Once Human’s Lauren Hart: “I Force Myself to Go Places That I Don’t Normally Want to Go”

The word that comes to mind witnessing Once Human‘s ascent is “improbable.” The band started off as a groove-metal outlet for Machine Head guitarist Logan Mader, and initially felt like it would be that and that alone. But since then, not only have Once Human succeeded, but they’ve also thrived. With their new album Scar Weaver on the way tomorrow, it’s exciting to see a band that was supposed to live within a set of boundaries break them and go for broke.

Then again, it helps if your vocalist is so compelling. Lauren Hart is the entire package — she sounds like a rabid banshee one minute and a fed-up Broadway actress the next, she’s totally shredded, and she’s still a fan first and foremost. Speaking to her about the new album, one gets the feeling of a musician who’s finally comfortable in the role of sonic ringmaster. That said, some of Lauren’s audible rage comes from her own growing pains — Hart is quick to admit that every Once Human release is a a new challenge for her, Scar Weaver included.

“I’ve discovered a new tone on this album, where my levels stay pretty much the same,” Hart says of her vocal performance. “It’s a bit of a raspy clean singing, and it’s a lot more powerful, a lot more diaphragm work. And it keeps everything…not quite the same level, but it’s definitely an easier switch. Still growing, still learning. I’m sure the next album will be an even bigger step up.”

How’d Scar Weaver come together?

Well, I was on tour with Kamelot, and Logan was on the Machine Head anniversary tour, so he was out. Max Karon had been writing during that time, so when Logan came back from the Machine Head tour, Max had already written ten complete songs for this album, which he then handed to me to write my top lines and lyrics. So a lot of this album was written before COVID hit, but once it hit, it gave me a lot of extra time. The release date kept getting pushed back. So if you leave artists with an album long enough, we’re gonna want to redo things! I don’t know if it was because the mood changed or the energy changed, but I kept changing my lyrics. Max and I sat in the room and rewrote some things musically so I could write lyrics on top of them. With me, you don’t want to give me extra time, because I’m a perfectionist. If you give me extra time, nothing will ever get completed. I work best under pressure and deadlines, so this COVID thing’s been a little bit of a mess for me.

Logan and you are very much the faces of Once Human — tell me about Max. What does he bring to the table?

He really made Once Human’s sound. We met him on our first ever tour with Fear Factory — he was Fear Factory’s guitar tech. The first album sounds completely different from [2017’s] Evolution, and that’s because of Max. Max really brought this unique, alien-like sound. He’s just amazing. I don’t know how to explain it. And then on top of that, he’s a great guy to have in the band. Very funny, great personality. I wish he would do more interviews – he’d make you laugh and you’d be his best friend after the interview. Instantly lovable. Max did 100% of the music writing on this album.

Was there any way in which you thought the pandemic’s downtime helped the record?

I don’t think [Machine Head frontman] Robb Flynn would’ve had the time to collaborate with us if it weren’t for COVID. I’m not glad for COVID, but you have to look on the bright side of things, and that’s definitely the bright side of everything that’s going on. 

Did you and Robb get to write in a room together?

The only time I got in the room with him was filming the video. For this, I’d already written a chorus on ‘Deadlock,’ and the only thing that was empty was the verse and the intro, which Logan and I thought really needed some nu-metal, bouncy…not rap, but that similar vocal style, which I cannot do. So Logan immediately thought of Robb, and we both wanted to send it to him, but we were unsure if he’d want to do anything, because at the time, he’d never done any guest appearances. But we figured, what’s the worst that could happen, he says no. He listened to it, and really loved the song, and he was like, ‘I’ll try something on it!’ And when he sent the song back, the chorus I’d written was gone, and his was on there. And after one listen, we both realized that his complete mopped the floor with my chorus. He just blew us away with it. He knows hooks, he knows how to make a good hook. The only word he kept was ‘Deadlock!’ I think he rearranged a little bit of the music, too. He made that song complete.

That’s big of you to accept — a lot of musicians would’ve come back being like, Where the fuck’s my chorus?

I tried to recycle that chorus and use it in other place, but it didn’t quite happen. Now,. thinking back, I’m like, it just wasn’t a good chorus to begin with! 

Was there anything you picked up touring with Kamelot that you think helps you in Once Human?

Well, int he very beginning of Once Human, I didn’t want to clean-sing. I was scared. I said, ‘Screaming only.’ And Logan made me sing – I guess he heard something in me and knew I could do it — but on the first two albums, you can hear me singing, but it’s quite reluctant. I think it sounds held back and unsure. But on this album, on Scar Weaver, it’s full force. And that is definitely 100% because of Kamelot. You gotta come out of your shell with that band. You’re filling some big shoes – you’re filling Alissa White-Gluz, you’re filling Elize Ryd, you’re filling the shoes of these big amazing singer. So I couldn’t be shy about my vocals anymore. So doing it every night onstage, singing songs like “Liar Liar’ and ‘Sacrimony,’ you will come out of your shell. You’re thrown in the deep end. I became really familiar with my clean-singing voice, and my own style.

