Welcome to Sentinel Daily! For the benefit of our readers, please tell us who you are and your role with in the band. “Hey I’m Joao Goncalves and I play guitar in Orpheus Omega and have been doing so for the last eleven years”.

Good to have you aboard! You’re about to hit the road with of Omnium Gatherum, but of course you’re an experienced band in your own right – how do you approach a tour as a support act? Or are supporting and headlining much the same for you in terms of the day to day activities of touring? “I think we approach a show the same way regardless of where we are on the bill. The key for us is to be prepared and to give people a killer show regardless of if we play thirty minutes or an hour. At the end of the day it’s about being a professional and being entertaining. It a a fine balance but makes for a more engaging show overall. This one is a bit different however as it’s actually a co headliner, we’ll both be playing the same length sets so we’ll be playing a full headline set on this tour supporting the new album”.

Excellent news! Do you personally tour differently now with a bit of experience under the belt? Or is touring as exciting now as it ever has been? “We definitely tour differently in that we tour smarter. We have made sure we see what others do and learn from that and from our own experiences. Anything that makes touring smoother and easier is always important and I think that’s what’s been the biggest thing for us over the years. As for excitement it’s always high, we love to play live and it’s the whole point of being in a band – sharing the music you write with the people who love it in the same room, there’s no better feeling”.

This is quite an extensive tour by Australian standards – do you feel the scene is at a point in it’s health and vitality now where more of these longer tours are viable for bands? “I think it’s a case by case thing. I think the scene is strong enough to sustain a tour of this size for sure, but it takes a lot of factors for it to be ‘successful’ – it takes good plaNning, good budgeting, the right bands and the right time of year. But I think it shows the growth of the scene over the years. More and more international bands are touring Australia and I think it’s because it’s become viable so that’s a positive sign moving forward”.

You’re also just about to launch your fourth album – how does that process differ now from when you first entered the studio as a band? “It’s a more organized and planned process, we go in with a goal to make the best album we can as opposed to just wanting to get music recorded. After that it’s all about promoting what we have done and just making sure people get on it and like what we do”.

And what can we expect to hear on Wear Your Sins? Any major diversions from the OO sound that we know and love? Or more of a continuing refinement of what made us sit up and listen to you in the first place? “I think there are some changes but it’s all growth. We loved what we did on our last release (Partum Vita Mortem) but we came into this wanting to eclipse that and I think we have. We have taken what we loved from the past and made it better and then just introduced things we wanted to try and if it worked we kept it. The album is diverse in its highs and lows but is essentially Orpheus Omega through and through”.

Back to touring – what are the highs and lows for you on the road? “Missing home is a low but I think the experiences you get in traveling, experiencing cultures and meeting new people are all great highs”.

Your list of touring mates is impressive – anyone left that you’d love to share a stage with? “So many (laughs) but I think we would love to play with some more of our influences like In Flames, Arch Enemy and so on but we just appreciate the opportunities to share the stage and learn from the bands we admire”.

Anything else you think the readers of Sentinel Daily should know about the upcoming tour and new album? “Apart form getting a copy of the album and getting a ticket not really, we
are extremely proud of what we have done and hope to share it with the world – Thanks!”

Driven By Conflict And Sin Australia/NZ Tour Dates:
10th April – Canberra | The Basement
12th April – Sydney | Crowbar
13th April – Brisbane | Crowbar
15th April – Wellington | Valhalla *
16th April – Auckland | Whammy Bar *
17th April – Adelaide | Enigma Bar
18th April – Ballarat | Karova Lounge
19th April – Geelong | The Barwon Club
20th – Melbourne | The Corner Hotel
26th April – Hobart | The Brisbane Hotel **
27th April – Launceston | Mode Bar **
* Orpheus Omega not appearing, ** Omnium Gatherum not appearing