Future Palace's Perfectly Timed Australian Debut

If there's one way to describe Berlin-based alternative metal group Future Palace, it is determined. 

Forming in 2018, the trio hit the ground running quickly in first becoming an interesting new player on the German scene, and then becoming a total firebrand of a band thanks to a string of strong releases and an irresistible chemistry as a live unit. 

Across Future Palace's three albums, there is a clear thread of evolution – the creative DNA of the band has galvanised with each step forward they have taken together. Their latest record, Resurgence, feels like a culmination of a period of growth and bold artistic swings taken during a time where Future Palace's visibility as a new German metal group set to break through reached a new peak.

Frenetic, crushing and slick, Resurgence is a perfect introduction to those set to be introduced to Future Palace on their upcoming Australian visit. Touring for this year's Good Things Festival – including an Adelaide sideshow alongside The Devil Wears Prada – Future Palace are primed to make an impactful debut. 

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"I don't think I would have felt as prepared, maybe a few years ago," vocalist Maria Lessing admits. "I've learned so much over the last few years: we've played so many shows, I've taken more vocal coaching lessons to always improve. We're very, very excited. All three of us have never been to Australia, ever. That in itself is very exciting."

When we speak with the frontwoman, Future Palace are eyeing up their anticipated performance at the Louder Than Life Festival: one of North America's biggest rock and metal gatherings, held in Kentucky and featuring the likes of My Chemical Romance, Iron Maiden, Limp Bizkit, Gojira, The Prodigy and more. 

Flying to the US for one show is something Lessing herself describes as "crazy", but admits that this is also part of the job, if Future Palace wants to continue growing and embracing such a chaotic trajectory.

"That's the reality of the job," she explains. "It was casual for me to tour Europe, which in itself is crazy, but these long distances are wild for me. But if we want to be seen more internationally, we're open for it and we're open for completely new markets too. Australia is a big milestone for us and I'm excited. Now that we've opened the doors to Australia, maybe we could also go there again next year. I hope new people will find us on this tour. It is such a good opportunity for us."

Taking a moment to reflect on where their music has taken the band to date, Lessing remains grounded. While many audiences may have come into the Future Palace fold off the back of their last year or so of touring throughout Europe, the work the band has put in during their early chapters has solidified their foundation. 

Coming together in the years just prior to COVID, Future Palace had to navigate a flourishing career in Europe as well as the period of lockdowns that all of a sudden threw a spanner in the works. 

Their vision as a band remained strong during this time, and though they were hit with postponements to live plans, Future Palace's emergence out of lockdown - armed with their sophomore album Run - repositioned them as one of Germany’s most exciting new names. 

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Staking such a claim in their homeland isn't without its challenges, as Lessing explains, "Metal and rock music isn't really well represented in our media, on our TVs, or anything. It used to be a big thing with bands like Tokio Hotel in the 2000s; they were one of the biggest acts in rock music. Before that, of course we had bands who were very successful, but it’s rare to have a very big band from here make it through."

She recalls early interactions with Electric Callboy - easily one of Germany’s biggest acts of the moment - and how seeing their success, from a town in the country’s North Rhine-Westphalia region, inspired Future Palace and their own ambitions.

"We were starting at a time where there were barely any new German metal bands," Lessing remembers. "We were starting in 2018 and did our first tours when COVID happened; I feel like we were one of the earlier bands, except for Electric Callboy, who came up during that time.

"Obviously they have completely made it in a huge way, and it's been a good motivation for us. Their music is very different, though. I never thought we would tour with them, but that was a great thing: that they saw us and acknowledged our work, because they know how hard it is to get out of Germany as a German band. They saw us and appreciated our efforts, I think. They liked our music and wanted to support us. 

"When they decided to take us on tour, I just thought it was so cool. Without that, we would still probably have a lot more work to do. That tour helped us a lot to grow and to have experience and hope, to see that a German metal band can do arena shows. It was crazy. That was a boost for us."

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Lessing hopes that in turn, Future Palace can have a similar impact on the current and new wave of German artists coming through. Hard work and resilience is of course, crucial to any artist's career, but building community through your local scene has never lost its importance. 

"I hope that we might have been a boost for some other bands," Lessing says. "We might not be the biggest band, but we were one of the first from that time period to grow a bit more, to get big playlists with songs like 'Dead Inside' and 'Paradise'. People saw us and knew us, and I hope that's motivated people to know that they can get out of a smaller bubble. Nowadays, I see so many more bands, and it makes me very happy. I feel like a lot of them know us already."

As Future Palace continues to take some impressive strides forward, Lessing and her bandmates - guitarist Manuel Kohlert and drummer Johannes Früchtenicht - remain conscious of the work put into getting them to this stage of their career. 

"Everything keeps changing so much with the industry, social media changes daily," Lessing says. "It's hard to be up to date with everything and also, to do it stylistically and authentically without being cringe. That's the biggest paradox or challenge that comes with being an artist: how to stay relevant without ruining your artistic identity. It’s a huge one!

"It feels cool, to be able to do this and finance this; to be supported and have the trust to perform [overseas]. We've worked a lot to get here, we've done a lot of it ourselves. We've created a YouTube channel on our own in the beginning, uploaded our own content on my own channel back then too. I ran the social media channels and I was always thinking of ways we could grow as a band and musically."

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Maintaining a great balance of fun and focus has already brought Future Palace success: sustaining that through their Resurgence arc is where their sights firmly lay.

"I never know how people perceive our art. I always want to elevate it and make it better than before," Lessing explains. "With this album, I really wanted to have a structure and a thread that runs through the entire album - aesthetically, lyrically, musically, in every way. I really wanted it to tie together. I feel like it worked better than it ever did before. 

"If we do an album, it has to be an 'album' album. I really want to take time before we write something else. I want to feel inspired enough to write something I know will be good work. I really hate doing things because you have to do them. I know we have to do certain things; I never decided on doing the album on this timing, that was not my decision at all! But I wanted to make it good, no matter the deadline. That's my standard with the next one as well. I always try to make it better than before; put new knowledge I have gained into the project, to improve it in some way. I hope the next album will be bigger and better; I hope it will still be very 'us', but I would like to also try some different things too."

Catch Future Palace performing with The Devil Wears Prada at Adelaide's Lion Arts Factory on Wednesday 2 December. Tickets on sale now at moshtix.com.au.