Left to right: Mike D'Antonio, Justin Foley, Adam Dutkiewicz, Howard Jones, Joel Stroetzel
Boasting over a decade of producing melodic metalcore, esteemed quintet Killswitch Engage set out to change things up on their fifth full-length by enlisting Brendan O'Brien to help out on production duties. Explains bassist/artistic director Mike D'Antonio, "It was time to try something different and get out of that comfort zone." With O'Brien holding down half the fort in Atlanta while guitarist (and prolific producer in his own right) Adam D. handled the rest of the work at his Massachusetts-based Zing Studios, the resulting team effort, Killswitch Engage, consists of 11 melody-driven powerhouse tracks further showcasing KsE's front-running talents. Adds drummer Justin Foley, "We just wanted to make something we were really stoked on." Find out what else this dynamic duo had to say about their new album as they share some laughs taking us from where they started to where they are now, talking about some of their best accomplishments as eternal road warriors, and revealing their humble hopes of what's next as they unleash their second self-titled record on the world.
Describe your evolution up until this point.
D'Antonio: [We] started out as mainly just a hardcore band playing shows and having fun. All of a sudden, Roadrunner Records was in the picture, and we were like, ok, I guess we have to quit our jobs and take this seriously? Then we said, "Let's try it out for a year, if it doesn't work out ..." And we've been on tour ever since! We've lost some members and added some members along the way. Justin and Howard [Jones] are our newest guys, although they've been in the band for what -- ?
Foley: Comin' up on six years now.
D'Antonio: And Jones is seven or something like that. With every different group of musicians you play with, things usually get taken to the next level -- unless you got the wrong guy [laughs]. We've just been expanding upon that.
Can you deconstruct the dynamic you guys have that makes that work?
Foley: I don't know. Maybe we just all have different parts that we bring to the writing that keeps things fresh. Like Joel [Stroetzel] is into the power metal ...
D'Antonio: Power metal, glam metal ...
Foley: ... a lot of the note-y, metal-y riffs. Mike brings a lot of the mosh riffs.
D'Antonio: [Smiles] Crowbar, EyeHateGod, Kyuss, Southern rock, stuff like that.
What are your goals as a band now, as opposed to when you first started out?
D'Antonio: All goals and expectations have been completely blown away -- even from when we first signed to Roadrunner. When I brought that news to the guys they just laughed like, "What, Roadrunner!?" Everything is just a surprise; I don't even look at the schedules at all so I'm always surprised where we're at.
Foley: Umm, the only goal I have now is to keep going, keep playing. That's about it.
What made you decide to work with an outside producer this time around?
D'Antonio: Well, it was our fifth record; it was time to try something different and get out of that comfort zone we were so involved with. It just felt like it was the right time to mix it up a little bit. What have we got to lose? Our careers! [Laughs] No, I think we just want to write the best music that we can and just be happy with that.
Foley: Yeah, I don't really think about what other effects it's going to have; we just wanted to make something we were really stoked on. It was what we were feeling as a band -- might as well give it a shot.
D'Antonio: We're just really critical of ourselves, so I feel like we have a good judgment of how we should sound or put things together, which made it very hard to put it into someone else's hands.
In terms of that, what did Brendan O'Brien bring to the table?
D'Antonio: He worked with Howard really well. He took everyone out of their comfort zone, which can add a little bit of angst to it all. A little bit of ferocity as well, and a little bit of scared-ness. [Laughs] I feel like his work with Howard made it all worthwhile.
Foley: It was nice having a fresh set of ears on it. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but if we would typically do this one thing at this one part, he would say, "Oh, well try it that way." So we didn't fall into the, "Ok, well do this here like we usually do."
How did you guys -- the rhythm section -- benefit from working with him?
D'Antonio: I was only with Brendan for a week when we did the drum tracks; I just did scratch tracks with Justin. I spent the rest of the time with Adam, which was actually a lot more comfortable. It was great to be back at the old studio, Zing. You walk through the door and all stress goes away.
Foley: They were great to us. We did the drums down there, and probably the vocals is the thing Brendan had his hands in the most. He was really working with Howard -- the two of them were really going at it, writing as much stuff as they could. The guitarists were just doing their usual thing [with Adam.]
