Bad Omens' Noah Sebastian discusses the band's rapid rise, attributing it to a "perfect storm" of hard work, strategic marketing, high-quality live shows, and a deep connection with their evolving fanbase, while also reflecting on the personal growth required to manage this success.
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My next guest is Noah Sebastian from Bad
Omens, and it's always a pleasure to see
you. How are you holding up? You've had
a relatively crazy time these days.
>> Yeah, I'm I'm doing pretty good
actually. This this is one of the most
fun tours we've done so far because
we're uh we actually have some pretty
good friends of ours on this tour in the
band Era, who we've known for a long
time. Um I actually live with Jesse
Cash, the guitarist, as well. Um, and
yeah, just sometimes tours take a little
while to get used to each other, but
everyone already knows each other and is
good friends and and Vin Animate knows
Arrow really well, so there's already
just like a super nice comfortability
with everyone. So, the tour just kicked
off with great vibes.
>> The obvious question these days would
be, why do you think the band is doing
so well and resonating so strongly,
particularly live? You guys certainly
know how to play, but there seems to be
a fervor out there right now that uh I I
wonder if you understand it or can
explain it.
>> It's It's a lot of things, I think,
honestly. Like I I feel like I'm always
trying to dissect like just the every
aspect of the band and like the the
culture surrounding our band now, which
is crazy that it feels like we even have
our own like little culture and network
and online community. Um, but it kind of
feels like like the perfect storm, you
know, like we put out a really a really
great album and like we worked very hard
on like the marketing aspect and the
visuals and everything like that. And
and then on top of that, we put a ton of
work and a ton of money as well into our
live show to make it like very exciting
and make the shows fun and try to feel
different. Um, and yeah, we all just try
really hard at everything we do. like my
voice alone like I I've like kind of
tried to turn my body into like an
athlete almost like I'm I'm exercising
all the time. Not cuz it's fun, you
know, but because because I found out
like it really improved my performance
live a couple years ago when I when I
started getting more into fitness and
stuff and like jiu-jitsu and stuff like
that. And um yeah, it just feels like
just everything's just kind of falling
into place correctly and we're all like
making the right moves and like also
we're just very professional as well
which I think helps a lot. Like we are
probably the most boring band on tour
but it it helps because everyone wakes
up and is in a good mood every morning
and you know sleeps well and everything.
So yeah, I think it's just a combination
of hard work,
like great music, and you know, a great
support system both from the band and
our team and from our fan base.
>> You strike me as someone who might be an overinker.
overinker.
>> Absolutely. Yeah. I uh that's kind of
like one of my strengths and weaknesses
is like too much attention to detail and
I feel like I'm just like I kind of feel
like an architect sometimes when it
comes to the band cuz I'm just like so
hands-on with so much and it's like it's
it's growing to a point that I can't be
like that with everything anymore. And
that's like something I'm I think I'm
currently struggling with letting go of
is like letting go of some
responsibility and just like the need to
like nitpick everything and just trust
the people that are doing those jobs as
like their main job. And uh yeah, it's
also made the touring experience better
like trying to learn how to pass some of
that stuff off and not just overthink
everything. But you're right, that's a
very astute observation.
How then do you deal with folks who are
doing things that you used to handle
yourselves when the band was much
smaller? And I would think there's, you
know, the tour production and there's
artwork for t-shirt. I mean, there's a
million things for a band. Uh, how do
you find a happy medium to giving some
direction but not being uh, you know, on
the phone 24/7 trying to direct?
Um, I think I think the big part of it
is just finding people that we really
trust and like working with consistently
and and if if they're not people that we
know very well personally, it's someone
that people we do trust can vouch for,
you know, when it comes to like merch
printing and and merch designs and tour
production, all that stuff. like between
me and our tour manager and and uh our
buddy Davis who is basically the band's
creative director when it comes to our
online merch store. uh the three of us
plus management really handle all that
stuff and like are good at bouncing it
around with each other and and now
thankfully it's at a point where they
can just like text me like you know
three versions of a mockup or something
and I can be like let's do this one and
then we'll talk about it and text and
it's like easy and it's done versus like
you know having to schedule a Zoom or
something like it's just it's in really
good hands right now which is great
because not only are they talented
people that we you know work with but
they're like we're all good friends so
it's a fun work environment as well.
>> Do you remember your first band t-shirt?
And and actually make it a two-parter.
Do you remember the first band t-shirt
you ever got of somebody else? And do
you remember the first t-shirt ever for
your own music?
>> I think the first band shirt I ever had
was Seosen. I can't remember. It was
either Seosen or Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.
