Rockezine.com interview with Killswitch Engage on Nov 20, 2002

with Adam Dutkiewics on Nov 20, 2002

After their successful major label debut “Alive Or Just Breathing” Killswitch Engage is conquering the world with their outrageous live shows. After shows with bands like In Flames, Kittie, Shadows Fall and Hatebreed, it’s now their turn to headline shows. Killswitch Engage is currently touring (Roadrage Tour) through Europe with the likes of 36Crazyfists and Five Point O.
		Could you tell me something about the Roadrage Tour and your experiences during this tour so far? So far the tour has been awesome! A lot of sold out shows and kids who are going crazy on our music. Besides the audience, 36Crazyfists and Five Point O are also great. Everyday we laugh about their (drunken) stupidity and especially Mig’s (36CF) drunkenness.
		Could you tell me something more about Killswitch Engage and it’s history? Our bassplayer came up with the name after seeing an episode of the “X Files”. A killswitch is a cool visual thing. It’s some kind of a metaphor for shutting down the system. Killswitch Engage is founded late ’98 begin ’99. We started as a four piece, released our debut album on Ferret Records and since “Alive Or Just Breathing” we’re a five piece.
		You’ve switched vocalists a while ago. Could you tell me why Jesse left, why you choose Howard as his replacement and how are your experiences with him so far? Since our first US tour Jesse has had a throat issue. His voice is inflamed and every three shows we had to cut half of the set or cancel a show. This situation was very difficult, because to promote our record we wanted to tour as many as possible. At one point we decided to part ways with Jesse and Howard, an amazing singer who formerly sang in Blood Has Been Shed, was his replacement. Howard has an amazing throat and bushes himself to the limit. The reactions of the audiences, but also us as a band are great!
		A lot of people think you’re just another nu-metal band, because you released your record on Roadrunner. Can you tell me something more about your switch from a hardcore label such as Ferret to a metal related Roadrunner? Carl (Ferret Records) has been a friend of us for a long time. He gave us the chance to release our debut and during that time he also worked for Roadrunner Records. He dropped our name at Roadrunner and soon a hype was created. They offered us a record deal and shortly after we recorded “Alive Or Just Breathing”.
		Could you give me with a simple “Yes” or “No” on the following names? Darkest Hour - Yes Alicia Keys - Yes Simpsons - Very yes Sepultura - Old yes Thursday - Mega yes Santa Claus - Magical yes Hatebreed - Bloody yes Transformers - Classical yes Nelly - Yes Forest Gump - Positive yes Poison The Well - Yes Zao - Yes Bush - No Deftones - No Lector Hannibal - Fleshy yes Cradle Of Filth - Yes He-Man - Another classical yes Ferret - Outstanding yes Sunny Day Real Estate - Yes Shadows Fall - Drunken yes
		In the past you’ve toured with various bands. Which bands would you definitely like to tour with in the future? Well we’ve toured with most of the bands we’ve wanted to tour with, so this is a hard one. I guess we want to tour with Slayer, but on the other hand we don’t, because you know how their fans are… Maybe System Of A Down would be a nice touring partner.
		“Alive Or Just Breathing” is released this year, but are there already plans concerning a new album? We definitely want to make a new record, but we haven’t written any new material yet. We’re touring so much (Since May), that we haven’t got much time to write anything new. Next year we’ll be writing and recording new material with our new singer Howard.
I would like to give a big thank you to the visitors of our shows and in particular the visitors of our sold-out show in the 013...		Thank you for the interview and hopefully we’ll hear more from you soon. Is there anything you’d like to add to this interview? I would like to give a big thank you to the visitors of our shows and in particular the visitors of our sold-out show in the 013, because they were great! There was a hug moshpit and everybody went crazy. All the reactions are amazing. We really appreciate this…
(Dennis van den Berg)