Meet the California-based heavy metal band that took the Full Sail stage at the 2017 Vans Warped Tour by storm – Bad Omens. The band has only been around a few years but have been finding their voice between albums and tours.
Vocalist Noah Sebastian sat down at the Auburn Hills stop of this summer Vans Warped Tour to talk new music and how Bad Omens is becoming an experience.
What have you guys been up to today other than the show?
Noah: Not much. It’s kind a long process everyday to wake up, load our gear, set up the merch and usually we’ll kinda do yoga or stretches and I’ll warm up my voice. We don’t really do much besides band stuff.
Do you have any new music coming?
Noah: We definitely have it written. It’s being written right now. We have about four demos finished. We’re very angsty about new music for sure. It’s something that we like doing just as much, if not more than touring. So, whenever we’re on tour we just want to be writing music.
How does your songwriting process work?
Noah: Our guitar player and I we live together and we have a studio at our house. We both record and produce for a living outside of the band. Me and him start the general rough draft for a song like the instruments and the vocal melodies. Then we’ll get one or two other guys from the band in and they’ll contribute and pitch in their ideas, say what they think is cool and what isn’t. We try to get everyone involved but it’s usually just us in the studio. Once we fine tune we take that to the actual recording studio that we record it at.
What have been the highlights of Warped Tour for you guys?
Noah: Definitely the draw that we have and just how well we’re doing, it was very unexpected because we got thrown in here last minute. We’re on the smallest stage this year but it hasn’t really compromised our ability to draw or have a good show. Everyday we have just as big of a crowd as the other stages.
What have been your favorite acts to watch on this tour?
Noah: Definitely have to shout out Sylar, Too Close To Touch, After The Burial, bands that we’re not only friends with but we like their music a lot. It’s cool being on the same tour as them and having that luxury of seeing them whenever we want. And getting to see them from backstage a lot.
If you could collab with anyone on tour, who would you collab with?
Noah: Definitely Sylar. We have a pretty cool connection with them musically and I think because of like, it might be too soon to bring it up but Linkin Park, it’s a band that inspires both of our bands a lot. Them especially you can probably hear and I think that collectively between my voice and Jaden’s flow, his raping style, I think that we’d make a really cool song or cover together. I’ve thought about it a lot.
What’s next for you guys after Warped Tour wraps up?
Noah: My plan as of now, right when we get back home to California, we’re going to start writing and keep writing and writing because we’re really angsty to get new music out. Our album has only been out 11 months now, a year next month. We’re very antsy to get our true selves out there since it’s been a while for us.
How has your sound matured since this last album as compared to what you hope to produce next?
Noah: I definitely think vocally is something I can speak for and instrumentally too. I’ve kinda learned more about myself as a front man and a singer and the stuff I’m capable of doing and stuff I didn’t really do on the last album that I could’ve and should’ve done because it’s just a psychological anxiety fear factor to it. Now I’m learning that there are things I’m more capable of than I gave myself credit for that can break us out into a much bigger and broader audience that can expand us and grow our sound in a really tasteful and delicate way so that we don’t lose fans but we can so many fans. Like most bands can probably say, we want to be a rock band. We love heavy music and we love playing heavy music , but we get tired of it and every one does. When you get older, you get less angry. Like I listen primarily to hip-hop and pop music, I love heavy music but it’s something I can say that we’ve kinda grown as musicians we want to add more melody to the music and make it more accessible and singable.
Other than Linkin Park, what are some of your inspirations?
Noah: Me personally I can say Disturbed, it’s one of the bands I was introduced to early besides Linkin Park and Breaking Benjamin that was heavy metal. Nine Inch Nails is another big one. Our bass player is a huge Nine Inch Nails fanatic. You can hear that in our compositions as far as major and minor changes in a film scoring elements that you can hear in our music. That if you stripped it from the rest of the band you would hear it in a movie score maybe or a more cinematic setting. Also, Hans Zimmer, big composers like that. I like to think of Bad Omens like an experience. We want it to be big, regal, rich and expensive, so we want it to overwhelm you and feel more than a heavy metal band or a rock band. We want it to feel like Lord of the Rings, a whole entity.
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