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Killswitch Engage - Howard Jones
20 December 2005
For a band that claim to be standard bearers for 'generation heavy', singer Howard Jones seems pretty mellow musing through the year just gone. But as he explains, 'it's hard to have an ego when you're broke'...
You'd perhaps expect full-scale carnage and depraved debauchery on a multi-metal band tour called Taste Of Chaos. Instead VF's Lydia Clare discovers Killswitch Engage's singer Howard Jones relaxing on his bus backstage in Cardiff. He doesn't like touring, nearly crapped himself with nerves at Download, and would rather be hob-knobbing with the Black Eyed Peas at the Grammies! Who says all rockers have to die early?
Virtual Festivals: It's been a hell of a year for you guys. What's the one experience you'd like to rewind and do all over again?
Howard Jones: Wow, um, is that a music question or a life in general question? Anything? Well I did ride a roller coaster with Corey from Slipknot and I think I’d quite like to do that over again and get some more pictures because it was really funny. I don’t know what made me think of that but it was pretty amusing. It was one where you go down the hill and they take the shot and it’s just one of the funniest pictures I’ve ever seen. There’s just the two of us laughing and drooling everywhere.
VF: And what's been your personal highlight, other than the roller coaster?
HJ: That’s a tough one. It’s all been really cool. There have been so many different things but I guess it would be going to the Grammies. Not that I expected to win or anything but it was just a very surreal moment. We got there and just thought, 'What are we doing here? We’re just a bunch of goofballs.' It was one of those moments where I just wanted to call my mom. It was totally crazy.
VF: Did you get to meet any of your idols there?
HJ: We did meet a few people, but it was just so hard because there is so much going on. I got there the day before and did a bunch of interviews and got to meet the Black Eyed Peas. And I actually collided with Kanye West in the bathroom. There are just so many different people there. You look around and it’s like, 'Wooh there’s Usher and wooh there’s Hulk Hogan standing behind me'. But the amount of press you have to do, you don’t really get a chance to rub shoulders with people. You just do your thing then sit and watch the whole presentation which does go on for hours.
VF: You toured and recorded ‘The End Of Heartache’ pretty much simultaneously. Do you prefer touring or recording?
HJ: Touring’s terrible. There are cool parts to it but it is very draining. For me though it’s not the recording thing, it’s much more the writing part, just actually creating something out of nothing. On the record it does usually sound a little different but just getting to that stage is really cool. Touring is just not fun sometimes. I mean this is a decent bus but I don’t tend to sleep too well on buses. But then again there have been some great shows so I make the most of that.
VF: What do you think has been your best show?
HJ: That’s hard to say, well actually the show we did for the new DVD was great. The crowd was stunning and it was kind of our home town in front of about 3,000 people. It’d sold out in like two or three days and we just didn’t really know what was going on. We had a bunch of big cameras there and it was just great. There have been shows on this tour too, Glasgow especially was exceptional. That show I just walked off stage with my mouth open, the crowd were just that good.
VF: So you think a crowd makes a show?
HJ: Oh yeah, without a doubt. We always try and enjoy ourselves regardless. We’re a bunch of silly guys so on stage we just make the most of it but that show was just baffling.
VF: Talking about other shows, you played an amazing set a Download. How was that?
HJ: There were just so many people. I couldn’t really take my eyes off the crowd, although until I actually walked on stage I refused to look. I’m pretty sure that as I walked on stage I almost crapped myself!
VF: I can imagine it being pretty intimidating, that Sunday was just intense.
HJ: Oh yeah, there were a lot of people. I mean we’ve played really small shows and then you get that and it’s like 60,000 people. It was a surreal moment; no actually it was just flat out frightening, there is no other way to describe it. My stomach just dropped and I just thought ‘oh wow, this isn’t right’. Shows in the UK are usually really great and that was one of the biggest things we’d ever seen.
VF: Did you get to see any other acts?
HJ: We got to wander round a little bit but once again we were doing loads of press. Unfortunately we missed Everytime I Die. It would have been awesome to see them with a big crowd. We’re pretty good friends with them, their guitarist filled in on guitar for my other band and Adam recorded one of their albums, which was actually pretty funny because Adam recorded that album and I came in and sang on that album, but that was before I was with Killswitch.
VF: All very interconnected!
HJ: Oh yeah it is, it really is, everybody knows everyone.
VF: Do you find that with Roadrunner there’s almost a family situation, especially recently with the 25th anniversary stuff and the Allstars album?
HJ: Everyone gets along and I think that album wasn’t too difficult. Getting the schedules and everything else was awkward but if you were asked to do something you were just like ‘sure’ and then all of a sudden there it is. There’s not a lot of ego in heavy music, at least not at the moment which is nice. Well I’m sure there is, as there is with anything.
VF: A lot of people say that metal bands do tend to be a lot more friendly.
HJ: Maybe it’s because we don’t make any money. It’s hard to have an ego when you’re broke.
VF: Going back to this current tour, are there any differences between tours in different countries?
HJ: No not really, it’s pretty much the same, just young girls who are frightened of me, that’s pretty much it. I’ve actually seen girls crying at meeting some of the other guys on tour, including The Used and Funeral for a Friend. We’ve done pretty well on the tour though; all the guys have done ok. It’s been different for us because it’s been a different kind of ground. Generally at our gigs we have big sweaty men but because of Taste Of Chaos there’s a whole different kind of crowd that gets to come and see us. There’s always been a sense of melody to our music and people are getting to see that. It really didn’t happen too much before. The shows themselves have had a pretty young crowd.
VF: I can imagine especially with Funeral for a Friend, who generally attract 14 and 15 year olds.
HJ: Yeah it’s been odd. We were walking around the shopping area earlier and we’d stopped for some food and I was just eating and talking to the guys and I just happened to look out of the window and there were between 20 to 30 kids just staring at me through the window. I was just like, ‘Well, appetite ruined’. It’s all really interesting though. Its exposure on a very big scale and a very different scale for us, but it’s been cool.
VF: How has Adam’s absence affected you?
HJ: It has definitely been a bummer because he is just such a character. I don’t know if you’ve seen him on stage but he’s just usually up to some sort of antics. Whether he’s wearing very short shorts and the boxers are way below or just like on our DVD he’s wearing a cape. We did a few late night talk shows back in the States and he was wearing a Viking helmet. He’s an interesting guy! You definitely miss his absence and we miss him terribly. He’s family but we’ve done the four piece thing on quite a few occasions, although now I think this is it. He’s had surgery and is feeling a lot better. But I’ve definitely had to talk more and move more because there’s a lot more space that needs to be filled. He’s usually running around and doing all the hard work and I move around a bit while he’s doing push ups or throwing things at people; he is just the silliest guy.
VF: Has there been a build up of camaraderie with the other bands on the Taste Of Chaos tour?
HJ: We do tend to get on well with everyone. It’s the nice thing that everyone will be hanging out and we know The Used from other tours from back in the States. The guys from Rise Against are awesome guys and the one of the guitarists from Story Of The Year and I have just clicked. The Funeral guys are just stand up amazing guys. At any given time we’ll be like, ‘Oh I need some movies’ so we go to other buses and get some films and then end up talking for an hour and a half.
VF: Are there any tales of tour debauchery that have been going on?
There have actually been none. It’s been a very mellow tour just because there’s been so much flying that’s involved. Usually every show in Australia you had to fly to, so it was the States, to Australia, then round Australia and then to over here. So yeah in general it’s been pretty mellow.
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Thanks to:
Lydia Clare
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