Original KILLSWITCH ENGAGE Vocalist Discusses TIMES OF GRACE Project In New Interview

LoudTrax.com recently conducted an interview with original KILLSWITCH ENGAGE vocalist Jesse Leach about TIMES OF GRACE, Jesse's new project with KILLSWITCH ENGAGE guitarist and producer extraordinaire Adam Dutkiewicz. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

LoudTrax.com: One of my questions and comments on [TIMES OF GRACE's debut album, "The Hymn Of A Broken Man"] was the blending of different styles. For example, in some parts of the album, such as in the songs "Live In Love" and "Willing", there are some moments there that take you back to early [IRON] MAIDEN- and [JUDAS] PRIEST-type riffs- and then the songs move smoothly into a more modern metal sound. Is that something you guys paid attention to, or it just kind of flowed out like that naturally?

Leach: It's just the way it kind of came out. As far as the music and instrumentation goes, that's all Adam's stream of consciousness. He had pretty much finished the record minus a song or two before I came into the picture. We had a real synergy, and a lot of unspoken stuff happened while working on this record. When I first heard the record, I was inspired by the different textures and tones he created. Naturally, I wanted to write to make my voice fit over those things. I didn't want to have all screaming or all singing, so I took each section of the song and just tried to be creative with each part and think of what would work really well with that. Of course, Adam gave his comments and his opinion and vice versa about his parts. What was interesting, we would do something and look at each other and we knew that that part was perfect or not without saying anything.

LoudTrax.com: There will be comparisons to KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. Seeing as you were a founding member of that band, what are your thoughts about this new band with relation to KILLSWITCH ENGAGE?

Leach: You can't really escape the fact that we are both from KILLSWITCH, there will be that sound. But I think it pushes boundaries a little more than KILLSWITCH ENGAGE does. Adam himself with what he wrote, there is a lot more quiet stuff, and loud to soft parts. Even stylistically, we experiment more with different styles, like some indie rock and shoegaze parts with a lot of delay on the guitar. To me, that is just the beginning of our sound and what we're going for. If all goes well and we get to do another record, I think we'll be pushing the boundaries even more. Adam and I are both big fans of different styles of music and that comes across a lot. I think people who will compare it to KILLSWITCH initially, but when you listen to the whole record, there are songs there that sound nothing like KILLSWITCH ENGAGE. But the comparison is bound to happen. I mean, I was in KILLSWITCH and Adam is in KILLSWITCH.

LoudTrax.com: I saw there are tour dates planned. What can you tell us in terms of setlist?

Leach: We were actually just discussing that today. We wanted to make sure what songs work best, what songs may or may not work on a live session. We want to come out with a bang and not allow there to be any depressing parts in the set. We'll probably cut off a couple of songs off the record. What'll be interesting and cool about the live show is that in between the songs, there'll be ambient music, texture and sounds. So it won't be your average show where I'll be talking between songs and asking the fans, "Hey how you doing….?" There won't be any of that. On top of that, there will be the visuals that we created for the record and there will be a DVD available on the special edition and we'll be using those visuals live as well. So not only sonically, but visually, you will see the images that helped inspire the music.

LoudTrax.com: KILLSWITCH ENGAGE is highly regarded as one of the pioneers of combing the two styles of vocals, that is clean and screaming. All these years later, and having seen so many bands develop that into their music, how do you feel about being one of the founders of that?

Leach: I hear that quite a lot and I'm not sure what to think about it. It's an honor for people to think of me as a pioneer in any shape or form. As far as other bands and taking that song and moving forward with it, that's great and I am happy they are able to do that. On a personal note, in my opinion, I enjoy creating that type of music, but I don't really listen to it. I can't say I really listen to "metalcore." It's kind of a strange thing, but definitely honored. I do strive to do that, and it is a conscious thing. I love different types of music and when I am writing, I try and think of how to make this very interesting and how to get my point across and show people what I am trying to feel with the music. You can't do that with just screaming, and that's what pushed me to add singing. Sonically, the words come out better with different sounds with my voice. Metalcore, as a whole, I think is pretty stagnant nowadays and I wish bands would take it to another level, take it somewhere else, be original. It has become oversaturated and I challenge bands out there to push boundaries. I love hearing bands that are doing something completely different.

Read the entire interview from LoudTrax.com.

"Where The Spirit Leads Me" video:

"Strength In Numbers" video: