Adam Dutkiewicz

Adam Jonathan Dutkiewicz (born April 4, 1977^[1]) is an American musician, recording engineer, songwriter, and music producer, best known as the lead guitarist and backup vocalist from Massachusetts metalcore bands Killswitch Engage, Aftershock, and Times of Grace.

Biography

Dutkiewicz, of Austrian, Polish, Scottish, and English descent, grew up in Westhampton, Massachusetts. Dutkiewicz attended Hampshire Regional High School. Dutkiewicz also later attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston, studying production, audio engineering, and bass guitar.^[2][3] While at college, he began playing in the band Aftershock with friend Joel Stroetzel. Stroetzel would later join Dutkiewicz, Mike D'Antonio, and Jesse Leach in forming Killswitch Engage. Dutkiewicz was the drummer of Killswitch Engage, until the release of its second album, Alive or Just Breathing,^[4] when he moved to guitars, and Tom Gomes became the band's drummer.

He has assumed the role of producer on all of Killswitch Engage's records,^[4] except on their second self-titled album Killswitch Engage, which was released June 30, 2009. For this album he took on the job of co-producer alongside Brendan O'Brien (known for his work with AC/DC, The Offspring, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, Incubus, Mastodon, and Stone Temple Pilots). Adam has also produced for the bands As I Lay Dying, Underøath, The Devil Wears Prada,^[5] The Acacia Strain,^[6] Unearth,^[7] All That Remains,^[8] From Autumn to Ashes,^[4] Johnny Truant,^[9] Parkway Drive,^[10] The Agony Scene,^[4] Every Time I Die^[4] and others. He has been compared to Ross Robinson, producer of many nu metal albums, because of his influence on modern metal and shaping the sound of melodic metalcore. He is also an engineer for Zing Recording Studios, which has produced for numerous artists, including several from Tooth & Nail Records and its heavy metal sub-label Solid State Records.^[3]

In 2016, Adam formed Serpentine Dominion also consisting George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher and Shannon Lucas.

Equipment

Adam Dutkiewicz (far right) performing in Times of Grace.

Guitars

Dutkiewicz has been a longtime player of Caparison Guitars mostly using the Caparison PLM-3, a discontinued model, with EMG pickups (EMG 85 in the bridge, and two EMG SA single coils in the middle and neck positions) and DR Tite-Fit .012-.052 strings. He also uses the Caparison Dellinger, TAT, and Angelus models. He is quoted as saying that he likes the guitars because they have a very "strat-like neck." Ever since 2007, he has been seen using various models and brands, but still uses Caparison for tracking in the studio.^[11]

In 2008 shows, he used a black Parker Fly with an EMG 81/EMG 85 set for pickups. Atop this, he used a custom Caparison, modeled after the Dellinger model. He previously used Parker guitars for their light weight so as to avoid worsening his back problems, but ended his endorsement due to quality issues after getting his signature model. Sometime in 2008, he switched to using a stock PRS Guitars Custom 22, which he used for a few years. In the video for "In Due Time", Adam can be seen using an EVH Wolfgang Hardtail. He has since then switched to EVH Wolfgangs full-time.^[11] The modifications done to the Wolfgangs involve removing the neck pickup, pickup selector switch, and tone knob, replacing the Schaller fine-tuning stop-tail piece with a standard stop-tail piece, replacing the locking nut with a standard nut, and installing locking tuners.

Adam Dutkiewicz officially re-joined Caparison Guitars in 2015. Adam now also uses Fishman Fluence Modern pickups.

Amplification and effects

Dutkiewicz has used a wide variety of guitars and amps throughout his career, including the Mesa Boogie Roadster and Triple Rectifier heads, a Marshall JCM900, a modified Soldano SLO-100, and a Hughes and Kettner TriAmp MKII, which he did not like for metal because he said it "didn't hold together well." He has also used the Framus Cobra and Dragon, the Peavey 5150, the Splawn Nitro, the Diezel VH4, the Fuchs Viper, and the Fender Twin '65 Reverb and Vox AC30 for clean tones. He is currently endorsed by Laney Amplification, using their Ironheart series of amplifiers.

