Mentioned in this same line with such powerhouses like The Gathering or Moonspell, in only three years Lacuna Coil achieved a remarkable status of one of the most recognized dark-gothic bands. The combination of Cristina Scabbia’s seductive appearance with magnetism of her unique voice makes male fans wet their pants during the live shows and incites jealousy among her own gender. Although Italy is known as a county of never-ending siestas or happy sounds of italo-disco, "Unleashed Memories" takes us into an even darker and more melancholic side of the band. Female vocalist Cristina Scabbia shines some much anticipated light on my questions...

Chris


Cristina, first of all what such a beautiful woman is doing in a metal band?

[laughs] Thank you very much. Well, it’s nice, very nice because I always meet very respectable people and they are always nice with me, the fans are not aggressive with me so it’s a pleasure.

Is it something you always wanted to do?

Yeah, I mean it’s weird ‘cause I don’t consider myself as a diva or stuff like that, but I’m happy if people can dream about me with my picture even if they really don’t know me. It’s nice if you can please someone.

Have you ever thought of singing in a pop group? You never know, you might be even more popular than with Lacuna Coil.

I never thought about it before I entered Lacuna Coil. I used to sing in some occasional dance projects and stuff like that but just giving my voice without giving my name and image because I didn’t like that music. I wasn’t proud of it. So, as soon as I met the other members of Lacuna Coil and I met the metal scene I realized I want to be a metal singer.

Rather than asking are you happy with "Unleashed Memories", is there anything you don’t like on it?

I really love it and I think it’s perfect even if sometimes you would like to change something. But not in the structure, for example we just had four weeks to record this album and, of course, when you have just four weeks you have to prepare everything before entering the studio. You cannot improvise too much ‘cause you don’t want to risk that something might go wrong. So as soon as we composed the music we recorded everything as it was and we didn’t change anything at all. Of course when you listen to it later on you might want to change little things, maybe to sing one part better, maybe change the guitar sound, stuff like that but we are really, really satisfied.

Looking back are you satisfied with your previous releases?

When taking a look at them right now, of course I would change a lot of things because we were more immature, the structures are not as beautiful as we can do them now and you can feel it because we weren’t that much sure about ourselves as we are now. I mean, I like them, but I consider "Unleashed Memories" the most mature album of Lacuna Coil.

But then, it also seems like from album to album your sound is getting a little softer. Is this the direction you want to go?

I don’t think I would agree with that. I mean this album is much more melancholic but not necessarily softer. I think that you can give power even if you play some mid-tempo songs, you don’t need to have fast drums to give power, and you can give intense feeling even with those slow songs. I can’t tell you what music we will do in the future. For sure we will stay metal and go with this direction, maybe we add more growl vocals and stuff like that.

Have you ever thought you would achieve so much success in just 3 years?

No, absolutely not. As soon as we released the first EP we had so many good reviews but it happened so many times to a lot of bands that I didn’t realized that’s the beginning and we will be popular in 3 years. But it also happened because we work a lot, we did many interviews and we played all over the Europe.

Over the last 2-3 years Italy has delivered many metal bands into the international scene (Labyrinth, Rhapsody) with recognized success like Lacuna Coil. Have the people of Italy had enough of italo-disco and are looking for a heavier sound?

To tell you the truth I don’t know why people outside of Italy realized now we are able to do good music too. Maybe this is due because Italian bands learned to work in a more professional way. To give you a short example when we were searching for a deal we just sent a promo tape to some labels around the Europe but we recorded this promo tape with a very good sound quality, we included very good pictures, and a full biography. Not something funny or anything like that. We just put it in a very professional way even when Lacuna Coil didn’t have a deal with any label. I think right now Italian bands improved in a more professional direction and they know how to work in the studio, how to do a good gig and stuff like that and now people outside of Italy are realizing that.

How big is the underground? Do you know any new interesting bands?

Not that much cause we are so busy with our music we don’t have time to listen to other bands. We do a lot of interviews, tours and I only have time to read some metal magazines so I know only names of the bands but not their music and I can’t judge them.
I would love to find the time to do it but for now I have to postpone it a little.

So are you listening to any music at all, if so what is it?

I listen to everything. I always said I love music itself and not just a style or an artist. For example I love Depeche Mode this same way I love Meshuggah and this same way I love classical music. As long as it’s a good music I listen to it.

Do you have a favorite band or CD?

I would say Depeche Mode, Typo O Negative, Paradise Lost as bands but I don’t have a favorite CD that I would say I will play all my life.

Italy is recognized as one of the most beautiful countries, blue skies and gorgeous weather. Where then are all those sad thoughts coming from?

You don’t have to live in awful country to have sad thoughts. I mean everyone has its personal moments and it’s easier to look inside yourself when you are sad or depressed. It’s not the blue skies or beautiful monument that makes you happy. Personal problems will make you sad and you can be inspired by this feeling and transpose it into the music and lyrics. You can also be inspired from the sadness of another person and just try to describe his feelings. You can be just reflexive, not sad.

Does any member of Lacuna Coil play in any side project bands?

No! We are totally concentrated on Lacuna Coil.

Are you nervous during the live shows?

Just a little bit before I go on stage. As soon as I’m there I’m completely comfortable. I’m only nervous when I know I can’t give my best because I’m sick or really tired and of course you can’t cancel the show.

Have you ever had unpleasant situations during the live performances with male fans?

Never, to tell you the truth the girls are much worse. They a more arrogant, they just want to touch the guys, to kiss them. I always met guys that kissed my hand, talked to me in a very sweet way but I never met a tough guy that wanted to touch me of stuff like that they are always nice.

So, are you single?

No. [laughs] Marko, the bass player is my boyfriend.

You just toured with Theatre of Tragedy and Beseech. Did anything unusual or funny happen during the tour?

Because we had incredibly good relationship with them a lot of funny things happened. Guys from those bands are very nice people and we still write to each other. Something funny? Well, maybe the last gig. I don’t know if you know about it but during the last gig you can do whatever you want to other bands. So the guitar player and the drummer from Theatre Of Tragedy came on the stage and were improvising on guitars without really playing them just to have some fun with us.

What are your tour plans for "Unleashed Memories"? USA?

USA? Maybe. We were in Mexico in December where we played two gigs and after that we were suppose to have a tour on the east coast but we would have to drive ourselves to reach the venues and we didn’t want to give a terrible gigs just because we were tired. So we decided to organize it better and come over in the future.

What is your most embarrassing moment on the scene?

Most embarrassing? Let me think... oh yeah. [laughs] You know my hair is very long now but in the past they we just up to my shoulders so for the shows I used to wear a fake tail. Once during a gig I lost it and I didn’t realize it till the end of the show when I went on stage to say final thank you to the audience. I looked at my feet and there it was I don’t know if people saw it but that was the most embarrassing moment of my career.

Later on I laughed for about 2 hours...

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If anyone wants to write to us or has any suggestion please visit us at www.lacunacoil.it we will answer all your letters and I hope you will enjoy our new album.