Specials

A recap with Killswitch Engage

posted by: Bayonetwork on 5 February 2010

It seems that every interview with Killswitch Engage is fun. This one from 2004 was fun and so is the one AsIce.net recently did with them. Check it out!

Howard: To start off, let’s just say that our Belgian labeldude is the creepiest dude ever. It’s like you wake up and you open your eyes and there he is. That guy fucking creeps me out.
Mike: I’ve met him for so many times and he still comes into the dressing room “I’m looking for Mike” and introducing himself. Really weird.

Howard: On our previous tour through Europe, the Taste Of Chaos, I have just been laughing all the time. Hanging out with Andy Williams from Every Time I Die is just berserk. He should have been a comic for sure. He is one of the greatest story – tellers I’ve ever met in my life. Let’s just leave it at that. He is a funny guy. The things that happened to him, you can’t explain it. I could go on and on, but anyway; interview, let’s do this.

Your latest album was a self titled one, while you already released a self titled on Ferret. Was there any reason to do it again?

Mike: The band is very democratic, we all vote on what is going on. We couldn’t really find something that would fit as a title for this album. All the votes were divided. So the management brought the idea up and we of course said we already have a self titled. But in a sense it felt like a rebirth because it was the first time we used a producer. It made sense actually.
And there was a deadline for the artwork and I needed to get it done. So I just ran into the bus and said I needed a title.
Howard: It really did make sense, it was just a different album for us. Not to mention the self titled the guys did for Ferret was with a different singer, Adam playing drums. It’s a really different band right now and it’s not such a big of deal. Except the press guys seem to bring it back up.

It was the first time you worked with a producer, was there ever any speaking about someone else doing the artwork?

Mike: Definitely, we wanted that guy who does all the Mastodon artwork. He does great work, but he works slow and I work fast, thus I got the job.

The single ‘Starting Over’ was in the original version, while ‘My Curse’ or ‘The End Of Heartache’ were alternate versions. Why did you have alternate versions in the past and not now?

Mike: Basically we did it for radio edits, but this time we didn’t want to confuse people by making radio edits and stuff.
Howard: It was the last song we recorded and I actually wrote it in my sleep. I was singing that song in my sleep and when I woke up I wrote them down and demoed them and that was the song. When you have a recordlabel, they want to change things to make it more consumable, but that song, it just is what it is. And we didn’t have time to change it. So, sucks for you Roadrunner.

Was there ever any pressure from Roadrunner to get even more commercial, because they are famous for it in recent years.

Howard: Of course they want songs that are easy to digest or anything, but we really haven’t been pushed so hard. So we’ve been lucky with that. They sometimes suggested to soften the blow, but never pushed it.

Of course you have the benefit of saying that your last two albums on Roadrunner went gold, does that help?

Mike: They forget easily
Howard: Ow yeah, that stuff gets thrown out the window really fast. But wow, last two albums went gold. We really don’t think that much about it. I think it’s gonna catch up with us when this band ends. I’m gonna call Mike and phone high five him then, especially in this day and age.
Mike: Right now there are so many highpoints so you kinda roll with it. There are so many things we can’t grasp.
Howard: Exactly, for example Japan, we’ve played there lots of times already but it is so absurd if you think about it. Though we don’t think about it that much, because we are on the road the entire time and just focus on the show ahead. Other things just pass you by then.

Do you have the same feeling for general news items? That you miss out on important stuff because you are on tour?

Mike: We didn’t miss Michael Jackson’s death. We heard that an hour after he passed away, but a lot of things don’t reach us.
Howard: We were on the bus when Jackson died, he wasn’t even that old. Not that much older than me.

In another interview there was mentioned that the contribution of Brendan O’Brien wasn’t that big. So will it be all self produced again in the future?

Mike: We’ll see about that, but he definitely helped a lot with Howard’s vocals. So don't read into that too much and don't underestimate his contribution.
Howard: Brendan and I worked together the whole time. It was cool getting to work with Adam and Brendan. I got the best of both worlds. He gave us freedom to let us do the stuff we wanted to do and helped out in different ways.
Mike: it was a cool learning experience too. He really pushed us a little bit and stressed us out more. Made it possible for us to write a little bit better.

As you mentioned, the biggest difference is noticeable in your vocals, how did Brendan push you then? Was it just because of his experience and stuff that Adam wouldn’t think off?

Howard: Well he does approach things differently then Adam for sure. Both of them push hard, really hard. But he came up with different ideas than Adam would, but then again Adam would come up with other ideas. So I got to use both of their stuff at the same time. It was hard though, but it was a good experience.

Of course, Brendan is a great producer if you check his back catalogue. Any records you especially like that he produced?

Howard: Even if you don’t like the bands you just have to like the stuff he has done. He’s done some amazing things and for him to actually work with us. He came to us, because he liked our band. That was overwhelming. I really love what he did with Stone Temple Pilots. Mike is a big fan of Rage Against The Machine (laughter).
Mike: Rage Against The Machine is probably my least favourite band, together with Pearl Jam, of all time.
Howard: I knew he was going to say that, that’s why I said it first (still laughing). This is the first time I was able to pull it off.

Killswitch Engage toured with so many different types of bands, for example your latest tour in Europe was the Taste Of Chaos tour with Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster, Every Time I Die and In Flames. Do you feel that you’re that kind of band that ‘ties the room together’.

Mike: Well, that Taste Of Chaos tour. It’s the way the tour is run, a better name should be Tastes Of Chaos. Little tastes of chaos around the world. Those guys also do Vans Warped Tour and they like to spice things up and have different audiences. In the States they’re doing it a lot a great variety in line ups.
Howard: It’s a great way to get introduced to new crowds, that’s what this is about. You’re experiencing stuff that you don’t normally get to experience. It’s worth it to come and see all different bands.
Mike: To continue about the Taste Of Chaos thing, we had a discussion on our first Taste Of Chaos tour with The Used and My Chemical romance of what we were going to play. Do we play all our light music, our radiohits. For all the 16-year old girls that will come. No we played all our heavy stuff and just threw it in their faces. The horror of a pit behind them was fantastic.
Howard: On tours like that, every band just wins over new fans and you can always go out with bands that are similar to you. That makes for a good tour, but we try to have a bit more variety.

Two years ago, Overcast did a comeback. Is that what inspired Blood Has Been Shed to get back together as well?

Howard: We’ve been doing some recording and it’s cool to see how Blood Has Been Shed and Overcast played a bunch of shows together and that it’s now coming back together.
Mike: Overcast broke up and Blood Has Been Shed never did though.
Howard: Yeah that’s true. Corey has written some crazy music for Blood Has Been Shed over the last years, but I guess that’s what happens when you het struck by lightning and that’s not a joke. He’s insane. But a new record is going to happen. It may take as long or longer as Overcast. I don’t even know what to do with some of the music Corey has written. It is all very off the wall. It’s really difficult to find vocal stuff that would suit it.

As a final questions, since 2010 started now. What was your top record of 2009?

Mike: My top record of 2009 is without a doubt the new He Is Legend, It Hates You. That is one great album. I love it, that’s my top 1,2,3,4 and 5. Sometimes you have love affairs with albums and I still love this one.
Howard: He turned me on to that album as well, but for me it’s probably the new 36 Crazy Fists. Brock has become such a great friend of me as well. It’s a shame that we don’t get to see each other enough. I have flown to Alaska and went fishing with him, but everybody in that band are such great guys.

Interview by Maarten.
Pictures taken from the Killswitch Engage website.