I had this like way too small yellow red
jumpsuit apparatus shirt from from Hot
Topic that I remember to this day when I
was like 13, I think. Um, and then our
first shirt, again, it's it's it's crazy
how full circle it is, but the ver the
the guy Davis I was just talking about
that does all our merch designs with us,
um, he designed our very first shirt
back in like Richmond before we were
ever in like a band or played a show.
And for some reason, I was like, we need
merch even though we don't even have
fans or music online.
And uh I think Nick's Nick's sister,
Nick, our bass player, his sister still
has that shirt to this day. It was
before our band name was even Bad Omens
and it was called Man Versus Self. Um,
so it's is we always talk about that all
the time whenever like we have like a a
team meeting or lunch or something and
we talk about how like Davis made the
first shirt ever. And I don't know, it's
really cool how it's just it's kind of
grown from such a like grassroots kind
of uh, you know, start and into such a
huge thing and that it's still like
managed to remain in the family so to
speak, you know.
Do you still get excited when you see a
new t-shirt design or when you go past
the the merch stand at soundcheck and
there's all this cool stuff? Because I
know it's a thrill early on, but it can
sometimes become same old same old for
for some folks. Are you still kind of
excited about things like that?
>> Oh, so excited. That's that's one of my
favorite favorite things. like um I mean
our merch store is like a huge staple at
this point in our band and there's like
jokes about like how it's compared to
the Hunger Games because it sells out
all the time
>> and like and you know we we like really
hype them up like we don't just drop
merch we'll like do like a teaser and
start like promoting it until like a day
and a time that it's going live. So
there's like a lot of anticipation with
it almost like dropping a song every
time we do merch. And um it's a lot of
fun because I I really love our designs.
I think we have really good designs and
that's why we work with the same people
all the time. And uh I I love like being
able to still be involved with that. And
and also not to mention I mean just the
financial aspect. I mean merch is like
the main income for bands these days
especially touring and uh you know you I
feel like you have to be involved and
invested in that part of your band to
like expand as a business and and and
grow as a business. So that's like one
thing I don't feel like any band should
neglect or just like kind of pawn off on
someone that's just trying to like
collect a paycheck. You know, it's
something you should put time and energy
in. And that's what we did with our
store. And that's why like, you know,
the merch drops sell out all the time.
And we're like actively trying to keep
up with how many how much demand there
is because every merch drop there's
hundreds if not thousands of like really
angry people that are like, I didn't I
had it in my cart and by the time I hit
checkout, it was gone. And like you
know, we we were trying to remedy that
at all times.
Is there anything that you would like to
have designed for the band that you
haven't been able to do yet? Decoder
rings or hovercraft? Are there anything
like really kind of out there that would
be super cool? That's just a little bit
difficult at this point.
>> Um, I know we were talking about like
custom katanas at one point like swords
like having like a laser engraved like
symbols on like a katana which seems
like very expensive and unnecessary. Um,
uh, slides is something I think that's
in production right now that we've never
released, but for summertime we want to
do, uh, Bad Omen's like beach slides.
Um, maybe like backpack accessories,
just stuff like that. Like we want to
branch out and and have like more
branded stuff that you can carry your
merch in or go to a show with that's
like still Bad Omen's branded that you
can buy merch and put in or I don't
know. Nothing nothing crazy besides the swords.
swords.
I would be curious to hear about shows
over in Europe, particularly in the UK
and maybe even specifically London
because I think the UK is a country that
um certainly has a bit of its music sort
of baked in into the DNA of your band.
So I I would think that's almost like a
pilgrimage for you to go there and play.
Tell me about reactions over there. Tell
me about touring over there. Tell me
about specific moments. Anything you can
remember. Yeah, Europe and the UK
especially was like way under the demand
because we were just there a few months ago.
ago.
>> And um I mean London for example just
because of like what options were
available for upgrades which were none
aside from like I don't know like a
arena or stadium or something. I can't
remember but like we had to play at the
dome three nights in a row which is like
a 600 cap I think instead of just
playing a 2,000 cap room or a 1500 cap
room. We played there three nights in a
row and from my understanding there was
still like a thousand people that wanted
a ticket. So
stuff like that happened throughout the
whole tour and now like whatever we do
next in Europe as far as the headliner
goes, we have to like I think we have to
be ambitious with the cap sizes to make
sure that we're getting everyone in the
room that wants to be there in every
city because it's it's it's like
releasing music. It's like you're
always, you know, behind what your
status like your your level will be at
that point when that happens, you know?
