Jesse Leach felt like a 'fraud' over Killswitch return

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

Singer says he worried about taking on Howard Jones' material and initially turned down the job

Jesse Leach has revealed that he initially turned down the chance to rejoin Killswitch Engage because he worried he’d “feel like a fraud.”

Leach returned to the band after his replacement Howard Jones left in 2012 to address health issues concerning his Type 2 diabetes and bouts of anxiety.

But when he was first asked by lead guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz to come back, Leach refused because he wasn’t sure he could sing Howard’s songs.

He tells The Jasta Show: “I turned it down initially thinking that I couldn’t sing Howard’s songs. I didn’t know if I could mentally wrap my head around a song like My Curse.

“I couldn’t really relate to it at the time. I thought to myself if I went on stage and tried to sing those songs I feel like a fraud. I think Howard has an incredible voice, very powerful.”

Leach returned to his job as bartender in New York, but had a change of heart when he heard Killswitch were holding auditions to replace Jones.

He adds: “At that point I had to really think about it because I didn’t want some other dude – the third singer, that’s a curse.

“I spent about a week and half with Howard’s material and said to the management to put me on the list. It was a process. I think the first song that hit me was Arms Of Sorrow, which is a pretty dark song.

“From there it kind of naturally happened where I was able to attach my own thoughts and emotions to the songs. I don’t even think of it now as a Howard song or a Jesse song.”

Jones recorded three albums with the band before his departure, while Leach recorded his third album with them – Disarm The Descent – in 2013.

Leach said recently that the band were working on demos for their seventh album.

Stef Lach

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.