Sworn Enemy an act that has gone through stuff left and right but has pulled through in the long run. Recent activity has been touring and showcases here and there as well as releasing their fifth full-length album "Living on Borrowed Time". They have more shows and touring to occupy their time with new music to follow surely. Guitarist Jeff Cummings discusses recent changes to the band, latest album, and touring plans and much more!
1. First off, who are you and what do you do in the band?
Jeff: My name is Jeff Cummings and I play rhythm guitar.
2. Would you mind telling as to why previous drummer Danny Lamagna is no longer in the band?
Jeff: He quit the band last year.
3. You have since replaced him with Taykwuan Jackson, so how do you go about finding a new member that you know clicks with the band and meshes well with your music?
Jeff: I had met Taykwuan at a concert a while back, he was playing with his death metal project called You Only Die A lot. I knew he had skills from seeing him play and talked to him about music and found out he grew up playing drums in church and all the other influences he had and he seemed really well rounded. A while later I saw that he was filling in on drums for our friends in NJ Hardcore band Suburban Scum, we all saw videos of him playing with them and decided to invite him to try out for the band. After a couple weeks of try outs and getting to know him we asked him to join the band.
4. Your fifth full-length album "Living on Borrowed Time" took some time to get released but thanks to that Indiegogo campaign things went smoothly for everyone?
Jeff: Yea we decided that instead of going with a label for the release that we try crowd funding it and doing it ourselves. We needed to do the leg work to get the word out that the band was still active and was here to stay, it had been 5 years since the last release and we wanted to make sure we were putting out a record that stood up to previous works. The Indiegogo was a lot of work but I think it went really well and everyone who contributed got all of their perks and we got to release our new album and retain all rights to the music. Rock Ridge Music/ADA did the distribution on the CD and Vinyl release so we got it across the US and Europe which helped a lot as well.5. What are your thoughts on that you now have five albums secured under that Sworn Enemy belt, did you think the band would have gotten as far as this point in time in your musical careers?
Jeff: I don’t really think any band knows what their shelf life is to be honest but a big part of it is that you have people that all want to be there and are willing to make things happen. As far as Sworn Enemy they had been touring and making records almost non stop from 2001-2009 which helps bands keep going because there in peoples minds and faces constantly. I came into the band in 2010 a few people had left and we decided that we all wanted to continue and make new music and right now were in talks of getting material together for the next record.
6. While this album has been out for almost a year's time, have you gone forth to write any new tunes or nothing has been set in stone as of yet?
Jeff: We have all be writing riffs and getting things together on our own but in between tours we will be getting together and locking down some new tunes. This year is booking up with tours so were focusing on promoting Living On Borrowed Time and will work on the road and in the rehearsal studio on all new material.
7. Since then you've done some touring and will hitting the road on the No Mercy No Surrender Tour, what can we expect from this tour as opposed to previous tours?
Jeff: We are doing a run with Biohazard at the end of March that leads down to the Southeast Beast fest in Jacksonville FL and then we begin our run with Wretched, Dark Sermon and Hammer Fight. We are going to bring a great stage energy with a diverse setlist and the No Mercy No Surrender Tour is a really cool and diverse lineup instead of some tours where its all the same genre. We are also hitting some spots we haven’t been to in many years and some that the band hasn’t been yet.
8. How will the set list look like for this run, more of the old tunes or the new tunes or a combination of both?
Jeff: We usually like to mix up from all of the records, there will be a song or two that have never been played live before on this upcoming run as well as some songs that haven’t been played live in a long time.
9. What do you have planned for after this touring run, more shows and touring?
Jeff: We are lining up new shows and tours for after this tour but like I said before we will be working on writing new songs as well.
10. Speaking of tours, one interesting touring bill would be Sworn Enemy, Hatebreed, Terror, and First Blood all on one trek, do you think we can get all of the hardcore acts together for something like that?
Jeff: That would be an amazing bill for sure I know Hatebreed and Terror are constantly on the road keeping busy and First Blood mainly does shows and tours in Europe. Maybe sometime in the future we can get everyone talking and figure out a great tour package like that.
11. As for 2015, what else can we expect to see or hear from Sworn Enemy?
Jeff: Just us coming to towns and cities doing our thing spreading the word about the latest record and crushing stages around the world. We want to play as many shows and keep the ball rolling all the way through this year.
12. Is that your final answer?
Jeff: It seems this is the last question so yes haha. Thanks for the interview Natalie.
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