Misery Signals

For those of you that have been living under a rock, Misery Signals are one of the greatest things to happen to heavy music in the last decade. Their combination of punishing riffs, creative but driving drumming and melodic, almost space like interludes has rocketed them to the top of the metalcore pack.

What separates Misery Signals from the rest of the mosh-worshipping hordes? They can actually write songs…..

Q) If someone had told you 18 months ago that your band would have a new vocalist, a well received sophomore album and a trip to Australia in the works, would you have believed them?

Absolutely! All Three things were things that we knew were inevitable A long time ago. Australia was a place that all of us had wanted to go to since before Misery Signals was even a band, We had difficulty with our previous vocalist for a good portion of the bands existence, and we assumed that our sophomore release would be successful based off of how we received Malice was.

Q) How have you found the response from Australian crowds so far? Is it what you expected and is there a noticeable difference between audiences here and back home in the US?

The response that we have received in the first 3 shows has been above and beyond anything we could have imagined or expected. To come to the other side of the world and see kids respond the way Australia has thus far to our music is an incredible feeling. We don’t get the same kind of reaction in the states. Its not that it’s a bad response its just different. We feel much more appreciated over here. Maybe its because so many bands tour the states so frequently that kids become spoiled but in Australia tours don’t come over often so they are appreciative of International acts that make the trip.

Q) A lot of people would argue that replacing a vocalist is often the beginning of the end for a band, yet Misery Signals have gone from strength to strength with Karl fronting the group. Was there ever a time when you doubted your ability to continue?

Nope. I didn’t doubt for a second that we would find a replacement just as good or better than our previous vocalist. It is a tough thing to go through but it worked out quite well for us in the end.

Q) “Of Malice And The Magnum Heart” (Misery Signals debut full length) contained some of the most personal lyrics that I have heard committed to record. Were there any issues with Karl singing about something which he hadn’t personally experienced? Has there been any kind of backlash from your previous vocalist Jesse?

That is one of the main things that differs between Malice and Mirrors. Mirrors isn’t quite as personal as everyone kind of pitched in with lyrics and ideas. Although we all pitched in with malice as well the songs that jesse did write were so extremely personal that we wont even play certain ones. The lyrics on mirrors are a bit more general but still have a lot of thought and emotion behind them. None of us have really had the kind of life as Jesse has so its hard to write about the kind of loss and despair evident in the lyrics of Malice.

Q) In recent interviews, the band has made it abundantly clear that they were unhappy with the recording process on your most recent album “Mirrors”. After working with Devin Townsend (Ed – if I have to tell you who he is kids, then you need to do your homework) did it feel like the band was taking a backwards step recording with Ben Schiegel?

In a way it did feel that way. We went from an extremely nice, and well known studio in Vancouver, BC Canada to a garage in a Cleveland suburb. Regardless of the location both producers had top of the line equipment so the actual recording still came out pretty decent. The over all experience wasn’t what we expected though nonetheless. Devin had a different approach towards malice then Ben did with Mirrors. With Devin we would be at work 14 hours a day and with ben I think out longest day was maybe 10 hours. Not to say that either producer is right… but we just prefer to keep hard at work so that in the end we aren’t rushing to finish things that could have been finished if we would have put the extra time in each day.

Q) Has anyone in the band spoken with Ben since tracking the album? Has he had anything to say publicly about the response to his production on “Mirrors”?

We hung out with Ben at a show shortly after recording the record but no one has been in contact since it was released. As far as I know there has been nothing released publicly by Ben.

Q) Of the Australian bands you’ve played with so far, who’ve you enjoyed the most and why?

I think that IKTPQ is an exceptionally talented band actually. Its not so much my style of music but for what it is its very well done. They are all very talented and have the right kind of attitude about what its like to be in a full time band.

Q) What are the band’s plans once you finish up this tour?

We go straight from this Australian run to a full US tour with All that remains and the Human Abstract. Following that we have a few weeks off and then head over to The UK and mainland Europe with All That Remains once again. Beyond that we have no concrete plans.

Q) Any bands from the US that we should be checking out (if we aren’t already)?

Honestly there aren’t really any I can think of off the top of my head that you don’t already know about.

Q) Any last words?

Well I would just like to thank our fans here for making this one of the best experiences of our lives and we are looking forward to seeing the rest of Australia. Make sure to come check out a show if we come near.

Thanks very much for your time and enjoy the rest of the tour!

Catch Misery Signals on the “Boys Of Summer” tour w/ I Killed The Prom Queen, The Getaway Plan, Spitalfield (USA), In Fiction.


Thursday January 18th @ Sommerville Mechanics Hall (AA)
Friday January 19th @ The Corner Hotel (18+)
Saturday January 20th @ The Corner Hotel (Under 18’s only)