And that’s the other thing – when Logan would first try and get me to sing, I said, ‘I can’t sing.’ And that’s because I was comparing myself to big singers. But with Kamelot, I discovered my own voice, and I stopped comparing myself to others. I became comfortable in my own tones, my own style. So that really helped me grow. And there was also a bit of a technique thing, where I had to sort of adapt. On previous albums, my screaming is quite loud, but my singing is sort of quiet, which isn’t great for live. The microphone has to be turned way down when I scream. And there has to be a sound guy who turns me all the way up when I sing, so there can be balance.

I’m a young metal singer trying to do what you do, balancing harsh and clean vocals — what advice would you give me?

Melissa Cross told me – she’s an incredible vocsal coach – that my style of screaming is different to a lot of the screamers out there. I don’t know how to fry-scream, which is a lot easier on your voice, and is a lot less breath all the time. The style that I do, false chord screaming, is a lot of air, all the time. You have to be in really good shape to pull it off. So for me, I feel like being really fit and staying in the gym and making sure your cardio is up to par – I think that helps me onstage. I also did a lot of voice work – not singing, but voice, which is like breathing work, in a theater school. That’s what I incorporate into my screaming and my singing, to not do any damage and keep my breath down in my diaphragm. This is technique for people who are onstage without microphones, to teach them how to project properly and not damage their voices, and to project to a large audience. You have to learn how to breathe and speak properly to do that. There’s a lot of videos on YouTube, a lot of breathwork exercises. But for me, it’s staying in the gym and speaking correctly. 

I’ve never heard that — that the ways in which actors throw their voices can help with screaming.

Oh yes, it definitely helps. It’s the reason I can scream the way I do, without getting damaged. Because before I did those classes, I remember screaming and tasting blood, so I thought that was correct. Heavy metal! I can taste blood! No. If you taste blood, you are doing something very wrong, and you’re not gonna last. But after this school, no blood at all. No swelling. If I’ve done an hour-plus set, I’ll have a little swelling, but that goes away after a couple of hours of silence. You’ve got to know your limits, know your voice, know when to stop. Don’t smoke – but then again, I know some great screamers who smoke, so who knows?

Have you ever considered returning to acting?

I studied method acting for a number of years, and nothing really came of it. It’s very competitive. So I guess the most that came out of it are the silly skits I do on Instagram. If anything did come in the future, I have all the right tools and techniques to pull something off. But you know what, method acting is all about not acting at all, but being honest, 100% honest with yourself. So it is very therapeutic, and I do believe it;’s helped me with my stage presence. Being comfortable in my own skin, being honest. Because people can feel that – they can feel when someone’s being fake. The audience can connect when you’re being true. So it’s definitely helped me be okay with being myself.

Now that I think about it, so many metal vocalists are both singing AND acting onstage.

The character thing is great, though! Putting on a show, 100%. But when you’re not so much a theatrical band, being honest is something that people really connect to. You can be playing this sort of role, but you can make it honest still. It can be this sub-personality of yourself that you just bring out to the stage. I was just thinking about a couple of bands I know who have this persona, but backstage they’re these normal people. It’s something that’s in them already, but they bring them to life onstage. You can still be honest even if you’re in a GWAR suit!

You’ve toured with Cradle of Filth — can we assume Dani Filth is just a regular guy backstage?

Yeah, he’s super nice! I can think of a couple of bands – Joe from Gojira! Just the sweetest, most peaceful guy you’d ever meet. And then he goes onstage and blows you away with his power! But it only comes out on the stage. I guess it’s the same with me – people tell me I’m, this sweet, innocent girl, and then I get onstage and a monster comes out!

Your last single was “Erasure,” and I wanted to ask about it specifically. There’s a real grunge-ish grit and melancholy to the track. Where did that come from?

That one crept up on me. A friend of mine told me they had a blood diamond – I’d heard the name all over the place, but I didn’t know exactly what it meant. So I looked it up, and I spent the night watching these HORRIFIC documentaries about what still goes on today, with humans basically being enslaved in the ground for these stones. It’s funding war, it’s funding terrorism. It’s disgusting, what still happens. There are laws in place that have made this less prevalent in the world today, but it still happens in certain parts. I forced myself to watch everything that’s going on, and it’s awful. So I felt really compelled by it, the same way I wrote ‘Eye Of Chaos’ – it’s a story rather than something that’s happened in my life. 

Do you do that a lot — go down the rabbit hole on very disturbing subjects?

Yes, I suppose so. I force myself to go places that I don’t normally want to go. I force myself to look at things that I’d typically want to not see.

Once Human’s Scar Weaver drops February 11th via earMusic, and is available for preorder.