THE GREAT ESCAPE

It’s 11pm local time when we call Greg Puciato at his LA home, and he’s just reaching the peak part of his day. A dedicated night owl, years of intense touring – first with The Dillinger Escape Plan and latterly with electronic project The Black Queen and metal supergroup Killer Be Killed – have set his body clock around stage times. So while the rest of the city sleeps, he’s at his most creative as the minutes inch into the next morning. But since lockdown hit, having just finished wringing every drop of inspiration from his life for his debut solo album Child Soldier: Creator Of God, an unusual stillness has settled over his house, an inward zen while the world outside has gone insane.

“I get my energy from being by myself,” he says. “I’m an only child, I can spend a lot of time doing nothing. I love