With O'Brien's emphasis on vocals, do you fear you're going to be compared to Mastodon in working with the man of the hour, so to speak?
D'Antonio: It's hard to compare anybody to Mastodon -- they're awesome, so unique.
Foley: It's cool -- I mean, I love our name mentioned next to Mastodon's!
You mentioned Howard was writing with Brendan; where there any other differences in the way you approached songwriting on this record?
D'Antonio: Everyone [brought] their own demos, which is fun. It's forced me to learn how to play guitar, and how to use Garage Band. [Laughs] A lot of that stuff you play for the guys that are pros at guitar and they just laugh; they chuckle, but most of the time they get the idea of what you're trying to do. In that respect, it's better than just walking in and saying, "Maybe try this and maybe that." You actually have a plan and put it on the table. People will add to it or subtract from it or leave it as is.
Foley: It [made] things a little more efficient, I think. A little better use of time.
Why name this album self-titled when you already have a self-titled record?
Foley: Do we have a good answer for that?
D'Antonio: La-zy. No, I mean it's kind of a rebirth, like starting from the ground up? Until the next four we release. [Laughs]
You guys have been on a vicious touring cycle ...
Foley: Yeah, more than we ever had before.
How did the amount of touring you've done since the last record affect the writing of this one?
D'Antonio: It just took a really long time to go to every place that wanted us to play. We really didn't take a lot of time off at all.
Foley: We only had about a month to ourselves right after tour, then we started writing.
D'Antonio: Well, that's the only way we really make money. Record sales don't really mean anything anymore, so if we wanna have houses and not go home to a box [laughs], then you gotta tour. And strike while the iron is hot, too. People wanna see us, so why not give the people what they want, right?
Foley: It'll be nice to have new songs, too; it'll be refreshing. Going out there and having everyone sing along and stokin' out a bunch of kids. That's the best.
D'Antonio: Yeah, it's all about the interaction with the kids.
Do you guys feel the crunch of the economy at all coming down when touring is your means of income?
Foley: We're in a weird spot, because we were writing when everything tanked. This is the first time we've gone out since then, and the tour was booked and agreed upon before this all happened. So in that respect we were lucky to have that locked in. It's also not our headline tour, so we're not expecting to sell headline merchandise or tickets for that matter, so we're just along for the ride. We don't really have any responsibility to sell stuff. [Laughs]
D'Antonio: I haven't really noticed much with the economy, knock on wood. I think people are really looking for entertainment right now and just to get out of that humdrum stay-at-home kind of life. I feel like this might be the least expensive out of some of the [other bands'] tours, maybe helping people along.
How did touring arenas [with Disturbed] compare to playing clubs?
D'Antonio: We got showers everyday, which is cool. We don't usually get that in these dark, dingy clubs.
Foley: I mean the club interaction is awesome, when you're close to the fans. It's kind of where we all came from and what we're all used to, but there's a different power when it's a really great show with that many people.
D'Antonio: Yeah, the hometown show was just incredible. People were so involved, so energetic and ready to rock, that's a memory that'll live on for awhile.
What other great tour memories stand out?
D'Antonio: Wacken in Germany could [be] my most memorable moment. European festivals as a whole are a lot bigger and a lot fancier and a much more diverse bill ... I was expecting the most metal festival ever made, and us stepping out on stage and getting stuff thrown at us. [Laughs] I wasn't sure how people were going to perceive the band; I mean we're a metal band, but we're definitely a bit lighter than a lot of the black metal that was going on.
Foley: Yeah and especially because we got sandwiched between Carcass and At the Gates. [Laughs]
D'Antonio: Yeah, that's something you want to watch, not something you wanna play in between! But wow, it turned out really amazing, and we actually shot a video with some of that footage for "This is Absolution." So there's some Wacken memories in there.
With such a strong live show, are there any plans to record a live record?
D'Antonio: We did at one point. On the last record we recorded like 30 or 40 shows, we just never got around to listening to see if any of it was any good. [Laughs]
Foley: Who knows, it might surface at some point ...
D'Antonio: There was some talk of something like that. We're using in-ears live now, so I feel like it would be so much tighter these days.
Foley: Does anybody wanna listen to live shows?
