Project Description
.
Light The Torch
.
Interview with
HOWARD JONES
from
LIGHT THE TORCH
(17th June, 2021)
Interviewer – Connor Gutteridge
.
Light The Torch
.
How did you get your start in music and how did that lead to Killswitch Engage and then now Light the Torch?
Well I sang in the choir at church a little and also the choir at school a little. I then got asked to try out for a band, it’s not something I was actively seeking out, but I was just asked to do it. So, I tried it and it was something I enjoyed. I never thought I was going to be in the band, it’s just how it worked out. There was a lot of stuff that happened in the process, but they just said, “want to give this a shot?” and I said “Yeah, Why not!”. From there I just kept trying and here we are.
I’ve been very fortunate; I’ve learned to get out and really grind n the beginning and learn how to do what it is that I do. For Killswitch, being around those guys is where I picked up a lot of what I do and just taking it to a different level. It’s a process, I’ve been at this for a long long time and I did something right and its all kind of come together.
Having a career full of being a part of incredible bands and collaborating with some incredible bands/artists. What would you say is your most proud moment so far?
I don’t know I haven’t really thought about that. I think that’s a question better answered when it over, so yeah let’s pick this up when I’ve dropped the microphone.
You project ‘Sion’ with Jared Dines has really gained a lot of momentum since releasing the track “The Blade”. Can we expect any more from this project in the future?
Yeah, we are now just tightening everything up, I think we had 15 or 16 and ones we recorded there were 12. So yeah, we are just cleaning everything up and making it sound good. There will be a full length.
How was the process of working with Jared and making this collab happen?
It was a lot of fun, the reason I asked him to do it in the first place was because I like the guy. That was something we had talked about in the very beginning that if we are not going to enjoy it then we won’t do it and yeah, we just had a lot of fun doing it.
Talk to me about the writing and recording process for the new Light the Torch record ‘You Will be the Death of Me”.
It was tough, time-consuming but worthwhile you know. An album it takes so much from you and for me I can’t really do much else but that. Its one thing if your working on a song but for me a full-length album I’m just absorbed. I’m not watching television, I’m not going to movies or watching Netflix, it just that’s all there is and that is it. It kind of drives me nuts but at the same time I love it, I love having nothing to but focus on the record. For me that’s how it was, it drives you insane because it consumes you, but you love it.
We had a lot of hard stuff that we were going through inside and out of the band and I think it kind of showed off in the music and the lyrics and we are pretty happy with how it turned out.
The Latest single ‘Let me Fall apart’ is a bit of a style change up from other tracks, why in particular was that track chosen for prerelease?
That was a group decision, you know the record label and management and all that. I’m kind of the wrong guy to ask that question or to choose an order of that kind of thing.
Everyone felt that one was one of the songs to at least be in the lead and for the beginning of the start of the cycle.
In your words, how would you say this record differs from your previous releases?
I think every album is different, I think especially with me it’s a snapshot of that time. Whether lyrically it refers to what’s going on at that moment, it’s around what you were doing at that time. For me its just this picture of what life was like. This one was a lot of dark moments in my life and I think what we wanted to convey was a lot of emotion, we definitely wanted you to feel it so you can experience what we were going through. That’s what we really went for, fingers crossed its conveyed.
Do you have any standout tracks on this record?
Not really, you know Fran writes a lot of material and I’ve met few people like him, the guys a genius and is also a hard worker so you just know you’re going to get a lot of stuff. For me I’m actually a little bit bummed about some of the songs that didn’t make it. I remember coming to the studio and say “alright, we are narrowing it down to 12, I can’t do this anymore haha we have to stop, there is so much stuff”. For me there is a couple of songs and one in particular where I said “agh this song is great” and I must have written that thing 5 different times and it sucked every time I wrote it. It wasn’t the song it was just everything I did, had me saying “I can’t believe you made crap catchy” but that’s what it was, so that song didn’t make it. In the end if it made it on to the album, I’m happy.
If you had one piece of advice for a young musician wanting to make it in the industry, what would that advice be?
Be consistent, I think that’s the one thing that’s important, take it seriously and be consistent. For me I’ve been doing it for a very long time and there’s a lot of people better than me that aren’t doing it and I’m not sure why. I’m not sure if its because kept doing it or I sacrificed more or I was an idiot haha, I’m not really sure. When you put something to mind, something that is important, you’ve just got to try to stay consistent with it. That would be my hint.
.
.
Follow LIGHT THE TORCH
Nuclear Blast – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
.
.
Press Release 7th June 2021 below
LIGHT THE TORCH
Share
‘Let Me Fall Apart’
Single & Video
New Album
YOU WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME
Arrives June 25
Via Nuclear Blast
.
.
LIGHT THE TORCH, Howard Jones [vocals], Francesco Artusato [guitar], and Ryan Wombacher [bass] — will release their new album and second full length You Will Be the Death of Me on June 25 via Nuclear Blast. Pre-order it here. Pre-save the album and listen here.
LIGHT THE TORCH have announced a full-length performance airing on album release day — Friday, June 25 at 7pm ET (Saturday June 26 at 9:00am AEST) The set will include several songs from You Will Be the Death of Me, which have never been performed live before. It will also include a VIP Zoom hang out with the band beforehand. Tickets for the performance are just $12 and are available here.
Today, the band has also dropped the music video for ‘Let Me Fall Apart.’ Watch it above.
“I loved this song as soon as I heard it,” says Jones. “The music stuck in my head, so I knew I had to work on it right from the beginning of writing the new album. [Guitarist] Francesco [Artusato] wrote a huge chorus so I did my best to match that energy. We are thrilled for this to finally see the light of day.”
Artusato also weighs in on the track, saying, “The initial idea for this song was to combine an ‘old school’ type of guitar riff and vibe — because I love to hear Howard sing over that style — with a more ‘contemporary’ type of arrangement and chorus. I remember writing and arranging the chorus and feeling that it had the potential to become great knowing what Howard could do with it. And of course he delivered once again. This was one of the first songs that we worked on during pre-production and it felt really good right away. It was definitely one of the songs that helped shape the sound for the rest of the record.”
The video was directed by Ramon Boutviseth, who also lensed the video for first single ‘Wilting in the Light.’ Revolver called the song a “powerhouse,” while Loudwire applauded the track for its “spacious guitar playing and textured atmosphere” and noted that “Jones delivers a remarkable hook over the chorus and although the song sounds overtly uplifting, the singer’s lyrics channel a different energy entirely, setting up a wondrous juxtaposition.”
LIGHT THE TORCH also shared the track ‘More Than Dreaming,’ which Metal Injection pointed to as a sign of the album’s sonic diversity.
For You Will Be the Death of Me, the band returned to Sparrow Sound in Glendale, California to once again work with the production team of Josh Gilbert and Joseph McQueen [Bullet for My Valentine, As I Lay Dying, Suicide Silence]. This time around, they also welcomed Whitechapel’s Alex Rudinger on drums.
Upheld by head-spinning seven-string
You Will Be the Death of Me finds LIGHT THE TORCH firing on all cylinders and ready to take things to the next level.
.
ARTWORK BY: FRANCESCO ARTUSATO
YOU WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME
Tracklisting:
More Than Dreaming
Let Me Fall Apart
End of the World
Wilting In the Light
Death of Me
Living With a Ghost
Become the Martyr
Something Deep Inside
I Hate Myself
Denying the Sin
Come Back to the Quicksand
Sign Your Name
.
AMNPLIFY – DB
CLICK THE PIC TO VIEW THE NEWS
