JESSE LEACH Admits 'It Was A Little Difficult' For Him To Sing HOWARD JONES's Lyrics When He First Rejoined KILLSWITCH ENGAGE

In a new interview with Heavy New York, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE singer Jesse Leach spoke about what it is like for him to perform songs live that were originally written and recorded with the band's former frontman Howard Jones. Asked if those songs resonate with him on a similar level as the material that he wrote with KILLSWITCH, Jesse said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "They do now. I'd say when I first first started singing them, it was a little difficult for me 'cause I'd never really done that before in my career. I've never really heard a song or read a song, I'd say, and had to perform it. It's one thing when you're singing in your car and you can sort of relate to a song. It's another thing when I'm standing in front of people and they're looking at me and I have to present it genuinely. So for me, it was trying to wrap my head around what I thought Howard was thinking in the early, early days. To me, after a full tour of singing those songs every night, it's just clicking with me. I'm, like, these are emotions I can totally relate to — you know, missing somebody on the road, 'The End Of Heartache', singing that every night, I'm thinking of my wife, thinking of my family. So it took a little while, but now doesn't matter if it's a Howard song or my song, I'm doing everything in my power to be present to those lyrics. 'Cause I've written my own story that goes with them now."

He added: "It's tricky, man. And I get the whole, people prefer this [singer] over that [one] — I totally get it, 'cause I'm like that way with VAN HALEN; I get it — but at the same time, if you are the current singer and you're singing somebody else's material, the very least you can do is give it on a hundred percent your all to present a genuine performance to people, to show them that in this song, you're living inside of it. You're being present to it. That's super important to me."

Jones left KILLSWITCH ENGAGE in 2012 and battled manic depression and bipolar disorder before forming a new project, DEVIL YOU KNOW, with guitarist Francesco Artusato (ALL SHALL PERISH) and drummer John Sankey (DEVOLVED). Along with bassist Ryan Wombacher (BLEEDING THROUGH),they recorded and toured behind two well-received albums, 2014's "The Beauty Of Destruction" and 2015's "They Bleed Red". In 2017, the band changed its name to LIGHT THE TORCH.

Jones made an appearance on KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's 2019 album "Atonement", contributing guest vocals to the aforementioned song "The Signal Fire".

Jones discussed his previous mental health issues in a 2016 interview with Metal Hammer. He said: "For a lot of the time during the whole manic depression thing, I didn't realize how bad I was. I thought the high levels of anxiety I was experiencing was just my lot in life, I didn't realize that there was help on hand for me to be able to deal with that. I thought that I was just meant to feel really nervous around large crowds. Now it's like being a kid again, because I can deal with it, so I've got my passion back and it's great."

Asked what made him get back into music after leaving KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, Howard told Heavy New York: "Honestly, I think it was because I was just kind of tired of doing nothing and I don't do much else other than music. I felt like I needed to venture out because I was basically agoraphobic for three years. It's kind of well known. I went off the grid. I didn't have a cell phone for three years — I was gone. It felt, like, 'Okay, maybe I should dip my toe in. I don't have to do it full time. I don't have to do what I don't want to do.' That's all I was thinking. I started moving, I started doing things. It was definitely a struggle, especially for the first few years. I was, like, 'What am I doing?' There's been few things in my life that has been consistent other than music. I just did it. It just took some time, then all of the sudden, the spark showed up. I fell back in love with what I was doing. I really can't explain it. It just sort of happened."

Leach appeared on KILLSWITCH ENGAGE's self-titled debut and sophomore album, "Alive Or Just Breathing", before exiting the group. Jones took over on vocals for "The End Of Heartache", "As Daylight Dies" and the 2009 self-titled set before being dismissed from KILLSWITCH ENGAGE 14 years ago and being replaced by a returning Leach.

In 2012, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE bassist Mike D'Antonio told Boston Globe that the band's split with Jones was necessitated by the singer's struggle with personal issues, including diabetes that had gone untreated for several years. "It became very apparent we had to move on without him," D'Antonio said. "Howard didn't quit."

Jones and KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz have spent the past couple of years working on the debut album from their collaborative project BURN ETERNAL. The LP is tentatively expected later in 2026.