KILLSWITCH ENGAGE
Interview with vocalist Jesse Leach
By Shawn SixX
Photos by Jeff Crespi
Tell me about metal in Massachusetts.
It’s everywhere… born out of the 90′s and it spread all over the world. It’s pretty amazing.
Looking back at the area and the environment, what inspired you to do what you do now?
I think initially, sonically for me it was… I was a hardcore kid. I was into punk and hardcore and then I met up with these guys Joel and Adam and they were into metal as well. I wasn’t super, super into metal. At that time, the two styles of music were starting to fuse together, but prior to that you would never see a metal kid at a hardcore show. Vice versa- you wouldn’t catch a hardcore kid at metal show. The fusing of those styles, sonically is pretty amazing to me. That’s what got me pumped and made me wanna do what I do vocally. It started with punk and hardcore and fused with the metal on a whole different level.
Looking back at that and the bands you have played with, do you think something has changed in metal? Do think it has gotten better or worse?
Both, I guess. It depends on the band. For me, modern metal has got less exciting than it was when I was younger. I think it was because back then it was the fusing of those styles. There was a real, raw energy. You didn’t know what to expect. You went to a show and a band would go on and you wouldn’t know that a breakdown was gonna happen because it wasn’t obvious. I feel like that some modern metal these days has been a “Metal by Numbers” thing. So, for me personally, I would say that some of the excitement has dulled, but there is a whole new generation of kids who are creating music that is completely different from what was going on back then. Bands like Periphery, for example, are just mind-blowing musicians and that would have never happened back then, because of bands refusing the styles like Mushuggah that changed the whole game. It’s exciting, but like with any music, it gets watered down and over saturated.
How does it make you feel, seeing people so excited to see you and the band you are in again?
It’s unreal. I haven’t quite wrapped my head around it, yet… maybe. I don’t know if I ever will man. I will be honest with you; I am a regular cat. I’m a regular guy. So I’m trying my best to just stay grounded in all this stuff and be extremely appreciative of this opportunity.
Ok so as I ask almost every band…do you think the balls have been snipped off of rock’n’roll now?
No… and I will tell you why. There are bands who are in the underground, like where I go to in NYC at Cakeshop for example, that are pushing the envelope. They are smashing stuff over their head… it’s still alive for the most part in the underground. As long as there is a youth who is dissatisfied with what’s going on then there is always gonna be rock’n’roll and punk. There are always gonna be kids who are fed up, pissed off and that’s never gonna go away.
What was it like going to high school in Rhode Island? My roommate graduated with you in Cranston High.
Cranston was fun. (Laughter) It wasn’t too crazy. There wasn’t a lot of violence and crazy stuff like that. There was the ‘cliqueness’ you see in a lot of high school movies.
I actually have a high school yearbook with your senior picture in it… there was some short spiky blonde hair and a shell necklace…
OH GOD! The one I looked like Eminem. (Laughter) Here is the funny thing, and I don’t care to admit, but I will… I was a huge 311 fan back then. As much as I was a hardcore and punk kid, I loved 311. I bleached my hair blonde. That was before the whole Eminem thing. I was one of the few kids in school who tried to be separate from the majority of those kids. In the end, my senior year, we all became friends, the jocks… we all hung out, good people in general.
Originally posted at: http://www.hailsandhorns.com/featuresandinterviews/killswitch-engage-vocalist-jesse-leach-talks-about-being-a-hardcore-kid-the-fusing-of-hardcore-and-metal-and-his-high-school-yearbook-picture/
