Killswitch Engage are about two weeks into the Trespass America tour, headlined by Five Finger Death Punch with support from Trivium, Emmure and other bands, and on Friday night, July 20, they inserted a new song, "No End in Sight," into their set. Here is interview from Roadrunner Records. Killswitch Engage live at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival 2012 You premiered a new song Friday night – are you playing it every night now? It
depends. We’re just trying to switch it up a little bit. We want to add
a little bit of excitement to the shows, get a little bit of buzz going
so more people come out, just having fun with it, you know?
What’s your favorite song to sing on this tour? Probably “This is Absolution,” now, just because it’s so thrashy in the beginning, it reminds me of Carcass. It’s a really energetic song, just gets the crowd going.
Do you ever find yourself mentally measuring the crowd response to Alive Or Just Breathing songs versus Howard Jones-era songs? I
don’t think consciously I do that, no, I’m just overall trying to have
the crowd enjoy themselves, regardless of what style or what era of
Killswitch it is. Admittedly, the Howard-era stuff, those choruses are
so big, they’re so easy to sing along to, so that’s usually what gets
the crowd going for sure.
How long are you playing? 45 minutes. About nine songs, give or take, depending what songs we’re doing.
Do you wish the set was longer, or is this a good way for you to get back on the horse, so to speak? I
can go either way. I can play longer or shorter. I find that 45 minutes
is a sweet spot, though, because your energy level stays pretty high.
Past that, when you’re running around the stage like a maniac, you tend
to get more tired. But I’m good for about 45 minutes to an hour. That’s
usually a really nice time for me, to keep my energy high.
For me, 45 minutes is about right as a spectator, too. [laughs]
Yeah, exactly. And then after a while, you’re like, “Yeah, all right…”
You’ve gotta really love a band to stay there and watch it. I totally
agree with you.
So what can you say about the next record at this point? I’ve
got a couple of songs done, I’ve got a bunch to go, but I’ve got a lot
of ideas. I listen to it every once in a while out here just to keep me
familiar with it, so when I get home and attempt to finish the record,
it’s still fairly fresh in my mind. Sonically, this is definitely – it’s
got a more urgent feeling to it. It’s a lot faster, there’s definitely
huge melody going on, but the songs are a lot shorter. Not one song
really goes over the three and a half, four minute mark. I just
anticipate lyrically and vocally it to be a very urgent record. We’re at
a state in this world right now where someone needs to talk about
what’s going on. There’s a lot of apathy in this world, there’s a lot of
really screwed-up stuff in our government and the world’s governments,
and the whole class vs. class thing, the protests that happened all
around the United States – there’s a lot of unrest, and I think it kinda
needs to be touched upon. And it’s up to the metal community to have a
voice, and that’s what I’m aiming to do with this next record – make it
very important. Make it matter.
Are you writing all the lyrics for the new album yourself? Yes.
Given that you’ve been out of the band for 10 years –
obviously they’ve welcomed you back, but is everybody on the same page
regarding what the songs will be about? Are you running the lyrics past
them as you go? Oh, yeah, this band is a total democracy,
which is great. Coming back into it, the guys basically said, “Do what
you wanna do – we trust you,” but I like to show them my progress, so I
send them demos, I’ll show them my lyrics and concepts for the songs.
And so far, every single person’s been really excited about my ideas,
and probably just the energy that I’m bringing to the project.
Do you write much on the road, or do you need down time? Yeah,
you kinda need down time. It’s tough out here. Being a creative person
on tour’s tough, because you’re so used to a schedule, and it sounds
funny, people who don’t do it wouldn’t really know, but it’s tiring. You
don’t really have a lot of creative time when you’re out here. You’re
trying to socialize with the other bands, doing your show, and to be
creative you’ve gotta hide somewhere and get privacy, and that’s rare on
tour. So I’ll go for long walks by myself outside of the show grounds
and attempt to write, but it’s really tough out here. I’ve had a few
days the past two weeks where I’ve had a little bit of creativity, but
outside of that, the road isn’t really conducive to creative thought,
for me.
How does writing for Killswitch differ from writing for Times of Grace, or even for your old band, Seemless? I think for Times of Grace,
that was just – that record happened at a particular time in my life
where I couldn’t help but write those lyrics, 'cause that’s exactly what
I was going through. I think with Killswitch now, I’m looking outward
to the world, and I want people to be able to relate to it on a bigger
level. Times of Grace was a very personal album for me and Adam [D.], and as far as Seemless goes, I mean, Seemless has been gone for years now. I’m definitely a different person than I was in the Seemless
days. I think more importantly, with the Killswitch stuff going
forward, I want it to be crucial, I want it to matter. I want people to
be able to relate to it, you know?
I understand you’re friends with Matt from Trivium – have you guys been going out to eat much on this tour? The
one time he had a great place lined up and invited me, I didn’t have my
per diem because I’d just bought a really expensive skateboard [laughs].
So I couldn’t afford to go out to eat with him, so I made a rain check.
But we always geek out about food and beer and wine. He’s definitely
one of my favorite people out here. It’s funny, man, touring life is
strange. You get into your routines, you get pulled in your own
directions, and I haven’t seen him as much as I’d like to. We definitely
have plans – if nothing else, we’re gonna meet up in Chicago for a
foodie man date. [laughs]
In Newark, when you guys play the Prudential Center on
August 18, there’s a ton of really good Spanish and Portuguese
restaurants around there. Right on. He’s on it, man, he
knows. When we get to an area, he immediately knows what’s in the area,
what’s good, and he’ll just give me the rundown. It’s great.
As you get older, is finding good food and stuff like
that on the road more important than going to a strip club or some other
rock 'n'roll cliché? Or were you never that guy? You know,
it’s funny, man, I’ve never gone to a strip club in my entire life. Not
my style. Besides, I’m a married man and I’m sure my wife would kill me.
But seriously, I’ve always been a food guy, but the best thing for me
is grilling – cooking for myself. If I can find a grocery store within
walking distance of the venue, I’m definitely there, and I’ll cook up
grilled pizzas, salmon, ribs, steak, whatever I can get my hands on.
That’s my passion, next to music, is cooking. I love cooking.
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