Interview: Lee Jennings, The Funeral Portrait vocalist, on new deluxe album, touring, collabs, live shows and more

 

Written By Neil Shumate, OOTB Publications

Garnering well-deserved acclaim since forming in 2014—not only for their stand-out music, but also for their active live shows—Atlanta, Georgia alternative hardcore rock five-member band The Funeral Portrait continues to rise, and with it a new deluxe edition of their well-received record Greetings From Suffocate City (Better Noise Music) will be released Friday. 

The original edition, released Sept. 2024, features hit collabs with Spencer Charnas of Ice Nine Kills (“Suffocate City”), Danny Worsnop of Asking Alexandria (“Dark Thoughts”), Bert McCracken of The Used (“You’re So Ugly When You Cry”) and Eva Under Fire (“Voodoo Doll”). 

Adding to that, the deluxe edition includes vocal collab songs with Five Finger Death Punch frontman Ivan Moody (“Holy Water”) and Lilith Czar (“Hearse For Two”). Just recently, “Holy Water” reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Chart.

The album also features unreleased new songs, including: a live track, a demo, and a remix—totaling 24-tracks on the digital release and 21-tracks on vinyl and CD.

Always on the road, The Funeral Portrait connects with longtime fans and newer listeners alike. In the past, the band held supporting jaunts with The Hu, PVRIS, Shinedown, Starset, 5FDP, August Burns Red and others. The band most recently finished tours with Ice Nine Kills, Catch Your Breath and Archers as well as a few dates with The Used and Underoath. 

The Funeral Portrait will be on the road all summer at festivals and supporting Ice Nine Kills’ Hell Of A Summer Tour with Dayseeker, until a European tour this fall and winter.

While on the road, lead vocalist Lee Jennings took time for an OOTB Interview to discuss the new deluxe album, live performances, touring, collaborations, what’s next and more. 

The band’s live shows are astounding and so much fun! Where do you draw the motivation and inspiration from for the nonstop energy and the theatrics of bringing the “Icons” (characters) to your “Devotion Ceremonies” (live shows) for the “Coffin Crew” (fanbase) in attendance?

So many of our influences come from over-the-top theatrical bands and artists! We draw from My Chemical Romance and Queen for the theatrics, like Icons and matching outfits. 

 

However, we also all come from a DIY heavy music background, so the high energy performances are simply in our DNA at this point.

With the continuous touring the band does, what’s both your favorite parts of touring and least favorite parts of touring?

The best part of touring is, obviously, the shows. Getting to pour our hearts out every night for the fans is why we do this. The hardest part is also obvious, being away from our loved ones and families for so long can get pretty tough at times! We're lucky to have a family on the road in the Coffin Crew that acts as a surrogate for that.

Outside of music and the down time you do have, what are your interests and how do you spend your off time?

If I ever get a free moment I love all things Disney and theme parks! 

 

So, going to Disney World in Florida or Universal is something I try to squeeze in!

The collabs on Greetings From Suffocate City are fire. It’s always awesome to see that combined togetherness. If there’s one musician or band outside of rock or metal you’d like to collab with, who or what band, artist would that be and why? And what song of theirs would you like to cover?

I want to collab with Danny Elfman more than anything! He's a genius and we're all massive fans of his work. I can't say we'd cover one of his songs, but a collaboration would be amazing.

You have a massive two-disc deluxe edition of the album due out [this Friday] June 13. How did you decide on which new songs to include on the album and of those, which is your favorite and why that song?

It was super hard! We had a ton of B-sides we loved, and even wrote a few new songs! We wrote “Skinny Lies” and “Evergreen” specifically for the deluxe edition to just keep building the world of Suffocate City. I think those are my favorites! They feel so fresh and new for us. Still feeling like TFP, but kinda winking towards something new.

Going into the rest of 2025, what does the band have in store or planned?

Tours, tours, and more tours! Maybe working on new music here and there, but mostly we are focused on getting this show on the road!!!

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Pre-order our new Deluxe Edition of Greetings From Suffocate City, and make sure you come catch us on one of our Devotion Ceremonies!

Pre-Order Album

https://thefuneralportrait.ffm.to/gfscdeluxe

See Tour Dates 

https://www.thefuneralportrait.com

The Funeral Portrait is: 

Robert Weston (bass)

Homer Umbanhowar (drums)

Lee Jennings (vocals)

Caleb Freihaut (guitar/auxiliary)

Cody Weissinger (guitar)

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