In a new interview with Rock Feed, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE frontman Jesse Leach was asked what he thinks makes his band such a powerful live act. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “It’s real. It’s dudes playing instruments. There’s no computers. We have a sample thing that does stuff from the record, but what you’re hearing on the record, we do our best to imitate that live without tracks. No offense to bands who run tracks, but for us, it’s a point of pride that we don’t do that. And that’s why you’re gonna get — if I’m a little tired, you’re gonna hear it. I had years where I was a raging drunk and you could hear it in my voice, and I had the surgery in 2018. So, for me, 2018 forward, I’ve been hyper-focused on getting better as a vocalist because live, you’re gonna hear my flaws. And that’s good. I like flaws, personally.”
He continued: “A lot of the music I like to listen to has got that edge to it, whether it’s punk rock or rock and roll or hardcore. I like when you can hear, this went a little sideways here, and people keep it on the record. But that being said, that’s not KILLSWITCH. The record’s squeaky clean. The live performance is the best that we can to get there, but it’s never gonna be perfect. And most of the time when we get off stage, it’s not immediately a good show. It’s, like, the list of grievances. And it’s brutal sometimes. And sometimes I’m, like, ‘Not now. Just wait. We’ll talk about it [later]. Just let me bask in the afterglow of the show.’ We even have our sound guy record, and we have to listen to the recordings. And if I messed up, I’ve gotta listen to it. So, if I have a bad night, I hear about it. And the next day I’m, like, ‘Sorry, guys.’ But I know what I have to work on. So come the next night. I’m not screwing up that part. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Again, it’s just we care that much. The quality control stays high.”
During the chat, Leach also weighed in on a debate about people using artificial intelligence (A.I.) to create music. He said: “It is wild. For me, there’s nothing better than, and some of the stuff I really like to listen to out in the road is a person with an acoustic guitar playing a song. And you can hear the finger scratches on the strings, you can hear the voice kind of go a little bit. Like a live recording of someone playing an acoustic guitar and singing, and that’s it, that’s some of my favorite stuff to listen to, because you’re getting the human element. A.I., even the videos I see on Instagram, if I’m scrolling and I see an A.I. video, I just get slightly uncomfortable. Some of it is cool, and I get it’s a tool we can use, but I’m still uncomfortable with it. I’m a child of the ’80s. I mentioned ‘1984’, I mentioned ‘They Live’ and all those science-fiction movies, ‘Matrix’, trying to warn us, ‘Terminator’. We’re already there. We’re there already, which is wild to me.
“I’m not a curmudgeon that’s, like, ‘No A.I.’ A.I. can be used as a tool to help with little things. But as far as creativity goes, I can’t ever see myself using it,” Jesse added. “I just love being an artist, whether that’s just writing lyrics or even drawing on a piece of paper doodling or coming up with a logo or whatever it is that makes me happy as an artist. I don’t want that taken away for the sake of convenience. ‘Cause then it becomes something that you’re doing to speed up the process to probably get money, I’m assuming — I don’t know — but it’s leading us down a very strange path. And I don’t shun it, but I think we need to be really careful with what’s happening, ’cause it’s wild. It’s very wild. That ChatGPT is wild… My thing, too, is because it’s digital and not in print — like, you can read a book — it can change. So the definition of things can change without us even realizing it. That’s, to me, where things get a little scary… How do you know what you’re getting is the truth? You don’t know… It’s a weird thing to navigate. And I guess, for me, the human element will always be something that will come through, whether that’s music or film or writing or whatever. Even people who are using A.I. to write songs, that’s wild to me.”
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s latest album, “This Consequence”, came out on February 21 via Metal Blade. “This Consequence” is KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s ninth LP overall, and sixth with Leach, who rejoined the band in 2012.
KILLSWITCH ENGAGE kicked off its first tour of North America since late 2022 on March 5 at The Pinnacle in Nashville, Tennessee. The trek, featuring support from KUBLAI KHAN TX, FIT FOR A KING and FROZEN SOUL, concluded on April 12 in Portland, Maine.
In a separate interview with Forbes, Leach stated about KILLSWITCH ENGAGE‘s longevity: “I’m super proud of it, but it takes a family to make this work. The only reason this works is because we do have mutual love and respect for each other and I’m super grateful for that.
“I’m surprised it’s lasted this long because I think all of us are just, like, every day, stepping on stage, there’s moments where we’re just getting off tour with IRON MAIDEN in Australia recently, where the five of us are just, like, ‘This is crazy. How do we still get to do this? This is nuts,'” he explained. “Moments when you step off stage in front of 20,000-some-odd people in Australia, and then you tuck into the pub and have a beer with each other, and you’re just, like, ‘I guess that just happened.’ So for us, we don’t take it for granted. It’s not like we’re just, ‘This is what we do. No big deal.’ It is a big deal. It matters to us and I think that comes off. We’re genuine human beings. There’s no egotistical rock star bullshit going on here. Like, we’re fairly down-to-earth guys that just have an extraordinary passion that we’re able to exercise through our music. And I think the fans connect with that. The fans can see we’re enjoying ourselves on stage. It’s a balance between ritual and entertainment. There’s moments where all five of us are locked in and it’s intense and you’re feeling it. And I know people can see that. We believe in this. But then you have moments where someone’s chugging a beer and making a joke and having a laugh. Even mid-song, I’ll turn around and see Justin [Foley] and Adam [Dutkiewicz] doing something silly and just having fun. We take this seriously, but we don’t take each other that seriously. And that creates not just a great environment for a live show, but I think that’s all woven into the legacy of this band and why people can relate. We’re humans. It’s a connection there between us and our fans that is just irreplaceable. So it’s all about the fans, really. It’s all about connecting with them, and they’ve allowed us to last this long. It’s because of the support we get from our fans, and we know that, and we’re grateful for it.”
Source: blabbermouth.net
