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Killswitch Engage’s Jesse Leach On His Renewed Voice & Mental Health Advocacy In Metal Music

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Killswitch Engage are without question, one of modern metal's most cherished acts. The band dominate venues across the globe with their signature live shows, all of which embody the poignancy of their music, and their hysterically fun yet visceral atmosphere. Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz certainly perpetuates more of these fun aspects, from his borderline comedic rants between songs, to his offstage antics whilst performing mid-song. Vocalist Jesse Leach however, often approaches performing with a more serious attitude, partly because the content of his lyrics tackle very personal and pressing subjects. Throughout Killswitch's discography, Jesse has prompted a dialogue for mental health awareness, and with the band's 8th coming album, Atonement, it's only become more a target issue.

You guys are big metal and all around music fans yourselves, but for Atonement what different musical or artistic avenues did you and the other bandmates draw from, that you may have not drawn from on previous records?

I draw a lot of inspiration lyrically and energy wise from hardcore and punk, but also from literature and just paying attention to what’s going on in the world. It’s not a sonic thing but sometimes it’s a vibes thing, sometimes it’s a sheer frustration of seeing how poorly we treat each other as human beings. It really just runs the gambit and I just try to stay open and receptive to all of it. I think that’s what fuels my fire, it doesn’t just come from one thing, and I actually listen to a lot of reggae music and ambient music as well, so it’s kind of just all over the place. That’s how we’ve been able to hone our sound and be who we are as a band, because we draw from a lot of different things.

Parting from Roadrunner Records, Atonement is the first Killswitch Album on Metalblade records. How has the record distribution and production process been different in working with this iconic metal label?

I think overall, what’s nice is switching it up with something new. Being with Roadrunner most of our career, it’s nice to get fresh blood and an eagerness that can’t be there for a relationship that lasted that long. So the excitement, support, and the overall vibe in this situation with Metalblade is just incredible. We feel like we’re being pushed to a different level and the excitement behind it is palatable. They’ve just bent over backwards to make sure that we get in front of as much people and get as much publicity as we can, and they’re really open to all of our creative ideas.

This record has your best vocal performance by far, and overall it just sounds like a more raw and organic delivery. Would you equate this to the vocal surgery and therapy you underwent during the recording process?

Oh yeah absolutely, it was a total blessing in disguise. Singing on a broken instrument for so long and not realizing it, I didn’t know what the end result was going to be, but it was a very humbling experience. That and just having to be quite for the better part of two months and not speaking at all, it really just put into perspective how precious it is. We as human beings abuse it and use it for terrible things, so for me I was very determined when I came out on the other side of this to make it count. Part of that was making sure I take care of it, and getting proper training, and learning how to speak. I actually speak differently because of it too, so it goes all the way down to every single aspect of your voice. When I wake up in the morning I do a vocal warm up, I make sure I’m in key with where I’m supposed to be; what I’ve learned from my coach Melissa Cross. It changed everything, and my state of mind too, I took it very serious. In the past I would get vocal lessons here and there and just kind of roll with it, but it never hit me as hard thinking this could be the end of my career. I took it a lot more serious, and because of that the techniques clicked better, and I totally owe Melissa Cross, and the doctors that did the surgery. My career was saved because of them, and I think the performance on the record shows that.

You’ve often tackled lyrics dealing with mental health, and Atonement has very heavy subject matter in this regard. How did you approach lyric writing with this album when talking about about depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues?

I think for me, especially on this record, I drew a lot of inspiration from other people’s struggles, not just my own, where as a lot of the lyrics prior to this have been about my personal journey. There are two songs that showcase this, “I Am Broken Too,” and a song called “Take Control.” I have realized through my journey with mental health issues that being open about it and discussing it is really important. And through that I’ve heard other people’s stories and people have felt empowered to start speaking up. Those two songs are about other people’s struggles, and me being that voice of “I know what you’re going through and I can relate to you,” and with “Take Control” for example, I’m saying “here is my advice.” Those two songs are very much a story or a dialogue between two people, which in the past I didn’t have a lot of, it was mostly about my own struggle. I think that’s really what has changed with my writing, and because of that it’s really inspired me to do more of that moving forward, to involve other people’s stories into my own and weave them together, so a song doesn’t have just one meaning, but it takes on a duality.

Do you find mental health awareness becoming more a primary subject amongst current metal and rock artists, or is it still yet to gain that sort of attention?

It’s on the rise, and it kind of all started with the nu-metal movement. There was a lot of songs about being depressed and self reflective stuff that happened in that genre lyric wise. It kind of created a generation of ambitions that were wallowing in it for a while, and then it just kind of went away. But I feel like talking about mental health issues is becoming a more socially acceptable thing. We’re seeing amazing people who are taking their own lives, and that’s definitely shaking people to their core, and continuing to perpetuate and push these conversations. It’s so important and I feel like if I weren’t talking about it I’d be doing a disservice to myself, the listeners, and my fellow musicians. I think it’s important for creative people or people who have creative tendencies. Our brains are a bit different than your average worker-bee mentality human. It’s a different kind of brain when you’re creative and you ride the line of being a bit crazy and a bit broken in the head. It’s just different brain waves, we’re wired different. That’s the cause of our creativity, but it’s also the cause of what drives us crazy and what makes us feel dark, anxious, depressed, or bi-polar. Having that discussion and keeping that at the forefront is important, so I think musicians are recognizing that and finding that if you advocate for it you’re actually helping people. You’re helping your listeners more if you're more upfront about it, and if you make them feel like they’re not alone. That’s super empowering and I think we’re seeing that a lot in music now.

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