withpaperwings

Q1. Could you please provide some background information on the band for those readers who may not be familiar with you—where you’re from, when you formed, etc.?

We are from Orlando, FL and formed around October of 2023- so we’ve been a band for about a year now. Our vocalist Evan, bassist Chris, and drummer Van were in search of guitarists after a previous unreleased project was laid to rest. Shawn and Ben happened to be in the right place at the right time. We all meshed instantly and had very similar takes on what we wanted to sound like. Everyone in the band is a Florida native other than Ben who came down from Connecticut a few years ago.

Q2. How would you describe your sound? Who would you say are some of your primary influences?

I think ultimately we are all aiming to write metalcore that is for the dancers. We want to blend the triumphant and evil tremolo riffs with fast breakdowns, and some more brutal elements. We want it to have those really sonically invasive parts while still being mosh-music. We try to stray away from the overproduction of some modern metalcore and bring back the more raw and heavy elements. As a band we really look up to some of the early metalcore and proto-deathcore bands like On Broken Wings, Nientara, Poison the Well, From a Second Story Window, Blood has Been Shed, 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Undying, etc.. Everyone in the band as an individual has pretty different influences, but we all have a common goal which allows us to blend our unique tastes into one coherent product. Our tastes span jazz, classic rock, death metal, slam, deathcore, and many more.

Q3. You have a track on the Light of the Final Dawn Coming Strife Records Compilation (my review of the compilation can be read here); how did your inclusion come about? Being such a UK-centric affair, it was an interesting geographic inclusion although sonically a perfectly sensible one.

In short, Griffin Marthe from Miracle, Memento., and Cathedral Bells connected us to Oli from The Coming Strife. Griffin (and others from these bands) have been instrumental in supporting us since the very first show. Griffin produced our demo and The Coming Strife responded with unrelenting support, which is how we ended up releasing through them. Oli reached out a few months later asking if we wanted to be on the comp and we were immediately enthusiastic about it- there are some incredible bands on there alongside us. The Coming Strife has quite the arsenal of amazing music, all fitting within a tight yet diverse sonic range.

Q4. The scene in Florida from a distance seems to be absolutely cooking right now. Is this an accurate assessment? Who are some fixtures on the scene and some other bands on the scene we should be paying attention to?

The scene in Florida is incredibly healthy right now. Four years ago you could barely get 25 people in a room on a Saturday night, now we have shows that are getting sold out on a weeknight. People are starting bands non-stop and they are all fantastic. Others are becoming really involved in the scene with the production of physical media like zines and photo-books, like the Fatal Entries zine, or the photograph zine Christopher Arauz recently printed. We have people doing incredible film/photography work too like Caleb Joshua, Matti Joseph, and Ian from Florida Hardcore. There are so many amazing bands all over Florida it would be impossible to shout them all out. From Orlando: Datura’s Embrace, Monterey, Miracle, Memento., Watts, Jinzo. From South Florida: Fallen God, Away With Words, Amnio, Domain, Sidearm, No Truth, Dissent. From Jacksonville: Unregistered Weapon, Between You and God. From Tampa: Contention, Resentment, Six Paths, Dogmatic. Check out Florida labels like Armageddon Records and blackheaven records.

Q5. There seems to be a major revival in bands looking to the origins and first wave of metalcore these days in what seems to me to be a conscious move away from the more polished iteration of the genre. What do you attribute this to?

In our personal opinion we think the South Florida scene, around 2015-2017, produced some of the first real Metalcore revival bands. xElegyx, Drawing Last Breath, Cast You Down, amongst others, were the first to really bring back and popularize the sounds of early Metalcore, reminiscent of bands like undying, prayer for cleansing, 7 Angels 7 Plagues. Additionally after these bands dissolved, The Coming Strife Records began to curate a label that had bands continuing this same Metalcore revival sound.

Q6. What is it about those earlier metalcore bands that speaks to you?

I think it's the fact that they were pioneering a genre. None of these bands were really trying to emulate other bands because they were starting a whole new wave of music. The heaviness really cuts through for these bands. The production sound they got from being the first to make music like this just created such a brutal element that isn’t really present in a lot of modern metalcore. Metalcore is supposed to be a blend of metal and hardcore, and that’s exactly what these bands were doing. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what words characterize the distinct sound these bands have other than raw, brutal, and harsh. It’s also really cool just to see the evolution of early niche genres like this and how the associated culture takes shape alongside the music.

Q7. What are some of your most memorable experiences as a band so far?

The first thing that comes to mind is definitely our first sold out show at Will’s Pub on 12/29/23. The lineup was absolutely stacked, as we played with Watts, xResentmentx, Miracle, and Testament of Hate. The room was absolutely packed and the energy was insurmountable. Just an overall phenomenal show. We also have some really fond memories from our first tour. It’s pretty surreal to see people so receptive of our music outside of our home state. We love interacting with different people from all over the country. It was also amazing to enjoy some of the scenery, such as hiking down a quarry to swim in bright blue water near Knoxville, Tennessee.

Q8. What are some of your upcoming plans—shows, new music, etc.?

We are currently in the process of writing our first EP. We aim to share this with everyone in the first few months of the new year. Finishing the year out, we will be playing I Guess It’s a Fest in Ohio, also hitting Knoxville, TN on the way there for the second time. In early December we will be playing Birmingham, AL for the first time, and taking a run through Texas with the homies in Girl of Glass and Thus Spoke Zarathrustra and playing No Sleep Fest. We are incredibly excited for the future of withpaperwings.