D'Antonio: You can tell instantly whether the band is full of crap or what by how they play live, that's for sure.
So with all that you guys have accomplished so far, what do you hope to achieve with this record?
D'Antonio: We definitely want people to buy it. [Laughs]
Foley: Yeah, it would be nice if people bought it and came to shows for the next two years, then we could stop for a few years. [Laughs]
D'Antonio: We need that Metallica tour James Hetfield! (laughs)
D'Antonio: [We] started out as mainly just a hardcore band playing shows and having fun. All of a sudden, Roadrunner Records was in the picture, and we were like, ok, I guess we have to quit our jobs and take this seriously? Then we said, "Let's try it out for a year, if it doesn't work out ..." And we've been on tour ever since! We've lost some members and added some members along the way. Justin and Howard [Jones] are our newest guys, although they've been in the band for what -- ?
Foley: Comin' up on six years now.
D'Antonio: And Jones is seven or something like that. With every different group of musicians you play with, things usually get taken to the next level -- unless you got the wrong guy [laughs]. We've just been expanding upon that.
Can you deconstruct the dynamic you guys have that makes that work?
Foley: I don't know. Maybe we just all have different parts that we bring to the writing that keeps things fresh. Like Joel [Stroetzel] is into the power metal ...
D'Antonio: Power metal, glam metal ...
Foley: ... a lot of the note-y, metal-y riffs. Mike brings a lot of the mosh riffs.
D'Antonio: [Smiles] Crowbar, EyeHateGod, Kyuss, Southern rock, stuff like that.
What are your goals as a band now, as opposed to when you first started out?
D'Antonio: All goals and expectations have been completely blown away -- even from when we first signed to Roadrunner. When I brought that news to the guys they just laughed like, "What, Roadrunner!?" Everything is just a surprise; I don't even look at the schedules at all so I'm always surprised where we're at.
Foley: Umm, the only goal I have now is to keep going, keep playing. That's about it.
What made you decide to work with an outside producer this time around?
D'Antonio: Well, it was our fifth record; it was time to try something different and get out of that comfort zone we were so involved with. It just felt like it was the right time to mix it up a little bit. What have we got to lose? Our careers! [Laughs] No, I think we just want to write the best music that we can and just be happy with that.
Foley: Yeah, I don't really think about what other effects it's going to have; we just wanted to make something we were really stoked on. It was what we were feeling as a band -- might as well give it a shot.
D'Antonio: We're just really critical of ourselves, so I feel like we have a good judgment of how we should sound or put things together, which made it very hard to put it into someone else's hands.
In terms of that, what did Brendan O'Brien bring to the table?
D'Antonio: He worked with Howard really well. He took everyone out of their comfort zone, which can add a little bit of angst to it all. A little bit of ferocity as well, and a little bit of scared-ness. [Laughs] I feel like his work with Howard made it all worthwhile.
Foley: It was nice having a fresh set of ears on it. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, but if we would typically do this one thing at this one part, he would say, "Oh, well try it that way." So we didn't fall into the, "Ok, well do this here like we usually do."
How did you guys -- the rhythm section -- benefit from working with him?
D'Antonio: I was only with Brendan for a week when we did the drum tracks; I just did scratch tracks with Justin. I spent the rest of the time with Adam, which was actually a lot more comfortable. It was great to be back at the old studio, Zing. You walk through the door and all stress goes away.
Foley: They were great to us. We did the drums down there, and probably the vocals is the thing Brendan had his hands in the most. He was really working with Howard -- the two of them were really going at it, writing as much stuff as they could. The guitarists were just doing their usual thing [with Adam.]
With O'Brien's emphasis on vocals, do you fear you're going to be compared to Mastodon in working with the man of the hour, so to speak?
D'Antonio: It's hard to compare anybody to Mastodon -- they're awesome, so unique.
Foley: It's cool -- I mean, I love our name mentioned next to Mastodon's!
You mentioned Howard was writing with Brendan; where there any other differences in the way you approached songwriting on this record?
