There are only days left until Killswitch Engage kick off their Australian tour and we cannot wait! Lead singer Jesse Leach recently caught up with Blunt Magazine and talked about the bands love of Australia, touring and how the band has grown over the span of their career so far. Check it out!

So you guys are coming out to play some shows for us Aussies very soon, which were very excited for, especially after seeing you at Soundwave last year! How was Soundwave for you guys? Were you happy with Australias response to your reunion?

Oh yeah, absolutely. I love playing in Australia and I love playing Soundwave; those tours have been really good to me both with Killswitch and with Times Of Grace the year before. Were really looking forward to going back and doing a different kind of tour.

Coming back in after the band has grown so much, the kind of huge tours youre doing with Killswitch Engage now must seem fathoms away from the ones you remember from the early days.

Yeah, its a big difference! The amounts of people, the way the band is treated, the accommodation were staying at, the transportation its all so much better than it was in those early days before I left the band. We definitely paid our dues, and I paid my dues with other bands over the past few years too. Ive climbed the ladder, fallen off the ladder, jumped off the ladder and climbed back up again! But its great to be treated well and have audiences that want to see you and really care, its fantastic.

You obviously had a bit of a reintroduction to the touring life when you and Adam Dutkiewicz (Killswitch Engage guitarist) created the side project Times Of Grace. Do you think that you still would have ended up rejoining Killswitch Engage if Times Of Grace had not happened?

I dont know, thats a really interesting question, Im really not sure! But Times Of Grace gave me a reawakening with falling in love with being on the road again. Being able to complete tours with Adam and Joel [Stroetzel, guitar] by my side, and riding off that record, really saved my life in many ways. I was going through a rough depression again, Ive fought depression a good part of my life, but that album changed me. I dont know if I could have mentally been up to the job of getting on the road with Killswitch if I hadnt done that. It was almost unintentionally a warm-up for Killswitch, and made me fall in love with it again. One way or another it was a catalyst, even if it was unintentional.

Now thatDisarm The Descenthas been out for about a year, how are you feeling about that record?

I feel good about it man, I feel its a good step in the right direction. Its a good reintroduction to the band for me, and the energy is definitely there on the record and I just think its a good stepping stone to the next one, whatever that will be.

Has discussion begun for what the next record might entail or when it might happen?

Weve talked about it, but with the touring schedule we have weve only had a few conversations about it, just expressing to each other that were excited to get back in a room together and figure out what were gonna do. This last record was written completely without me I had no input on it because I wasnt in the band at the time. So Im looking forward to hearing the songs being written and being part of that process. Ive got a few concepts kicking around. Looking at the state of the world, theres so much social unrest in other countries. Me, Im looking outwards to the world, the gap between rich and poor and other things like that. Its partly a political thing, but I dont want to write a political record, I just want to write a socially conscious record without being preachy or over the top. You dont wanna bum people out, but I definitely think theres an importance to raise some awareness with the lyrics.

As someone whos had the unique opportunity to observe the band from both inside and outside, how has Killswitch Engage developed through its lifespan?

I think the songwriting has become a lot more cut-and-dry, and thats not a bad thing. Theres definitely a formula to how Killswitch operates in songwriting and style. The heavy melody mixed with screaming. Its a great formula, but I also look forward to expanding that and experimenting with it in some ways. But as the guys in the band say, if its not broke dont fix it. Theres a signature style thats been developed and I really respect and admire it as well. I think another big part of what defines the band is emotive lyrics that are heartfelt whether its to do with relationships, or spiritual topics like some of the things I write about, I think its honest, and most people can relate to it because it comes from that honest place.

Check out the rest of the interview at Blunt.