In the back room of a small venue in Manchester, sat a man drinking some beer after having finished off a slice of pizza. Upon noticing myself, he then gestured over to some comfy leather sofas where we then proceeded to have a catch up chat about what the vocalist of Origin had been up since we last spoke…
Since we last spoke in Glasgow, you’ve been pretty busy in that you’ve toured the States numerous times and also released a new album. How do you guys find time to do all this?
We’re here to do exactly that to be honest. We’re here to tour and see people and also release new music. In this line of work, you come to a point where your personal lives come second at most!
How’s the tour been for you guys so far?
The tour has been great so far. We started off this tour playing at Inferno Festival where we opened for Emperor. 12 year old me was super stoked to be opening for them and since then we’ve been on the road a few days. Rings of Saturn bring out a little bit of a different kind of crowd but are kinda similar to us, Hideous Divinity are heavy as shit, Graveslave we didn’t know before the tour but they are killer as well. It’s awesome to have them all along.
How do you feel the latest album has been received?
You’d have to ask the fans but I think they are stoked on it. The album beforehand had a weirder reception due to us doing some different things but this time people seemed to be more stoked. I fu****g love all the material so it doesn’t really matter to me. And yes, this is the first album to have the same Origin lineup for two albums. We’ve been through a lot of people but I guess we put up with each other enough now to continue forward!
What have you got lined up for the next few months?
Me personally, I continually tour with quite a few bands and try and stay as busy as possible. Some of the other guys have jobs and families to come back to but I don’t have any of those. We’ve got another month with Morbid Angel after this tour and then I’m helping another band on the Decimation of the Nation tour. It’s then home for a month and then back out for a month-worth of festivals and then Japan and Europe again! It’s good work if you can get it but it’s not easy.
Has the most difficult song changed since last time we spoke?
I don’t think so, if anything it’s become even faster due to the placement of it in the sets. It’s still a mouthful to do as it’s a minute and a half of solid singing. It’s the point at most when I feel I’m going to have a heart attack.
I’ve noticed that certain songs you are playing faster than they are on the album.
That’s part of the natural progression of the band. We play these songs so many times and as a result they get quicker and quicker. Even the songs where you think they can’t get any faster, they can certainly get even faster!
Which would you say you prefer, headlining or ing on a tour?
I personally prefer to as there’s less pressure. On the Marduk tour it was nice as there was a good mixture of bands which brought the best of both sides. I prefer any tour that brings hundreds of people a night and we’ve been doing good so far but I prefer another band to have the pressure of headlining.
Do you get chance to listen to much new material?
Not really as I tour so much and kind of want to take a break from it. I get to hear new material from the bands that we tour with and as a result that would be what I would recommend to folk if they asked.
What would you say is one ambition you have yet to achieve?
We’ve never toured South America and that’s one place I would love to go. I’ve played every other continent bar South America and then after I have played there I can finally retire!
