Killswitch Engage are one of the most anticipated acts of the Friday at Download Festival, and with a new album in the pipeline, what better way get reacquainted with their british fans? I caught up with bassist and founding member Mike D'Antonio to find out what they band had been up to.
How are you enjoying being here at Download Festival?
Oh I am loving it, the weather is so nice!
Who are you most looking forward to checking out this weekend?
Well, everyone else in the band is really excited for Faith No More, but personally it’s not my favourite band, I would rather go see Motley Crue or Meshuggah… different stokes for different folks!
I’m down with that, so, how many times have you played Download now?
I think this could be the third or fourth time now, the most memorable one had to be the year before last - we didn’t do last year - but it was probably the biggest crowd we’ve ever played to but the bummer was, our guitarist who I formed the band with, had some back problems and couldn’t make it, but he’s here in full force tonight and he’s ready to act like a fool!
Didn’t he start off on drums?
He did yes and now he’s playing guitar… for some reason we stuck him up front and he turned into a lunatic!
Brilliant! Now, do you prefer the festival shows or your own headliners?
Well they’re both completely different, headline shows are always fun but the most shows are actually the cramped, small shows. Not because you don’t get a shower, but because you can feed off the energy of the crowd and sometimes it’s best where there is no security and kids go crazy and have a good time… we thrive on crowd participation.
Have you got anything exciting in the band tonight that we can look forward to?
Haha, lots of Chugga-Chugga-Chugga and sreamy screamy and lots of pretty, delicate singy singy’s!
Haha, I love those descriptions, now, what’s your favourite song to play live?
Right now it would be Bid Farewell, it’s the first song we’ll play so it’s all downhill from there!
Oh no! Tell me about your favourite gig of all time then…
I would have to be a place that had an awesome shower, AC because a lot of places don’t have AC, and a capacity of about 200. I know we played the Barfly in Cardiff once and it was awesome t here. It was hot as heck but an amazing experience none the less, we jammed the kids in there and they had a good time.
I want to have been there! Now, who would you have headlining your dream festival?
Oh, Metallica, without a doubt, there is the top notch there is!
And if you could join another band for a day, who would you like to take out?
I had a dream that I was in Danzig! I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, I mean I love them but I’m not sure if they’re the most popular right now! So I’ll stick with Metallica.
Haha, good choice, now, what’s coming up in the rest of 2009 for Killswitch Engage?
Well, we have the new record that’s coming out at the end of this month, and we have lots of touring coming up and I think the next two and a half to three years will be non-stop touring all over the world. It’s a good thing when you can do that for sure, but my wife isn’t too excited about it and my new puppy isn’t thrilled about it, but it pays the bills, so it’s a necessity.
And what single do you think I should listen to do I go and buy the album?
Well the new single, Starting Over is out now and we have a video for it, so you should check that out and it will give you a clue as to what’s to come with the new record. Old fans are going to love it, and hopefully we’ll get some new fans from it and I have to say, it’s the catchiest one of the bunch.
Ooh, I’m excited… but how do you keep coming up with new ideas?
Lots of alcohol…as much alcohol as we can fit in our tiny little bodies1
Brilliant, now if you could give some advice to an up and coming band, what would you tell them?
It’s very hard these days, I can’t imagine it must be for a band starting out right now, but all I can say is, do not expect the world, it took me quite a few years to get into a band that could do something, and then when we got the band together, it took ten years to get to where we’re at now, so just do it for fun and have a good time, but don’t expect anything and then when cool things happen, then you can get excited!
Wow, great advice, it’s been a honour speaking to you, best of luck with the new album.
FemaleFirst - Ruth Harrison
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