In a recent conversation with Primordial Radio, Killswitch Engage‘s frontman Jesse Leach delved into the band’s approach to balancing fan expectations with their own creative evolution. Leach emphasized the importance of internal satisfaction, cautioning against the potential pitfall of catering excessively to audience desires. He believes that true artistry involves guiding fans toward new experiences, even if it means challenging their initial expectations.
“I think it’s important to be satisfied within yourself. I think bands can fall into the trap of pleasing the audience too much. I think what makes a band great is when they hone their creativity and you lead your fans in a direction. I think it’s dangerous — you can run the risk of becoming a nostalgia act if you play too much to the audience, ‘cause sometimes the audience doesn’t know what they want until they hear something different, ” Leach explained.
“And then they’re, like, ‘Oh, that’s unexpected. That’s pretty cool. I didn’t see that coming. And I actually really like that.’ So for me, bands that I’m a fan of, when they turn a bit of a corner and go into another direction, I’m, like, ‘That’s all right. Let’s sit with this.’ Oftentimes the different things become my favorite, because I’m so used to a certain sound.”
Leach also addressed a comment made by Adam Dutkiewicz in the press release for This Consequence, where the guitarist stated that “the goal is to make the fans happy.” Leach elaborated: “I know what Adam says in that sentiment, ‘cause we do care very much about our fanbase, and they do sort of, especially live, lead us. If they’re in a good place and the audience is great, naturally the show is gonna be really good.”
“But I think with records and your style and your sound, you need to be careful with pleasing somebody and then sort of internally being satisfied artistically to know that you’re doing something that feels genuine. It doesn’t feel forced into a corner because, ‘Oh, this is the Killswitch sound.’ For me, it’s exciting to push that. And we’re not going too far outside of the confines — it’s not like we wrote a black metal song straight up or a death metal song straight up — you’re still getting the elements that you’ve gotten used to where you’re gonna have a message, you’re gonna have some melody here. I think it all sort of still is in a comfortable place for most fans,” he added.
Released on February 21 via Metal Blade Records, This Consequence marks Killswitch Engage’s ninth studio album and the sixth with Leach since his return in 2012.