For tracking the recent Killswitch Engage album, Disarm the Descent, both he and Stroetzel used Laney and Fuchs amps, using the Laney Ironheart head alongside a Fuchs Mantis (also known as the Viper).

In his current live amp rig, he uses both Laney Amplification and Fuchs amps, making use of a Laney IRT120H head with a Celestion Vintage 30-loaded Laney Ironheart 4x12 cabinet for his distorted tones, and a Fuchs Clean Machine, being attenuated by a Jet City Jettenuator, for clean tones.

For his current live effects rig, he makes use of a Maxon OD808 Overdrive, Maxon AD-9 delay, Maxon CP-9 Pro+ compressor, Boss Corporation NS-2 Noise Suppressor, Boss ABY switcher, Jet City JetDirect DI box, and a Korg DTR2000 tuner. For wireless, he uses an Audio-Technica 5000 Series.^[12]

He currently uses D'Addario EXL115 (.011 - .049) string sets with Intune 1.14mm picks.^[11]

Stage show

Adam Dutkiewicz (far right) performing in Killswitch Engage. Adam Dutkiewicz is well known for his unique stage attire.

Joel Stroetzel stated about Adam's stage personality saying: "Adam likes to take the piss out of things. Just wants to have a good time—kind of act like an asshole, but in a funny way. He likes to get people going, egg the crowd on. He gets up there and calls the crowd ‘pussies’ and all this stuff. But coming from a guy wearing short shorts and a cape, you gotta take things like that in stride."^[13]

Personal life

Adam used to be straight edge.^[14]

On February 10, 2015, Adam was a contestant on the CBS game show The Price Is Right where he won $51,832 in prizes.^[15]

Discography

Aftershock

• Letters (1997) - Drums
• Through the Looking Glass (2000) - Lead Guitar, vocals

Burn Your Wishes

• Split EP w/ The Awards (2003)

Killswitch Engage

• Killswitch Engage (2000) - Drums, backing vocals, production
• Alive or Just Breathing (2002) - Drums, piano, guitar, backing vocals, production
• The End of Heartache (2004) - Lead guitar, additional percussions, backing vocals, production
• As Daylight Dies (2006) - Lead guitar, vocals, production
• Killswitch Engage (2009) - Guitar, backing vocals, co-production
• Disarm the Descent (2013) - Guitar, vocals, production
• Incarnate (2016) - Guitar, backing vocals, production

Times of Grace

• The Hymn of a Broken Man (2011) - Vocals, guitars, drums, bass, production

Serpentine Dominion

• Serpentine Dominion (2016) - Guitars, bass, backing vocals, production

Other Appearances

• Total Brutal by Austrian Death Machine (2008) - Production, guitar solo in track "Come with Me If You Want to Live"
• "A Song for Chi" by Various (2009) - Guitars

As Producer

• The Acacia Strain - ...And Life Is Very Long, 3750, The Dead Walk,
• All That Remains - Behind Silence and Solitude, This Darkened Heart, The Fall of Ideals, For We Are Many, A War You Cannot Win
• Arma Angelus - Where Sleeplessness Is Rest from Nightmares
• As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us, The Powerless Rise
• August Burns Red - Thrill Seeker
• Cannae - Horror
• From Autumn To Ashes - Too Bad You're Beautiful
• He Is Legend - I Am Hollywood
• Johnny Truant - In the Library of Horrific Events
• Norma Jean - Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child
• Parkway Drive - Killing with a Smile, Horizons
• Shadows Fall - Somber Eyes to the Sky, Fire from the Sky
• Underoath - Define the Great Line, Lost in the Sound of Separation
• Unearth - The Stings of Conscience, Endless, The Oncoming Storm, The March, Darkness in the Light
• The Agony Scene - The Agony Scene
• The Devil Wears Prada - Dead Throne, 8:18

As Mixer

• Caliban: The Awakening

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Adam Dutkiewicz.

External links

• Adam Dutkiewicz talks about his production philosophies
• Adam Dutkiewicz's 2005 Killswitch Engage guitar rig on GuitarGeek.Com
• Burn Your Wishes-side project