Todd gets all the news from Comeback Kid when he talks with guitarist Jeremy Hiebert.
Toddstar: If it is okay, I would love to jump right into discussing your last release, Symptoms + Cures. I knew nothing of the band or CD until I was looking for more rock that I had overlooked the last couple years. This album, released in 2010, had several good reviews, so I figured I would check it out. I find myself keeping it in my normal rotation of CDs since I got it earlier this year. What can you tell us about that CD?
Jeremy: It is our fourth studio release and our second with the change in vocalists. Our original singer, Scott left the band in 2006 and we replaced him with our other guitar player, Andrew. We recorded Broadcasting with Andrew on vocals and in hindsight that was the transition record to where we got to with this last one. I feel we really found our new sound with him on this one and collectively we fell it is our best release to date.
Toddstar: Several songs are very strong from your last release. Are there any favorites of yours that you find yourself going back to? Any you wish came out sounding different?
Jeremy: I think when you listen back to a record a year or two after it’s been released it’s only natural to see minor changes or tweaks you wish you could make but no, overall we are very happy with it. Personally I’m very happy with how some of the harder or heavier songs turned out. Songs like ‘Do yourself a favour’, ‘Manifest’ and ‘Pull back the reigns’ I think showcase the more aggressive side that we have which I like since we’re known a little more for our melodic hardcore angle.
Toddstar: Regarding Symptoms + Cures, were any of the songs easier to write than others? You often hear about an artist that sat down to write a song and that essentially the song wrote itself. Were any of the songs difficult to get out? If so, which?
Jeremy: Yeah with every record there are songs that seems to write themselves and then there are the ones that you can get stuck on. For me personally i will often get hung up on how to make smooth transitions with songs that for instance will be coming out of a chorus and back into a verse. I know for instance ‘Magnet Pull’ had a lot of ideas being thrown around in the later half of the song as it was hard to get all of those transitions to flow for the longest time.
Toddstar: If you had to describe the sound of Comeback Kid to someone who had never heard of you, how would you do that?
Jeremy: Melody meets aggression. We are not the heaviest band by any means or one of the flashiest melodic bands out there but those are the two main ingredients in our music. We feel we have found a healthy balance between keeping songs moving at a fast high energy pace while keeping it interesting musically.
Toddstar: You have toured extensively in the U.S. and Canada – are there any other countries you would like to tour and make aware of Comeback Kid?
Jeremy: We’ve actually toured all over the world a lot but there still are countries we’d like to visit. I think we’ve done somewhere between 15 and 20 European tours, 4 or 5 tours in Australia and Japan, done South America twice and SE Asia once but we’d still love to hit a few places like Africa, Maybe a spot or two in the middle east and some new countries in SE Asia have expressed interest in having us out as well.
Toddstar: When performing live, do you find that you mix the material evenly from your five release, or do you tend to play more of the newer material? Are there any songs from your earlier releases that you feel will always be a part of your live show?
Jeremy: We always place songs from every record. We know that there are new fans that may only know material from the last record or two but there are also people that have been listening to us a long time so we’ll always be playing songs from all records.
Toddstar: What is next for Comeback Kid? Tours?? Releases??
Jeremy: At the moment we have a US tour coming up in May and then in June and July we’ll be heading back over to Europe to play some summer festivals and clubs shows.
Toddstar: You have toured with some of my great bands/artists. If you had to pick possible pairings for an ideal tour, what other bands would you like to see Comeback Kid out on the road with?
Jeremy: I think we’ve been really fortunate to tour with some of our favourite current bands as well as some of the bands that shape our influences growing up like Propaganhi, Sick of it all, Madball, Bad Religion, Gorilla Buscuits, Rise Against and many more.
Toddstar: If there were one piece of music in the history of time that you wish you had written, what would it be and why?
Jeremy: Maybe ‘Hey Jude’ by The Beatles if I was to pick a quick one off the top of my head.
Toddstar: We are only 3 complete months into 2012. Do you have any resolutions or goals for 2012 professionally or personally?
Jeremy: Professionally I just want to get out and tour as much as makes sense for us at this point in time. Personally I’ve got a few marathons that I am training for and am hoping to get a personal best time this year.
Toddstar: What is the meaning of life?
Jeremy: If I had a solid answer for you I would tell you but views, ideas, theories are ever changing in this mans brain and sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever know.
Toddstar: Thanks again for taking the time and we look forward to 2012 and more Comeback Kid!!
