Fresh off the 2014 Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, and pissed-off as ever with white knuckle fists still in the air promoting the April 2014 release of Eternal Enemies, Jesse Ketive of Emmure talks to RockRevolt Magazine about playing the 2014 Aftershock Festival for the first time, starting their headlining tour this winter, the special connection with fans and much, much more.
Band Origin: Queens, New York
Label: Victory Records
Most Recent EP/Album: Eternal Enemies (April 2014)
Music Genre: Deathcore/Metalcore/Nu Metal
Band Members:
Frankie Palmeri – Vocals
Mikael Mulholland – Guitar
Jesse Ketive – Guitar
Mark Davis – Bass
Mark Castillo – Drums
How are you doing today?
I am doing well man, I am doing good. I am just hanging at home and have a little off time from the hectic summer that we just did.
You all just finished playing the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival this summer with some fellow Victory Record label mates. Have you played this festival before?
Yeah, we did it last summer and it was fucking amazing and then we just went back in there this year with Islander. It’s hard to say, I feel like it might have even topped it, it was really good this year.
I interviewed a lot of your label mates on site at the Mayhem Festival and also interviewed Ray Luzier and James “Munky” Shaffer of Korn who had nothing but good words about Emmure (see the exact words by Ray Luzier regarding Emmure in the video clip below) when I asked them about the high points of the festival for them. What would you say was a high point for you from the festival this year?
Probably the fact that we know like Korn has been a big influence for a very long time, so it’s nice to be able to be finally literally playing a show with them, let alone a summer festival tour and probably that the fact that I got to meet with them and side stage all the time and they came to see us play and Head and Ray were telling me they were big fans that we were the highlight for them this summer to me. I was like wow, so that was really, really cool.
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Looks like Emmure is gearing up to hit the road once again starting with the opening day of the 2014 Aftershock Festival on Saturday, September 13, 2014. Will that kick off another tour for Emmure?
Aftershock is just a one off show we are going to fly off right from home and do that show and then go back home for like another two months and then we start out on our headlining tour from November to December.
With the recent release of Eternal Enemies, on Victory Records, how do you feel it is being received by fans now that you’ve played it live for a bit including recently at the Mayhem Festival?
Honestly it has been really good, it has been a lot more than what we expected and sometimes it takes awhile to catch on, but the first time we wrote the songs it never clicked out there like N.I.A. and a few other tracks. It just went off really well so we ended up putting it into the live set and a bunch of new songs right off the bat and people responded well and I feel like it was really explosive for the 25 minutes that we had. So we might play a lot of new songs that people are really getting into you know?
With the strong vibe off of the new tracks from Eternal Enemies, is it a tough balance to incorporate the older songs into the longer setlists that Emmure will be able to play during the headlining tour?
Yes it is definitely going to be difficult, we are getting that still from the last few records and trying to keep the focus on what we are doing now on our vibe and sound but there will be a couple of old songs in there for sure.
Going back to the Aftershock Festival, is this going to be the first time you will be playing there?
Yes, I think it’s the first time doing the Aftershock Festival, so I’m excited to see what that’s about for sure.
Can you tell us what fans as well as any future fans at Aftershock and beyond can expect from your show?
Well, we’d like them to know obviously we’ve been doing a lot of tours, and we’ve shaped our waves to how we all feel it is most comfortable when we perform at our peak. We put on a good live show and have a lot of fun with the audience response as they watch the band playing and the audience kind of call and response thing back and forth. It’s a lot of fun, I mean anyone who comes to one of our shows, they usually are like changed, like when they think whatever about this band and then are like alright, that was pretty cool, so let’s see what it takes at the next live show to make them believers.
So what does the rest of 2014 and onto 2015 look like for Emmure? Are you staying Stateside or going overseas, etc?
Yes, we are just going to stay in the US for the fall/winter tour and that is about it for the year I think and then just figuring out what is going on next year.
Emmure has been with Victory Records for years now and even re-signed with them. How is it working with them?
I mean, we’ve always done what we wanted with the music, we’ve never been influenced or anything, you know if anything they’re like, they love it, so it’s been a really good ride, and like we of course like anybody else want to try this or do that some more and they’re cool with it you know? Sometimes you can disagree with anybody, but there has been nothing but love and amazing support from them and they got their heads screwed on pretty tight. It’s just tough for some bands you know, that don’t want to work with their label and it’s a sad thing. You just gotta talk, you just gotta try and lay it out there and be honest and put it out there and just try to make it happen. So that’s why we re-signed with Victory Records because it has been working out great with them.
Last question, what or who got you into music or influenced you into doing your thing?
When I was younger, when I was 8 or 9 years old, my mom would listen to Guns N’ Roses and this and that and then I just got into it and started listening to it all and I started playing the guitar at a young age and kind of flowed it into school knowing I just wanted to do it and be like this band and that band, like Fear Factory and all these things. I guess I just got through high school and worked a bit and did some different things and I wasn’t content with it and my mind was set you know on making it and making ends meet. It took some time, you know, but I got it going.
Jesse, thanks for your time and I wish you luck and an awesome set at Aftershock and beyond, enjoy Sacramento and I’ll catch up with you all down the road soon.
Yes, thank you and I will talk to you soon.
By Shabby Hasan, RockRevolt Magazine Videographer/Photographer/Journalist
EMMURE – NEMESIS
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