Interviews: As Everything Unfolds

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Post-Hardcore band As Everything Unfolds from the UK. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Your new album DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE? has a striking title—what does that phrase mean to you, and how does it reflect the themes explored on the record?

Charlie: Set free from what? Set free from who? Set free from where? The idea of an open-ended question for this record felt right, something that people could think about using their own experiences, use as a tool for their own curiosity within themselves, but also something that encapsulated the whole concept of the record in the way we designed it. I view the question in relation to being set free from my maladaptive dream dreams, my comfort in my fantasy worlds, and my comfort in what I know. How much longer can I exist in it before I completely lose myself? Do I want to leave it? Do I want to face reality? Do I want to be set free to face my fears?

2. The album is described as dealing with grief, trauma, escapism, and confronting reality. How did those experiences shape the songwriting process for this record?

Charlie: We’ve said openly that this album is probably going to be the hardest thing we've ever had to do as a group, and it has completely encapsulated every part of this album. It certainly felt like an album in two halves for a long time, but as everything came together towards the end, it felt like finally something we can all look back on proudly.

3. Compared to your previous releases, what feels different about this era of As Everything Unfolds creatively and emotionally?

Charlie: Creatively we tried to experiment a little which ended on songs like SET IN FLOW taking ourselves out of the bounds of our conventional structure which was a lot of fun, and creating more pop/rock songs like GASOLINE which follow in the same vein from something like FELT LIKE HOME from our last album as well as creating our classic ‘heavy’ track of the album WHAT YOU WANTED. It was a weird album emotionally, as the direction changed so drastically after the death of our drummer, Jamie. Songs ended up being written after his passing, for me it became an album in 2 halves, before and after. In the end, it’s become something different from that, and something I can give to the world, something I’m proud of.

4. You’ve already shared several singles ahead of the album—“GASOLINE,” “SET IN FLOW,” “WHAT YOU WANTED,” and “POINT OF VIEW.” How did you decide these tracks would introduce the record to listeners?

Charlie: A mix of internal favorites and general consensus among friends/team. We’ve always generally been quite good at predicting our single choices early on; you just get a feeling! But we engaged our close friends, label, and management in the process more this time!

5.“WHAT YOU WANTED” features Bury Tomorrow. How did that collaboration come together, and what did they bring to the song?

Charlie: I’ve been a massive fan of Bury Tomorrow since I was a teen, and a feature for us felt like it had to be something genuine and authentic, so it ended up being a perfect match-up. We met BT a few years ago on the Impericon tour and exchanged the odd interaction here and there. We then ended up touring with them on a headline tour of theirs in November of 2024. We developed a good relationship with them, and it was a case of a text message to Dani asking if he wanted to do it, and it was done not long after!

6. Your music blends elements of alternative, post-hardcore, and electronic influences. Do you consciously try to push beyond genre boundaries, or does that fusion happen naturally during writing?

Charlie: I think just naturally we’ve always sat outside of most genre norms. Between us, we have such a wide array of influences from Drum & Bass to Emo to Black Metal, so when you smash all those together, it makes sense why we sound how we do!

7. Was there a particular song on the album that proved the most challenging to finish, either musically or emotionally?

Charlie: Setting Sun was a difficult song to finish; it ended up being a song written in grief, about grief. A song that anything going through it, I hoped could listen to, to feel like they’re not alone in the feelings they feel or the sensations they’re experiencing. I felt myself writing it for all my friends/family going through our personal loss at that time.

8. You’ve surpassed 30 million streams across your catalogue. At what moment did you start to realize the band was reaching a much wider audience?

Charlie: It’s such a hard thing to gauge because it happened so gradually for us over 10 or so years, although playing Wembley Arena made it feel exceptionally bizarre & really made you step outside of yourself for a moment!

9. Signing with Century Media Records is a big step—how has that partnership impacted the band and this new album cycle?

Charlie: It’s been great to experience a new team of people after 2 records with Long Branch Records (who we have nothing but praise for!). It’s nice to just see some new perspectives on the album approach.

10. You’ve been nominated for three Heavy Music Awards, including Best Album in 2024. Did that recognition influence your confidence or creative direction going into this new record?

Charlie: Being nominated for best album in 2024 was for sure a hugely self-affirming experience, as you never truly know how your work is going to be perceived in the wider world. Things like this, though, have never impacted our creative direction. We don’t generally allow too much outside influence to affect our creativity.

11. Over the years, you’ve toured with bands like Electric Callboy, Enter Shikari, and Skindred. What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve taken from sharing the stage with those artists?

Charlie: We’ve learned so much from every band we’ve toured with. We always try to ask questions, especially to people who have a large touring CV. A lot of that knowledge is invaluable. Always being the easiest band on the circuit is one thing we’ve learned. We always make sure we never get in the way of the headline act, and if the headline act requests something of us regarding our show, we will comply! A lot of the time, it’s a pleasure to be invited into these spaces, so we try our best to be the easiest and nicest people to work with. We feel like we’ve always been treated fairly by everyone all around us because of this!

12. You’ve also played major European festivals like Download and Wacken. How does performing at huge festivals compare to the atmosphere of more intimate headline shows?

Charlie: It’s weird to compare them because it is SO different. Playing a major festival stage is more of a euphoric and detached experience, while a club is more personable and emotive!

13. With such personal themes on this album, do you approach performing these songs live differently than older material?

Charlie: You learned to turn a stitch in your head when performing. I would say most artists have this ability; performing those more meaningful songs would be hard night after night.

14. For fans who have followed the band since the beginning, what do you think will surprise them most about DID YOU ASK TO BE SET FREE??

Charlie: I think songs like GASOLINE will be something unique in their ‘pop’ aspect, but songs like WHAT YOU WANTED show that we’ve still got that heavy edge to us, but also we’ve always floated around in genre boundaries, so I don’t think anything will be a huge surprise to our existing fan base!

15. When listeners press play on the album for the first time, what do you hope they ultimately take away from the experience?

Charlie: If you want to do anything, you can. If you feel like you’re in a rut, in a place of absolute despair, don’t ever feel like you can’t create something beautiful out of it. It’ll be hard, the hardest thing you’ve ever done, but it’ll be worth it in the end.

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