On performing at The Paramount, D’Antonio said, “We are excited to perform here. We’ve played here once before, where everything looks vaguely familiar.”
Regarding the song selection for their new album, Atonement, he said, “We got very excited writing for it. We were on a roll and we wrote too many songs, about 22 of them. That seemed like a good idea up until you had to give it to the guy that had to write lyrics for 22 songs, which was overwhelming. It took a while to get him to write all those lyrics.”
“Jesse [Leach] sang the first 17 of those 22 songs. We had a good amount of songs to choose from. He took 11 out of those 17 songs and we feel like we crafted the best record that we possibly could,” D’Antonio admitted. “My theme is always ‘pedal to the metal’ and ‘balls to the wall’ metal.”
“Once our long contract with Roadrunner Records was up, Metal Blade was a really good choice for us. We were really excited for those guys and we wanted to make the best record for them that we could,” he added.
D’Antonio listed “Ravenous” as his personal favorite song from Atonement. “It is a really fun one to play. Our drummer, Justin [Foley] wrote that one. It came out 100 times better than we thought,” he said.
He shared that his songwriting for the band is inspired by “horror movies.” “Nonstop horror movies. I am also the graphic designer of the band and that’s where I pull a lot of influences from. The scariest things I can possibly find out there,” he said with a laugh.
For young and aspiring metal bands, he encouraged them to play “out of state as much as they can.” “Play as far away as you possibly can. Go off in a van somewhere and play shows. Don’t overplay your home state or your hometown, so when you come back, you already have a following,” he explained.
Digital age of music
On being a metalcore band in this digital age, he said, “It is definitely different. The music industry has been turned on its head at this point. They are scrambling to see how they can make their money back. Everything is in the artists’ favor now, which wasn’t the way it was in the past 60 or 70 years. It’s unfortunate that people are buying records as much as they used to, but streaming services are doing really well and they actually do pay, which is good.”
Regarding the recent passage of the Music Modernization Act, which protects songwriters and creators in this digital age, he said, “That sounds like a good thing. That rules. Music needs to find avenues to let people do their jobs.”
His dream collaboration partner would be Iron Maiden. “If you are a metalhead that would be pretty darn cool,” he said. “I don’t think my bass playing can live up to Steve Harris’ but it would be really cool.”
The best advice he was ever given was the following: “Take sandals on tour, otherwise you will get athlete’s foot.”
“Success means what we are doing right now: rolling along, having a good fan-base, selling records and we can live without being burdened by bills. We are thankful that the fans have stuck by us for 20 years,” he concluded. “Success is being around for two decades.”
Atonement, which will be released on August 16 via Metal Blade Records, is available for pre-order on Apple Music. “I would love for the fans to listen to it and make their own decision about it. If you want to get an opinion you should listen to it. We created this record with the fans and live shows in mind. The metal crowd will be really stoked,” he said.
To learn more about Killswitch Engage, their music and tour dates, check out their official website.
Read More: Digital Journal reviewed Killswitch Engage’s show at The Paramount.
