After years of silence, Balance and Composure was restored, with the Pennsylvania-born band making a triumphant return. calling it quits in 2019, they shocked fans with the unexpected release of Too Quick To Forgive in 2023. With a studio album and multiple tours under their belt, they’re now gearing up to come Down Under and grace the stage at New Bloom Festival. As the band settles into this new chapter, I caught up with lead vocalist Jon Simmons to discuss what brought them back onto the stage, and the journey ahead.
Taking to Twitter in 2019, Balance and Composure released a statement announcing that their upcoming tour would be their last. While devastating for listeners, it certainly didn’t come as a surprise, with a potential hiatus being mentioned two years prior on Taylor Madison’s Strange Nerve Podcast, where Simmons himself confirmed that a hiatus was on the cards following their reunion tour. 2023 saw them make a triumphant return with the surprise-release of Too Quick To Forgive, which featured two brand new tracks. “Well, we never really wanted to stop, we kind of just had to at the time.” Simmons shares on what brought the band back together, going on to say, “I just think we missed each other a lot. And I think most importantly, we wanted to make music again, not just play shows. So I think we just wanted to collaborate again, creatively.”
Comparing the energy within the group and the general reception from crowds before and after their breakup, Simmons muses, “People are, it seems, more excited than since, like, the 2010s. it just seems like there’s a new energy and I think people are more excited to go to shows. But also the most rewarding thing about all this is just being able to get to play with my friends and the band and that’s just the most important thing to me. So it’s been very rewarding for that reason alone.” There’s also no denying that the pandemic, which reached its height just after the band’s breakup, has changed the way we listen to music and attend live shows in a monumental way, specifically within the heavy music scene. “It’s like you never know what you got until it’s gone. So I think people really realise that and realise this is a precious thing and you should savor every opportunity you can to experience a thing because you don’t know what could happen in the future, you know?” Simmons says of that energy induced by the pandemic, later going on to say, “Honestly, I feel like Turnstile is to thank for that. I think they got really, really big and that opened up a lot of people’s eyes to a whole other pocket of music that they didn’t know existed. That’s just something I’ve noticed…It’s an awesome thing. I hope it keeps growing. But I also feel like all these bands who’ve been around and been doing this for a long time, they deserve the recognition and they deserve people to come to the shows. So there are no complaints on my end, that’s for sure. I just think it’s cool to see.”
Though Balance and Composure are back in full-force, Simmons confirms that there are no long-term plans right now, sharing, “It’s one step at a time. It’s not like how it used to be. We’re not really chasing anything. We’re just trying to have fun.” And this mindset certainly seems to be working in their favour, with their most recent album With You In Spirit receiving rave reviews from critics as well as long-time fans (possibly the most brutal critics!). Of the album, Simmons reflects, “I absolutely love it. We’re all very proud of it. I think we’re just itching to play more shows and play new songs and get the chance to, because we’ve been playing the same songs for a long time now. So we’re excited to play these ones, you know. And yeah, I feel great about it. We’re all very proud of that record. And it seems that people seem to like it. So what more can you ask for?”
With the second annual New Bloom Festival less than a week away, Balance and Composure are gearing up to grace the stage, bringing their new energy to Australia for the first time since their breakup. While they’re here, they’re also playing a few headline shows with American rockers Glitterer. In terms of the set, Simmons says that festival goers can expect a more concise set featuring their hits, while those attending their headline shows can look forward to some deeper cuts. “We’re very excited because we know Australia goes harder than anybody else in the world. So we’re just excited to play for them again. This is our fourth time there, so we obviously really love the energy that the crowd has in Australia. So it’s something we’ve been longing for and we’re so excited to experience it again.”
And while they’re taking it slow, Simmons shares what excites him most about being back, saying, “I just really like getting in a room with the five of us and just seeing what we can come up with. I don’t know, as an outlet, it’s extremely important to me, and I think it’s something I was missing. So I would say that’s the most rewarding thing, but obviously shows are right up there too, because getting to share your music with other people is everything.”
It’s extremely obvious chatting to Jon that the band is in a very healthy place currently, thriving off of making and playing music together. While the future of the band seems a little uncertain but their energy is at an all-time-high, there’s no better time to catch them live. New Bloom Festival will kick off in Brisbane on March 8, before heading to Sydney and Melbourne, followed by Balance and Composure’s headline shows.
You can grab your New Bloom Festival tickets HERE, or check out headline dates & tickets HERE.
