I wish I did. As a consolation, I’d say Valhalla in Wellington because WELLINGTON IS AN AWESOME CITY TO PLAY IN.

The ideal environment for me to create music in is… Robin - I used to say in my home recording set up, but now days as i'm getting into electronic production a lot more I sometimes really enjoy having a space with no distractions away from home, uni is great for that I find. Max - I’m just the classic bedroom soundcloud djent guitarist who just needs some monitors, an interface and a DAW with some decent plugins haha Lily - Alone in a room with a laptop that has Guitar Pro on it.

If I could have any two bands open for me they would be… Robin - Metallica and Slipknot... just to flex. Max - I feel awkward picking any bands to open for me because all the bands I think of are either equally as good or better Lily - The Jackson 5, and Momoiro Clover Z (But only with the OG line-up, they’re really not the same without Momoka)

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