After you all released Limitless in 2016 and hit the ground running with promotion and performing. That being said, what kept you all going?
Limitless was our debut EP which we actually attempted to record and put out 5 times total. Anything and everything that could go wrong to keep a band from putting out music, did. It began to feel almost like we were cursed.. but we kept fighting to release those songs and ultimately all of that bad luck is a really big reason we decided to call the EP Limitless. It was a testament to our determination to never let anything hold us ah from what we want to do and finishing the album with a producer as great as Joseph Milligan (former guitarist of the band Anberlin) also gave us new life in knowing we accomplished what felt impossible at the time. You can find out more about that experience in our newest song, "Skyline" which talks about how we pushed through so much to be where we are now!
Always Hope is set to be released August 25th via Third String Records, who you recently signed to. Could you tell us a little bit about your experience signing to Third String Records?
Mike Ziemer (founder of Third String Records) saw us play live in Austin in March of this year and expressed interest in signing us, after Christina pushed through the crowd during our last song, to climb up on a bar top and she sang the last 30 seconds up there, demanding the attention of everyone in the room. Third String has been nothing but generous and caring towards us since then. We're so grateful to work with a company that not only promotes their bands to the fullest but also genuinely believes in them.
On that note, Always Hope how would you compare it to your previous work?
Our debut EP Limitless was very light and fun. We will always be a "fun" band; you'll see this primarily in our videos and live performances. In the last year we've been influenced by a lot of the music in the Austin scene and the many talented bands we've shared the stage with have made us want to step our game up. I think you can tell Always Hope has a different type of passion and energy than Limitless does.
What was the writing process like for Always Hope? Was it different from Limitless?
Limitless was a patchwork of songs from different people. Christina actually wrote Catch Me If You Can and We'll Come Alive on acoustic guitar and the band turned it into a fuller sound. The other songs were written by members no longer in the band. The songs in Always Hope were written by all 5 of us currently in FST. The guys would demo the songs out and then send to Christina, who would top them off with her own melodies and lyrics, according to the "emotion" she would feel from each song.
What inspired the cover art for Always Hope?
Christina: I knew that this album was going to be slightly more dramatic then our previous work and I wanted someone to be able to look at the album artwork and get the whole vibe of the music from it. I wanted a girl standing at the edge of a dock (who may or may not be fighting internal battles), over looking the water debating if she's going to jump or not. FST is a very positive band and I wanted the "Always Hope" on the record to display the fact that if you feel like it's the end for you, there's Always Hope. I requested that the album artwork had a dark, yet positive and beautiful vibe to it. Andrew Zell was the graphic designer we worked with; he took my direction and crushed it. We love working with him.
Forever Starts Today is based out of Austin,Texas. The Austin music scene is one of a kind, how was the community responses to all your hard work paying off?
Overwhelmingly positive! People were posting about the anticipation of it, and that was crazy to us. We're a very humble band so the attention this album has received is overwhelming... We're absolutely beside ourselves and incredibly grateful!
When someone listens to your music is there something, if anything, you want the listener to take away?
We put everything of ourselves into our music. We want people to understand that whatever is stressing you out or if you feel your whole world's turned upside down, that there's Always Hope. If you don't have a support system, to message us on FB or email. We will always be there for our listeners. The whole reason we do music is to make people smile and to be a light in an often times, dark world.
After the release of Always Hope what's next for Forever Starts Today?
Well, we hopped on tour the exact day the album released! We will be touring much more in the future, all across America so "like" us on Facebook or keep up with our tour dates on our website. We want to meet you all and thank you for the time you put into our band! We appreciate it so much!
You can catch the video for Forever Start Today's latest single "Last One Standing" off of Always Hope below, and catch Forever Starts Today taking over our Instagram today!!