So like just pretend started having
radio success and like then the Tik Tok
thing after like all these tours were
booked. So it's you know especially with
the pandemic kind of still being fresh
off the end of the pandemic like the the
availability and stuff for rooms and and
upgrades is is much more limited than it
I feel like it used to be. So we're
constantly trying to like play catchup
with the band's growing success which is
like kind of just snowballing every day
while we're like trying to make plans in
the future. So now I think that's one
thing we're focusing on is trying to
like accommodate for where we think
we'll be when a plan we're making takes
place versus like where we currently
are. So if we think we're going to be
worth you know 500 to a,000 more tickets
in a city this time next year we're
going to try to book with that
anticipation versus like what can we
sell now because it's clear that like
the band is still growing every day and
getting new fans. So we need to like
have the foresight to accommodate for
that in the future.
Tell me a little bit if you would how it
feels on stage and maybe we can use
those gigs at the dome specifically
where you're playing a much smaller
place than you should and that sometimes
creates incredible energy sometimes even
a little bit too much energy and it can
seem a little can seem a little chaotic
on stage. Tell me what it's like from
your viewpoint for uh for situations
like that.
Uh, I've noticed it more and more,
especially on this tour, because the
support on this tour are two like pretty
heavy bands. Um, like we are we have
heavy moments and heavy songs, but we're
by no means like a death core band or
like a a mosh crowd kill like band, you know?
know?
>> And uh it's it's very interesting coming
from a background and a music scene
where like moshing and crowd surfing and
all that stuff is like such a deep
rooted part of like the culture. And now
with our band, I feel like we have we
have like a very split fan base now.
Like we have a whole different
generation of fans that are like really
into our music, especially from
platforms like Tik Tok and more like
internet based like I guess marketing.
And then we have like, you know, classic
metal core fans that have been familiar
with like the the metal core scene and
the mosh scene or whatever for a long
time and that come from those those like
backgrounds of like music scenes and
putting them in a room together
sometimes I definitely see like the
friction it creates because there's like
a pocket of people in the room that
aren't like aware of like those types of
shows and like how like the etiquette
and just how like crazy it can get with
like you know moshing and crowd surfing.
And then there's people that like are
fully aware of that that know like if I
don't want to be in that situation, I
should stand on the sides or in the
back. But like everyone wants to be at
the front. So it's like constantly like
I feel like I'm trying to like mitigate
having a crazy fun like exciting high
energy show with like people that are
like visibly uncomfortable and you know
I don't want anyone to be uncomfortable
with the show but at the same time it's
like you don't have to be at the front
you know like I feel like you can't you
can't always have both. if there's like
a crazy night where a bunch of people
are crowd surfing and you don't want to
lose your spot at the front, but you
also like don't want to like worry about
catching crowd surfers, like you kind of
have to pick one, you know, because I
can't I can't control everybody. That's
security's job. Um, so it's definitely,
like you said, in those small rooms, in
those small environments where we're
playing a venue that's probably too
small for us, it's definitely stressful
trying to like pay attention to my
performance while also like keeping an
eye on everyone and make sure everyone's
like safe and taking care of each other.
Um, and yeah, it's just it's I think
it's just everyone's I' I've I've like
seen a lot of people talk about how like
they come to Batam and shows and it's
like a different environment than
they're used to at like rock and metal
shows because it's just such a new type
of like fan base. And I think that's
awesome. Like that's kind of I've talked
about this in interviews before, but
that's kind of the point with what we're
doing and with this band is I want to
expand the horizons musically of people
that aren't familiar with heavy music
and I want to bring them into like that
music culture and then I want to get
people that only like heavy rock music
to check out other stuff that's outside
of that, you know, like hip-hop or dark
pop or whatever, bedroom pop. And I want
to like kind of bridge that gap to help
bring alternative music back into the
mainstream again. like the way that it
was in the early 2000s when like Corn
and Limp Biscuit and stuff and Lincoln
Park were like the biggest thing in
music. Um, and I think that that's like
happening right now across the board
with multiple artists. Um, but it's just
it's definitely interesting putting
those different types of fan bases in a
room together and playing violent, loud,
fast music sometimes.
with the diversity of the crowd therein.
Tell me how that may or may not affect
how you build a set list and pace the
set for the night.
>> Um, that actually doesn't really affect
that. I I when I when I make the set, I
I try to just make it really cool and
interesting. I'm like really big on
intros. Um, and you know, because we've
been playing these songs for so long
now, for like two years, and we've been
touring so much, it gets boring for us.
So, I've been like changing the songs
and like adding adding time to them or
like changing the structure or making
the songs start at a different point.
