by Matt Kelchner
It’s been a very busy year for Doylestown, PA locals Balance and Composure. A few highlights include performing at the Made in America festival, touring with the likes of Title Fight and Coheed and Cambria, a terrifying tour van accident thousands of miles away from home and releasing a brand new album with one of the hottest producers in the scene. And they are not stopping there.
To round out the year, singer/guitarist Jon Simmons will be joining Walter Schreifels and Saves The Day on their holiday acoustic tour for two weeks starting this Friday. The tour ends on December 21st with an already sold out show in the depths of the basement at the First Unitarian Church.
Despite a busy schedule, I was able to catch up with Simmons to reflect on their fantastic year as well as what’s in store for 2014. “Title Fight shows were insane and the crowds were amazing and a crucial part to the show,” he comments on their nationwide tour with their friends and fellow PA punks.
The tour finished with a sold out in advance, co-headlining hometown show at Union Transfer. “It was the best feeling we know. Those kind of nights are why we are still doing this,” he adds. With all the energy and emotion flowing in the show, not everything went as smoothly as it could have.
The show had to be stopped during Title Fight’s set due to a fan’s stage diving induced injury that left the screaming, cheering crowd speechless. “It’s a little weird that people stage dive when we play but we are not going to complain that the kids are feeling it and are having a good time,” Simmons tells me. As soon as the fan was attended to and helped out of the venue, the good times continued.
Accompanying all of the touring was the release of the band’s latest full length album, The Things We Think We’re Missing. Balance and Composure decided to keep things local with the record and tapped Will Yip at Studio 4 in Conshohocken, PA to assist with it. “Having the chance to work with Will was one of the best experiences we have had as a band,” Simmons comments. “He works harder than anyone I know and you can tell by every album he produces.”
As for the trouble or pressure in translating these new songs to a live audience night after night, Simmons explains, “We didn’t really think about that. I guess just making sure the new songs sound good in a live setting.” Sounding good would be an understatement. The record has been well-received around the punk scene. With the “emo revival” push that the bigger publications have been making, it has also made a splash within their likes as well.
So with a handful of show remaining, Balance and Composure will end things on a more mellow, somber note acoustically with just one member, Simmons, performing with two other acts who have been around the scene for years and years. It’s only fitting to include one of the leaders for the next generation with them.
Looking forward to 2014, there are two things on Jon Simmons mind for Balance and Composure, “touring the world and a new Kanye album hopefully.”
