Killswitch Engage In A TasteOf Chaos

Mon 14th Nov, 2005 in Features

It is five o’clock on a Saturday afternoon. I am sitting in a hotel lobby with Killswitch Engage’s vocalist Howard Jones and bassist, Mike D’Antonio, before the Sydney Taste of Chaos tour, but it feels more like the “comedy hour with Killswitch Engage”.

Since the release of their third album, The End of Heartache, Killswitch Engage have been on tour, playing on line-ups such as the MTV Headbanger’s Ball tour, headlining the Second Stage at the tenth anniversary of Ozzfest, and now a part of the first ever Taste of Chaos tour.

However, on this leg of the Taste of Chaos tour, they are sadly missing a significant member of the band. Guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz underwent back surgery in the midst of the tour, so he is unable to be part of the band’s last shows of the year.

Usually at a normal Killswitch Engage show, Dutkiewicz is the star. His flamboyant wardrobe choices, charismatic personality and off the cuff remarks are one of the main attractions of watching the bands’ performance. At this year’s Ozzfest, dressed in a cape and pink pineapple boxer shorts, Dutkiewicz announced to the crowd, “I fucked all your mothers and left them in the dumpster backstage!” only to find Sharon Osbourne standing on the side of the stage watching him as he made his announcement.

Without Dutkiewicz on this tour, the guys feel they are, as vocalist, Howard Jones eloquently puts it, “missing our right butt cheek…” Jones explains, “and that’s a very needed part of the body… and Adam is that right butt cheek”. Bassist, Mike D’Antonio contributes to the analogy, ”-We don’t necessary use it everyday, or every single hour of the day… but if you don’t have your right butt cheek you’re going to fall right into the toilet!” Jones adds, ”-Yeah, and I don’t want to get wet! So hey, I want my cheek back!”

What is most pleasantly surprising about Jones and D’Antonio is their witty sense of humour. Unfortunately, their personalities are often overlooked, perhaps through no fault of their own, Dutkiewicz is the one who gets the most attention. He is considered the multitalented member of the band, as the chief songwriter, the one who started out as the drummer, then moved on to guitar, while producing all three of Killswitch Engage’s albums. Their self-titled debut album is considered to have played a paramount role in the way metalcore/Gothenburg-inspired bands have evolved today.

Their latest release, The End Of Heartache not only earned them a Grammy nomination, but has also seen them tour for the last year and a half since the album’s release. However much critical acclaim they have received, the guys remain humble about their accomplishments and status in the metal world.

On the Taste of Chaos tour, one of the things D’Antonio is particularly enthusiastic about so far was an excursion with Rise Against to the Steve Irwin Zoo to hold koalas. Meanwhile Jones’ fondest time on the tour was a day to the wildlife sanctuary with the Story Of The Year guys when he won a bet with them by jumping into the Tasmanian Devil enclosure and was chased around by the animal. Despite their success and musical influence responsible for the spate of metalcore bands that are prevalent now, they are not complacent and still see the importance of playing on tours like Taste of Chaos, as a way to open up to new audiences.

“I mean, sort of the reason why we’re doing this is because, it is a completely different audience.” D’Antonio explains, “We’re definitely the heaviest band on the bill and you know, we feel like that’s the coolest part. Just to be out there and give them something they might not have seen before, and hopefully they’ll come away with it, either liking it, or hating it… But I feel like, they’re going to come away with something…!”

“But for a band like us to get on the Taste of Chaos is just completely lucky for us.” Jones concurs, “And it’s just awesome because it is such a different crowd.” He proudly points out, ” We’ve even gotten girls starting to listen to us now… Not just really big fat guys!”

D’Antonio laughs, ”-Er, we’ve still got those!”

“Yes, ‘Killswitch Engage – friends to the fat guys!!!” Jones declares “It’s like if you’ve got a beard, and you’re a big dude – you’re one of us!!!”

When asked which countries they look forward visiting most on this tour, Jones enthusiastically responds, “I mean, granted the UK and Germany would be really good, but Australia because we’ve only been here once and there’s just so much to see. And Japan, because I’m going to eat a lot of food and Mike’s going to buy a lot of toys.”

We discuss the types of food Jones plans to eat in Japan.
“If it’s raw I’m going to eat it.” Jones says matter of factly.
Are you going to eat whale? I asked.

“No.” Jones responds, “A couple of guys did last time we were there. I did not go down that route.” He contemplates for a moment, “But I’ve heard that raw horse is really good…”

D’Antonio is shaking his head and yelling no in disgust, but his bandmate’s reaction only fuels Jones’ justification, “Yeah, raw horse sashimi. If I come across it, I’ll try it… Whale has too much fat”.

“I think horse would be really tough. It’s full of muscle.” D’Antonio tries to reason with Jones. But Jones won’t hear anything of it, his appetite is set, “I heard it was really tender. A couple of the guys on the tour have had it, so hey?”

While Jones makes plans to eat horse sashimi, D’Antonio on the other hand, plans to shop for Japanese toys. “Robots, all sorts of things like, Shogun warriors and stuff from the ‘70s – I love that stuff”, he says.

It is no surprise that D’Antonio has an appreciation for Japanese robots, Shogun Warriors and the likes. He is after all, the principal designer for Killswitch Engage’s artwork, and even runs his own graphic design business with an impressive portfolio of other musical clients.

Between Dutkiewicz’s producing and D’Antonio’s artwork, Killswitch Engage are a band with a rare quality, despite being highly regarded in metal and hardcore, they seem unjaded by the compliments and maintain a modest do-it-yourself attitude and earnest approach that is mostly found in less established bands. Refreshingly after all this time, admit they still getting a little nervous before a show.

“It’s more like, anxious” D’Antonio describes, “You just want to get out there and just do it, just get it over with, and show them what you got, you know?”

“For me it’s easy cause I get nervous and I think – oh god I’m gonna suck” Jones explains, “So if the show goes okay – cool!”

“I just feel like on this tour we’re not such the main focus,” D’Antonio clarifies, “and it’s kind of funny because it’s the last tour of the year. It wraps everything up in a nice little package and says – yeah we had a good time this year. That we were able to play so many shows and get to the end, and still be kind of anxious to get on stage, and still have fun… that’s a good sign.”

Tonight, Jones is looking forward to seeing what the crowd is like. He resumes his observations on the gender bias nature of their audience. “But now there are more girls that are starting to come, which is really cool…” He pauses before suggesting, ” Maybe we can even hook them up with the really big fat guys you know? Hopefully Killswitch can be the ‘love connection’ that some of these guys are sorely needing…!”

Living up to their claim of being the heaviest band on the Taste of Chaos bill, their performance sans-Dutkiewicz, is delivered effortlessly and flawlessly. I suspect they even managed to pick-up a few new female fans too.