Just doing things to make it both fun
and exciting again for us as people that
have played them hundreds of times if
not thousands at this point. And then
also exciting for people that have seen
us live multiple times in the past year
or two. Um, so really when I'm making
the set, I'm just trying to make like
cool new exciting things. Like, um, we
play this song, Bad Decisions, on this
tour for the first time, and it ended up
being like just close enough in key and
tempo to Billy Isish's song, Bad Guy.
So, I've been like dropping samples from
that and there and like chopping them up
and like, you know, just doing like fun
stuff that you can only really
experience if you come see us live. And,
uh, yeah, I don't know. I just try to
make it different and exciting every tour.
tour.
>> You hit on something I I always find
terribly interesting. I I I always love
to sort of look at a it's the same thing
with the sequence of an album. I love to
see how a set list is sequenced, but
it's the opening song. I always What do
they open with? What do they open with?
Because there's a certain art to getting
out of the box. Now, what are some of
the parameters that go in to what you
feel makes a great opening song?
>> Uh we actually switched it up on this
one. For the pretty much the past year
and a half, we either opened with the
death of peace of mind, which is like a
gradual build. It starts really slow and
small and then it kind of builds up and
it like hits heavy at the end which
makes sense for an intro and then the
first two Concrete Jungle tours here and
in Europe we open with Concrete Jungle
and again that's kind of the same
crescendo that that the piece of mind
has where it starts slow and quiet and
small and then it just builds and then
like the set opens up and with this one
we wanted to like I don't know we wanted
to keep the energy going especially
because the two bands before us are like
pretty heavy and like you know fast and
stuff and not really that type of vibe.
And also, we just wanted to like come
out of the gate a little more like in
your face and fun. So, we're opening
with Artificial Suicide on this tour,
which everyone seems to really like. Um,
even like our crew, they're like, "It's
so sick that like you're opening with
that. It makes the show just immediately
pop off." Um, so that's like kind of
setting the tone for the set right right
at the start when you come out and it's
just like heavy rift, bouncy confetti,
all that stuff. And um yeah, that's
another song for example that I like I
chopped up and like restructured and we
made it like just kick in with like the
heaviest riff in the song and it just
it's got a really fun energy to it and I
I think that sets the tone for the whole
set. Um and then like I like to have
like kind of interlude moments in the
set and with this one bad decisions and
miracle are kind of in the middle and on
our album Miracle is the last track. So
I feel like for a lot of people that are
pretty well verssed in our track list on
the record, it kind of feels like the
end of the show and really it's just
like the end of the middle. So it's like
a cool halfway point where you get this
like in your face start, you get a
couple hits and you get like some slow
jams and then like an outro feeling and
then it's like fast song again. We're
only halfway done. Let's wake back up.
So it's like it's like a set in two
parts almost and it's it's really fun. I
think it's my favorite set so far we've done.
done.
You mentioned The Death of Peace of Mind
in there, which uh I I in my own
opinion, I can't say it's like the the
best of your your recent songs. I think
it's probably my favorite. Uh because I
think the song encapsulates the [ __ ]
everybody's been living through the last
several years. Um do you suppose it's
lyrics like that and thoughts like that
that explain why you guys are resonating
so well with folks?
>> I think it plays a role for sure. I
mean, a big part of this band is like
self-awareness and like almost social
commentary. Sometimes I feel like our
band with like how, you know, wild the
internet gets and like our fan base gets
sometimes like it's like a social
experiment almost at least for me
because I find that stuff interesting
like I find like philosophy interesting
and stuff like that. And as like a, you
know, deep existential thinker at times,
I like to see like how our band's
influence on like culture kind of
translates that type of like thought
process and like gets me kind of like
gets the wheels turning and that that
like further inspires ideas for the live
show. Like I'll just I'll just come up
with things for the live show that I
think is really fun or like makes people
question stuff. Like last night I I uh I
couldn't remember if we had played the
venue before and someone told me that we
hadn't and I was like I'm going to see
if everyone just cheers to cheer or if
they're actually listening and I was
like who here saw us like when we played
here last time at this venue and a
couple people were like and I was like
we never played here and they never like
I got you like it's a mean trick for
sure but because sometime maybe they
just didn't want it to be awkward and
just silence but I just stuff like that
where I just like it this band is always
making me think you know about like
things beyond just music. And I think
that's really cool. Like it's like I'm
learning more about myself and like just
my experience here as a human being like
through music beyond just music. And I
think that's like pretty cool fun part
about being in like a a band, you know?
>> I'll bet there's some nights where you
can't shut your brain off and you're in
that bunk just in
>> Dude, every night every night.
>> What are the What are the types of
things that keep you awake in your uh in
your brain?
Well, the hardest part is like when
you're headlining, you play last or you
play latest in the day and then it's
like you have this adrenaline rush from
the show because it's like it's the sick
exciting, you know, good. Now I can't go
to sleep. Yeah.
