INTERVIEW: Comeback Kid Head To Asia – We Speak To Guitarist Jeremy

INTERVIEW | Jeremy
COMEBACK KID

“I’m caving, not worth saving
The song’s faded but I’m deadpanned waiting for an avalanche
I’ll be the last to fall
So come test my…
Come test my…
COME TEST MY SOUL.“

2023 has seen an explosion of hardcore shows taking place up and down the east side of Asia (want to make that clear since Asia is massive and barely any bands head more inwards unfortunately) with acts such as No Pressure, Regulate, One Step Closer, Roll Call, all rolling through.

Last week we helped announce the return of one of the planet’s most well-known road dogs, Canada’s own Comeback Kid. The band is coming out to play Hammersonic Festival and OF COURSE, they would reach out to see what other dates they could string along.

We hit up the band with a short interview and one of the two founding remaining members of the band, guitarist Jeremy, was able to reply. If you’ve been keeping tabs, it’s only February and the band has already played in the US and Australia, so for these world-traveling musicians to find time to respond to interview questions is a feat on its own. Jeremy was able to answer these while waiting for a layover flight!

Mad respect to the band…make sure you hit up those dates when they come through! If they aren’t coming to your city/country/town, go book a flight! They’re so fucking worth it.

Tourdates:

March 15 – Hong Kong – TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW
March 16 – Manila – TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW
March 17 – Kuala Lumpur – TICKETS AVAILABLE
March 18 – Singapore – TICKETS AVAILABLE
March 19 – Jakarta – MORE INFO
March 20 – Bangkok – MORE INFO

UA: Yo Jeremy! We’re stoked to have you back in Asia and especially back here in Hong Kong! First of all, where are you right now?
Jeremy: I’m in Vancouver right now waiting for my connection back home to Winnipeg. We played a fest in Seattle last night so today is the travel day home.

UA: You guys have been all over the place and it’s only February! Didn’t you guys just wrap up Australia? How’d that go over with Drain?
Jeremy: Yeah we just got back from that a week and a half ago. That band is crushing it right now so it was pretty rad to be able to have them down in Australia with us for their first time.

UA: Oh for sure – they’re pretty much the “it” band all over the planet. But the videos from Australia show you guys KILLED it! Seems like the new songs are all going over well too right?
Jeremy: I’m not gonna lie. We were a little intimidated at the thought of playing after them every night but to be honest I was blown away that our new record has been received so well. In hardcore, as a band gets older, the discography gets larger, and it becomes harder and more challenging to bring people into the new stuff. But for real, we are so amped that this record has had immediate traction with our base and even outside of that. Very grateful after 2 decades of putting out records.

Jeremy hanging with Drain.

“In hardcore, as a band gets older, the discography gets larger, and it becomes harder and more challenging to bring people into the new stuff.”

UA: Yeah man for real – right now it does feel like a lot of riff-based hardcore is the jam – and you guys definitely brought the riffs on the new record! I think I messaged you right away when I heard the main riff on Heavy Steps! Hahaha…which songs off the new record have been making it into your setlist for now?
Jeremy: Riffing it definitely a bit of a thing. Lots of crossover bands making waves right now for sure. At the moment we have 4 songs off the new records that we rotate in and out depending on set length, what kind of tour we’re on etc. I’m not making any promises as to what will be on our set list in Asia but the ones in the mix are Heavy Steps, Crossed, Face the Fire, and Dead on the Fence.

UA: Now let’s get into the upcoming Asian tour! The original plan was to come out to Hammersonic Fest a few years back correct?
Jeremy: Yes! We were supposed to do that in March 2020 I believe, but then the whole goddamn world fell apart!

UA: You guys have always been road dog warriors – so going into 2023 how did the rest of the Asian dates all come to play? And why do you guys hate sleep so much? Hahahaha…
Jeremy: We had a short tour booked around Hammersonic in 2020 so the logical thing for us to do was try to make up those shows so here we are ready to do it this time, hopefully for real! You must’ve seen the routing with no days off. I’m going to be completely messed up by the end of that.

UA: My first reaction was exactly that. You guys are doing it like SOIA likes to do it when they come here – run right through show after show with no days off. But people sometimes forget how grueling flying in and out every day going through customs and immigration and playing a show can be…so hopefully, your biggest goal is that people lose their minds at these shows I assume? Hahaha…
Jeremy: It really is much worse than people think haha. Most people who don’t travel like we do are like ‘Wow! That’s so sick you get to fly to every show!” But in reality, it’s very taxing on both mind and body. At the end of the day, things are a little different now that we’re older and two of us have kids. Pre-kids I’m always down for a day or two off between fly-ins but now it’s that work/family life balance we try to do and it’s a really clumsy dance at best haha.

UA: Ahhhhhh I forgot I think that was SOIA’s thinking as well. Get it all done and the sooner they’re back home. With these shows are there any particular dates you’re excited about? I know a couple of spots haven’t had a foreign hardcore band come through in some time like us here in Hong Kong and it’ll be your third time here! One of the very few bands to do it.
Jeremy: I mean let’s be honest. All of them. It’s still weird to me that people this far away want to see our band. And to your point about having a bit of a dry spell of shows, that energy in the room is so special when people get back to those sweaty rooms they love and missed. Two highlights though that will be firsts for us will be playing Manila for the first time as well as our first big festival in SE Asia at Hammersonic in Indonesia.

Gap of Holding On Records (Thailand promoter): “I’m just so happy to have them back in Bangkok! It’s been 10 years since they were last year and CBK is easily many people’s favorite band here. Whether it’s the music, the lyrics, or their live show. Last time, the show was one of the craziest we’ve seen! This time we worked hard to bring them back and finally, we were able to secure a deal especially since the show was postponed because of COVID. Even though it’s a Monday night show, which we don’t often do, for CBK I was like we can’t miss this chance. So we have to do it! I think many people will come to the show, singalong, circle pit, and enjoy stagediving! Monday or not, this show is going to go off for one of the 2000s era of hardcore’s biggest legends!”

UA: Oh I forgot you’re going to Manila! You are going to hear the loudest singalongs you’ve ever heard in your life!!!! Andrew’s going to be like “sick – I don’t have to sing those melodic parts at all” hahaha…that shit must always feel good especially as you said you’ve been doing this for over 20 years
Jeremy: It really is! It’s easy to slip into that ‘old and jaded’ mindset when you are feeling low and things aren’t going so great such as that period of time when the world shut down. That sucked! But when I stop and check myself, I can’t believe how fortunate we are as a band to have put in the work that we have and get rewarded to see how it connects with people on the other side of the world.

RJ of Still Ill Records (Philippines promoter): “Everyone’s excited here, those within my age group specifically, who grew up with CBK’s music. Expect singalongs and a lot of stagediving here!”

You’re going to want to turn up that volume and listen to the crowd singalong to when No Pressure rolled through…

UA: Alright Jeremy – thanks for giving us your time and hopefully your layover at the airport has been somewhat more enjoyable with this interview sandwiched in hahaha…any last words or thoughts on the Asian hardcore community?
Jeremy: Ha! Yeah totally chewed up some of that layover. The flight starts boarding in about half an hour so thanks for that! To the people in the Asia hardcore world, just want to let you know that we see your posts and requests for us to come down and we are so happy to make the effort to do it. You don’t owe us anything but we appreciate your support so much. May everything run smoothly and no weird super transmissible variants pop up to shut this down again!! See you soon!