WE CAME AS ROMANS (Eng.)
– Hi, thanks for your time. What are you currently up to? How is everything doing right now with WE CAME AS ROMANS?
We are currently on the Vans Warped Tour traveling across the US all summer playing shows. Everything is going great, we’re also preparing to release our third album, Tracing Back Roots, in about a month and we’re all really excited for it.
– You will soon release your new album, «Tracing Back Roots», which will be released this July so, what are your expectations on it?
I think our fans are really going to enjoy it. We include a lot of «themes» of our older music in it, going all the way back to To Plant A Seed, and I think we made a really good progression as a band. I’m really happy with it.
– For what I’ve heard on the first single, it seems on this record we are going to find the most mature WE COME AS ROMANS yet. Would you agree on this? Is it just a natural evolution? And maybe with this sound had something to do the fact of having a producer like John Feldmann?
I would definitely agree, and I always hope that our most current album is our «most mature» sound. I never want to stop growing and maturing as a band and that’s always a major goal of ours as the years pass and we release more music. It was a direction that we really wanted to go in, and John was the absolute best choice to make this record with, given his experience and incredible talent.
– All your records feel to me like they have an important emotion through them so, where do you take inspiration from to create your music?
All of the lyrics that I write for the band are all really personal to me, they start as something really close to my heart and important to me, and I try to write them in a way that allows for all our fans to really relate to them. So it all starts with something important to me, and to the band, something that is genuine, and I think it really translates through to the fans.
– And musically, what are some of the most influential bands for you? As you have a nice blend between traditional elements along with a modern approach. Your sound is quite diverse, due to this I would like to know how do you work on the songwriting process and when did this new album start to get formed.
I think everyone in the band is influenced by different bands, but for me I really enjoy Brand New, As Cities Burn, and Underoath. Bands that I’ve listed since I was doing interviews for our first record, To Plant A Seed. I don’t think there would be a We Came As Romans, as is, if those bands didn’t exist in my life.
– You have always remained loyal to yourself so, what are the main differences we can find between «Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be» and this new «Tracing Back Roots»? And what does this new CD provide the previous couldn’t?
I think the biggest difference, and one that I’m most excited for, is the addition of Dave singing. Traditionally he has just been the screamer, and on this new album he is singing on four or five tracks, and I think it’s really great. I love the way they sound and it opens a whole new door for us.
– Lyrics for «Tracing Back Roots» are quite strong but, what are some of the main lyrical ideas covered on the other songs on the album?
The CD, in general, is about remembering the youthful eagerness of To Plant A seed and mixing that with the knowledge that was gained through writing Understanding What We’ve Grown To Be. A lot of the themes are still the same…unification, relationship, love and hope, but written in a way that shows that we’ve kinda been through a lot in the past four years since To Plant A Seed.
– How did you work on the artwork? And what did you want to depict on it?
Andy and I have always had these ideas for album and artwork direction, this «master plan» of it, and so we came up with this idea, and Andy then worked with Paul Romano, pretty extensively to get exactly what was in his mind, out on paper. Andy has talked with and worked with Paul on all of our album covers, so there is really a continuation between them all. This one represents a mix of the previous two. Moving forward but remember where you came from, and what you’ve learned along the way.
– All this about «Tracing Back Roots» being said; how could you describe it in just 3 words?
New for us. It’s something that we haven’t been able to do in the past, and we’re all happy to be taking these steps now.
– Finally; what are your near-future plans?
We are finishing up the Vans Warped Tour in the States, then we are heading overseas to do some festivals in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Philippines and then we’re back to the states for an [unannounced] tour, and then we have the Vans Warped Tour in the UK/Europe.
– That’s all, thank you once more for answering our questions. If you want to add some final words; feel free to do it.
Thank you for supporting We Came As Romans!
