About a month or two ago I reviewed the latest album of Misery Signals called Mirrors. That album surprised me a lot and of course we wanted to know more about the band. Especially because their former vocalist quit the band and a guitar player was his replacement. We had the honour of having a mail conversation with Kyle Johnson who is  the bass player of the band.

Your album Mirrors is out for several weeks how are the reactions so far? 

‘The response has been great so far. It’s been constantly growing.’

You recorded the album with Ben Schigel who recently worked with Walls Of Jericho. How did you end up with him? 

‘We lost our vocalist so our options were limited because of how much that set us back so Ben Schigel was our best option for a last minute producer.‘

How did the recording process go? 

‘It went over fairly smooth overall. Ben is a good guy and is good at what he does. It was a little too laid back for my taste but I’m happy with the final product.’

Most of the songs on the new album handle about identity. Did you choose specifically for this theme?

‘Yes it was definitely intentional. Its a theme that constantly reoccurs throughout the record.’

Is it autobiographic?

‘Yes and no. It deals with personal issues as well as a general outlook on things.’

Jesse left the group before the start of the recording process. Had he worked on some of the songs that are on this album? 

‘He worked on a couple of tracks with us but everything he did with the new tracks was redone by Karl.’

How did it affect the group that Jesse left because he was one of the founding members? 

‘It was a pretty big deal. It’s hard to continue as a band when you lose one of the original members but it was a long time coming. I think now that we have gotten through it, it is for the better.’

Most of the time it’s very difficult for a band to find a new singer. You came up with a guitar player that never sang before. What’s the story behind that? 

‘Karl had a recording studio in his basement and had done backing vocals in several bands before. He was a big fan of the band so when he saw that we were looking for a new singer he recorded his vocals on our songs and sent it in. It instantly caught our attention so we sent him a new demoed track and he returned it to us later that day with his vocals on it and blew us away. We then had him come down and everything just came together from there.‘

‘Yeah it definitely helps. He has a very good sense of time and with music like ours that is important. He’s not just screaming randomly. It’s well thought out.’

‘In the future I could see us experimenting with Karl on guitar as well but probably
not a whole lot.‘

Your debut was recorded by Devin Townsend, how did you end up with him? 

‘Jesse knew Devin personally. They had been friends for almost a decade.’

What’s the story behind Bbest The man / Legend?

‘Ha ha there isn’t much of a story. He is just a good friend of ours and roadie as well. The title is more of a joke than anything else.’

Are there any plans for touring outside the United States? 

‘Yes indeed. We are heading to the UK right before Xmas this year and then to Australia right after Xmas. Hopefully we will be able to hit up main land Europe soon after.’

What will the future bring for Misery Signals? 

‘No one knows the future. We are very much still growing as a band so as long as that continues I think Misery Signals will continue to be a band.’

 

‘Yeah! Check our album and we will see you around.’