FOREVER CAME CALLING // And They Accepted The Charges

After a quiet couple of years for California-based pop-punk band Forever Came Calling, they’re making a comeback with the release of their latest EP, Retro Future–out 23 March.

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The band that brought us some classic pop-punk tracks like Ides and Front Porch Sunrise are out to prove that pop-punk really never dies, even if they did find themselves in a musical coma between 2015 and 2017.

“Family’s super important to me and everyone in the band, so everyone understood,” says vocalist, Joe Candelaria regarding the band’s absence.

Following some heavy touring with their last album, What Matters Most, the band took a break from musical endeavours to “focus on home life for a little bit,” seeing as Joe’s mum suffered a serious brain injury.

Almost four years on since the release of their successful record, What Matters Most, Forever Came Calling are back and ready to share Retro Future with us all after a much-needed break.

“It all kind of culminated at once and it was like we just needed to step away for a second to come back and remember how much we love playing in this band,” Joe says.

Like their previous releases, the forthcoming EP Retro Future is heavily influenced by the band’s experiences and struggles during their time away. Joe explains how his lyrics are always heartfelt and personal, “it’s hard for me to just love a song that I feel nothing for, so usually stuff I write has to be pretty personal to me.”

Despite seemingly disappearing off the face of the musical earth, Forever Came Calling have been writing non-stop since they finished touring What Matters Most back in 2015. Retro Future is going to be filled with certified bangers that have been almost three years in the making.

“I had this very scary moment where it’s like, ‘Well, we’re going to start. We’re starting back up for real. There’s not really a take back.’ And I got really scared.”
[JOE]

Joe explains his initial feelings about the band’s break from touring. “I think a big part of my identity is just I get to play music for people, that’s what keeps me sane. So in the back of my head, it’s like, ‘Okay. We’re going to get back to the band. I just have family first’.”

The band teased us last month by dropping a single off the EP, titled Borrowed Cars. The track is inspired by a conversation Joe had with his fiancée about his mixed thoughts about returning to the music industry and the future of Forever Came Calling, following their break from touring. If this track is any indication of the quality of the rest of the EP, this release is sure to be a hit among the OG fans and first-time listeners alike.

Retro Future is “kind of about is letting go of what you thought was going to happen so that something better can take its place,” Joe tells us, “its about looking back on the past and how they thought the future was going to be and now you’re in the future and it’s not like that.”

While the new EP is about the future and moving forward, Joe explains how he is “still kind of getting through it” when it comes to his mother’s health concerns and his own personal struggles during the band’s time away from the spotlight.

“I had this very scary moment where it’s like, ‘Well, we’re going to start. We’re starting back up for real. There’s not really a take back.’ And I got really scared.” After so long out of the spotlight, and out of the studio, Joe was understandably afraid to get back into playing music. “And right before we took that step getting back into it, I was really scared like will this be how I remember it? Will I still love it as much as I did”, he says.

Despite initial fears about getting back into the studio, Joe describes how “it felt good to just be a band again” after the gruelling schedules and intensity of the last Forever Came Calling tour. “The band had kind of forgotten what it was like to put art first,” he says.

With an Australian record label behind them, Forever Came Calling are keen to come back to the land down under with their new EP this year, hopefully as part of a Penultimate Records tour with bands like Bukowski (who Joe thinks is “fucking ripped”).

While there were some fears and doubts among the members of Forever Came Calling while recording the EP after such a long time out of the studio, Retro Future is finished and ready to be released on 23 March via Australia’s own Penultimate Records.