Loudwire‘s Liz Ramanand conducted an interview with vocalist Jesse Leach of Massachusetts metallers Killswitch Engage prior to the band’s April 22 appearance at New England Metal & Hardcore Festivalin Worcester, Massachusetts. You can now watch the chat below.
Killswitch Engage played their first show with original vocalist Jesse Leach back in the band Sunday, April 22 at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival in Worcester, Massachusetts. Fan-filmed video footage of the performance can be seen at this location.
Leach sang on the band’s first self-titled album, which came out in 2000, and on their landmark 2002 Roadrunner debut “Alive Or Just Breathing”. Leach left the band in 2002 and was replaced by Howard Jones, but his work on “Alive Or Just Breathing” has always been revered by diehard, longtime Killswitch Engage fans.
“Honestly, we didn’t want to jump into anything too quickly,” Adam told AOL‘s Noisecreep in a recent interview. “We were in a position where we could take our time and try out as many singers as we wanted. There are a lot of talented singers out there, and we didn’t want to rush everything. We ended up mulling it over a bit, and we tried out a few different people.
“When we got back in the rehearsal room with Jesse, it just felt right. He’s one of my good friends, and the awkwardness of meeting someone for the first time, and all of that stuff, was gone when he jammed with us again. We also knew what Jesse is capable of, so it just took all of us getting in a room together again to remember how cool it once was. He blew us away.”
Regarding the reasons for Leach‘s original departure from Kilswitch Engage ten years ago and whether those same issues will come into play now, Adam said, “He was feeling a lot of frustration [back in 2002]. He didn’t know how to take care of his voice, and he would blow it out every couple of shows. We had to cancel a lot of shows because of that. He was also a newlywed, and they didn’t know how tough it would be to be in a relationship when the other person is a road dog. It was a lot of pressure on him. All of those things piled up, and it put him in that bad place. But these days he’s really learned how to take care of himself on the road. His marriage is also going great, and they’ve figured out how to make it work, even though one of them is a touring musician. Jesse‘s in a much better place now, that’s for sure.”
Killswitch Engage is hard at work on material for the follow-up to 2009′s second self-titled album.
In a recent interview with the Brock And The Fatguy radio show, Jesse stated about Killswitch Engage‘s new material, “I have the 14 demos for the new Killswitch record, and let me tell you, I’m glad that they didn’t turn into Times Of Grace [songs], and I’m glad that Killswitch is gonna have the opportunity to write another record with me — or a few more, God willing. I can tell you right now from the demos, the people are gonna be really surprised; they’re setting the bar up high once again. I’m literally within day three of just listening to them and just sort of digesting them. It’s really fast and it’s really heavy. It’s not what people are going to anticipate, I’m sure. I literally am getting chills right now talking about it. It’s gonna blow the doors off people, man. It’s gonna be great.”
EUROPE:
May 31 Tivoli, Utrecht, Netherlands
Jun 01 Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Nuremberg, Germany
Jun 02 Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Nuremberg, Germany
Jun 03 Rock am Ring/Rock im Park, Nuremberg, Germany
Jun 04 Substage, Karlsruhe, Germany
Jun 05 Salle du Kao, Lyon, France
Jun 06 La Laiterie, Strasbourg, France
Jun 08 Nova Rock, Burgenland, Austria
Jun 09 Download Festival, Derby, United Kingdom
Jun 12 Kulturfabrik, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Jun 15 Copenhell, Copenhagen, Denmark
Jun 16 Metaltown, Gothenburg, Sweden
Jun 18 Grünspan, Hamburg, Germany
Jun 19 Grünspan, Hamburg, Germany
Jun 22 God’s of Metal (Arena Fiera Milano), Milan, Italy
Jun 24 Grasspop, Dessel, Belgium
US/CANADA:
Jul 05 Jacob’s Pavilion, Cleveland, OH
Killswitch Engage
with
Five Finger Death Punch, Trivium, Pop Evil, Emmure, God Forbid and Battlecross 2012 Tour Dates:
Jul 13 1st Bank Center, Broomfield, CO
Jul 15 MetroPark Arena, Billings, MT
Jul 16 Bismarck Civic Center, Bismarck, ND
Jul 17 Sioux Falls Arena, Sioux Falls, SD
Jul 19 Eagles Ballroom, Milwaukee, WI
Jul 21 Allen County Expo Center, Fort Wayne, IN
Jul 22 McElroy Auditorium, Waterloo, IA
Jul 24 Lonestar Ampitheater, Lubbock, TX
Jul 25 Bell County Expo Center, Belton, TX
Jul 27 Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio, TX
Jul 28 Ford Pavilion, Beaumont, TX
Jul 30 Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, TN
Jul 31 Ford Center, Evansville, IN
Aug 01 PNC PAVILION, Cincinnati, OH
Aug 03 Kellogg Arena, Battle Creek, MI
Aug 04 Meadowbrook Amphitheater, Rochester Hills, MI
Aug 07 SRC Arena, Syracuse, NY
Aug 08 Glen Falls Civic Center , Glens Falls, NY
Aug 10 Scarborough Downs, Scarborough, ME
Aug 11 Heavy MTL, Montreal, Canada
Aug 12 Heavy TO, Toronto, Canada
Aug 14 STAGE AE, Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 15 Comcast Theatre, Hartford, CT
Aug 17 DCU Center, Worcester, MA
Aug 18 Prudential Center, Newark, NJ
Aug 19 Penn’s Landing, Philadelphia, PA
Aug 21 Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheatre, Charlotte, NC
Aug 22 Knoxville Civic Coliseum, Knoxville, TN
Aug 24 Zoo Amphitheatre, Oklahoma City, OK
Aug 25 Santa Ana Star Center, Rio Rancho, NM
Aug 26 Comerica Theatre, Phoenix, AZ
Aug 28 Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA
Related articles:
Times Of Grace – Hymn Of A Broken Man [CD review]
‘Killswitch Engage’ To Begin Work On New Album [August. 2011]
‘Times Of Grace’ Singer Working On Solo Album [Sept. 2011]
‘Howard Jones’ Has Left ‘Killswitch Engage ‘ [Jan. 2012]
Will Singer ‘Jesse Leach’ Rejoin ‘Killswitch Engage’? [Jan. 2012]
It’s Official: ‘Jesse Leach’ Rejoins ‘Killswitch Engage’ [Feb. 2012]
‘Killswitch Engage’ ‘Jesse Leach’ ‘Blew Us Away In Auditions’ [Feb. 2012]
‘Jesse Leach’ On New ‘Killswitch Engage’ Material: ‘People Are Gonna Be Really Surprised’ [Feb. 2012]
‘Killswitch Engage’ Singer: ‘Metal Has Changed, But I’ve Changed As Well’ [April 2012]