D'Antonio: Everyone [brought] their own demos, which is fun. It's forced me to learn how to play guitar, and how to use Garage Band. [Laughs] A lot of that stuff you play for the guys that are pros at guitar and they just laugh; they chuckle, but most of the time they get the idea of what you're trying to do. In that respect, it's better than just walking in and saying, "Maybe try this and maybe that." You actually have a plan and put it on the table. People will add to it or subtract from it or leave it as is.
Foley: It [made] things a little more efficient, I think. A little better use of time.
Why name this album self-titled when you already have a self-titled record?
Foley: Do we have a good answer for that?
D'Antonio: La-zy. No, I mean it's kind of a rebirth, like starting from the ground up? Until the next four we release. [Laughs]
You guys have been on a vicious touring cycle ...
Foley: Yeah, more than we ever had before.
How did the amount of touring you've done since the last record affect the writing of this one?
D'Antonio: It just took a really long time to go to every place that wanted us to play. We really didn't take a lot of time off at all.
Foley: We only had about a month to ourselves right after tour, then we started writing.
D'Antonio: Well, that's the only way we really make money. Record sales don't really mean anything anymore, so if we wanna have houses and not go home to a box [laughs], then you gotta tour. And strike while the iron is hot, too. People wanna see us, so why not give the people what they want, right?
Foley: It'll be nice to have new songs, too; it'll be refreshing. Going out there and having everyone sing along and stokin' out a bunch of kids. That's the best.
D'Antonio: Yeah, it's all about the interaction with the kids.
Do you guys feel the crunch of the economy at all coming down when touring is your means of income?
Foley: We're in a weird spot, because we were writing when everything tanked. This is the first time we've gone out since then, and the tour was booked and agreed upon before this all happened. So in that respect we were lucky to have that locked in. It's also not our headline tour, so we're not expecting to sell headline merchandise or tickets for that matter, so we're just along for the ride. We don't really have any responsibility to sell stuff. [Laughs]
D'Antonio: I haven't really noticed much with the economy, knock on wood. I think people are really looking for entertainment right now and just to get out of that humdrum stay-at-home kind of life. I feel like this might be the least expensive out of some of the [other bands'] tours, maybe helping people along.
How did touring arenas [with Disturbed] compare to playing clubs?
D'Antonio: We got showers everyday, which is cool. We don't usually get that in these dark, dingy clubs.
Foley: I mean the club interaction is awesome, when you're close to the fans. It's kind of where we all came from and what we're all used to, but there's a different power when it's a really great show with that many people.
D'Antonio: Yeah, the hometown show was just incredible. People were so involved, so energetic and ready to rock, that's a memory that'll live on for awhile.
What other great tour memories stand out?
D'Antonio: Wacken in Germany could [be] my most memorable moment. European festivals as a whole are a lot bigger and a lot fancier and a much more diverse bill ... I was expecting the most metal festival ever made, and us stepping out on stage and getting stuff thrown at us. [Laughs] I wasn't sure how people were going to perceive the band; I mean we're a metal band, but we're definitely a bit lighter than a lot of the black metal that was going on.
Foley: Yeah and especially because we got sandwiched between Carcass and At the Gates. [Laughs]
D'Antonio: Yeah, that's something you want to watch, not something you wanna play in between! But wow, it turned out really amazing, and we actually shot a video with some of that footage for "This is Absolution." So there's some Wacken memories in there.
With such a strong live show, are there any plans to record a live record?
D'Antonio: We did at one point. On the last record we recorded like 30 or 40 shows, we just never got around to listening to see if any of it was any good. [Laughs]
Foley: Who knows, it might surface at some point ...
D'Antonio: There was some talk of something like that. We're using in-ears live now, so I feel like it would be so much tighter these days.
Foley: Does anybody wanna listen to live shows?
D'Antonio: You can tell instantly whether the band is full of crap or what by how they play live, that's for sure.
So with all that you guys have accomplished so far, what do you hope to achieve with this record?
D'Antonio: We definitely want people to buy it. [Laughs]
Foley: Yeah, it would be nice if people bought it and came to shows for the next two years, then we could stop for a few years. [Laughs]
D'Antonio: We need that Metallica tour James Hetfield! (laughs)
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
Man I Love the new album. Its always nice to play one of KSE albums to hear the band ripping it out with Howards voice screaming to the soul.Great to hear new stuff that adds more to their metal marvels