>> Yeah. The fans have it, we have it, and
uh that's like the hardest part to turn
off. But after the show, like I uh I try
to just wind down and like think about
the show, think about like things I said
or like how I could improve the show or
like one of my one of my biggest like
weak points as a frontman has always
been like stage banner. Like I' like
sometimes I just trip over my words or
I'll like I'll have like a too big of a
lisp or something like I don't know.
Like I just always feel like I'm saying
something stupid up there. And lately,
I've been trying to like embrace that
and stop being so serious as we used to
be cuz we used to be just shrouded in
mystery and like darkness at all times.
And I realized that like that's the
character, you know, like sometimes
people think if you're on stage and
you're funny or you're joking around or
something like that's a bit and
sometimes it is, but as someone that's
like naturally pretty serious and like
takes the band serious, I kind of
realized that I was like doing that too
far when it came to the stage
performance and like it was making me
take the performance aspect too serious
to the point that I would like really
beat myself up the rest of the night if
I like didn't hit the one note I really
wanted to hit or like something felt
weird with my voice in a certain part
and it was kind of like I don't want to
say ruining the tour experience for me,
but it definitely was making it way less
fun than it could and should be at being
in like a newfound like successful band
like selling out tours. Like it's
supposed to be fun, you know? And uh
I've been trying to just keep keep my
like brain in that space where I'm like
not taking it so serious and I'm not
like worried about being perfect every
night because like I think that's just
virtually impossible. And it and in
approaching that approaching it that
way, it's actually helped me be better,
I think, because when you're
overthinking, it's like you're kind of
getting in your own head about it and
that's when you start messing up and
like it doesn't feel natural. So, I
think I just kind of fell too hard into
like the character that was me on stage,
me as a frontman and in like a very
serious dramatic cinematic band. Like
there was definitely like a character
element to it that we still have for
sure. Like it's not goofy right now by
any means, but there's just moments
where I try to like take a step back and
make it light-hearted and like kind of
shatter the illusion a little bit and
remind people that we're just regular
guys and that we like to goof around.
And like the other night I threw signed
Uncrustables into the audience, you
know, like just trying to have more fun
now and just make it less serious
because it was like it was getting too
serious in my head, you know, and I had
to remember that it's just a it's just a
band and it's just live music and we're
just having fun and it's like how it
started, you know.
You strike me as a reader, someone who
uh likes to get lost with books. Is that
the case?
>> I do, but it's weird. I go through like
phases. Like I'll read like five books
in two months and then I won't read a
book for like a few months. So, it kind
of depends like where I'm at. But I I do
really enjoy reading and I'm I'm big
into uh sounds kind of corny but like
Echartole like that type of writing
that's like self-healing like
motivational like uh a new earth is one
of my favorite books. Um right now I'm
reading an Alex Garland book called The
Beach. Um he's like a weird writer that
does a lot of weird like horror movies
and stuff but uh yeah no I definitely
for sure like enjoy reading. Do you find
the more time you spend staring at your
phone, the harder it is for your brain
to rewire itself to read a book?
>> Yeah, for sure. Because like it's like
working out. Like the phone is so much
more exciting and entertaining than
reading a book. Like you've got sight,
sound, like you know, it's it's it's
like a movie, you know? But then there's
times where I don't know, reading to me
has become like more of like a
meditative practice almost because it's
such a like one thing to focus on versus
like scrolling through a social media
app. And I think it's like way better
for like your your brain to just sit
quietly and read a book. I also try to
meditate a lot now. kind of got this app
for it where like even just once a day I
try to meditate for like five minutes
and just kind of ground myself from my
thoughts because like as you observed I
do like overthink a lot and think a lot
all the time and like just really detail
oriented. So like I try to just find
time in the day to take five to 10
minutes to just not think about anything
and I think it's good. It's like a
computer reset almost like if your
computer is starting to overheat.
>> Have you ever tried yoga?
Uh, no. I' I've heard that that's good.
I've wanted to try it. Uh, I do I do
jiu-jitsu and that feels like somewhat
comp comparable. Like that's also
another thing I enjoy doing because it's
just you're on the task at hand trying
not to get choked like you know it's
it's pretty straightforward and just
it's nice to just do something physical
and that feels like almost primal like
that we as humans are kind of probably
designed to do in the first place. You
know, it's just eat food and sleep and
interact with one another and whatever.
Well, Noah, I uh always enjoy
interacting with you. Uh it's
interesting to talk art and life with
you and I look forward to seeing you on
this run.
>> Yeah, it's great talking to you, man.
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