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Interview with Andy Ferro of Lacuna Coil

10/20/2014

Interview with Andy Ferro
Lacuna Coil

Co-vocalist Andrea "Andy" Ferro

From Milan, Italy, gothic metal band Lacuna Coil put on their most stunning performance yet at Monster Energy’s Aftershock Festival. Featuring the hypnotic vocal duet of Andrea “Andy” Ferro and Christina Scabbia, Lacuna Coil will revolutionize your view of gothic metal from noise that whiny teenagers listen to, to melodic works of genius.

Co-vocalist Christina Scabbia

On March 28th of this year, Lacuna Coil released their seventh studio album, Broken Crown Halo, containing the single “Nothing Stands In Our Way.” Ferro revealed in an interview at Aftershock that the album title and cover were portraying the idea that today everyone is locked into their own “realities” of social media. “Nowadays it’s too much virtual environment and we feel like people should just go out a little bit more,” stresses Ferro. “You need to find a right measure; you need to separate reality from virtual every now and then.”

A balance is key, Ferro explains. He finds that, especially when he is on the road or connecting with fans, social media can prove extremely useful. “My wife was selling our old house and we were buying a new one,” says Ferro. “I had to see the house with a video on the Internet, and I actually bought the house before I saw it in real life. It was the only way we could combine the sale and the buying of a new one without going into some hotels… Technology helped me in this case."

Scabbia

Now that the Internet and social medias have become so prominent in connecting with fans, Ferro says he dedicates much of his time to communicating and reaching out.

“We try to reply to everybody who writes us if they ask something that makes sense. It’s important, because it’s the way life is right now, you know? We’ve got a lot of fans who [have been] following us for many years. They come and bring us stuff like food and stuff they cook for us.

“It’s great to see that music has been something deeper than just, ‘Okay, this is the band and I buy the record, and that’s it.’ It’s something almost like a friendship, even if…we can’t talk every day. We see each other once every two years. But still there is a stronger, deeper relationship than just somebody that buys a t-shirt or buys a record. I love that it’s…a big community.”

Scabbia

Being from Italy, touring can often involve being thousands of miles away from home for months at a time. “It is fun to be on the road. But it’s also hard when you have a long tour,” says Ferro. “This one is a month, so it’s not too bad. But the previous one we went on in North America was 105 days. That’s a long time to be away from home.”

Thankfully, his wife and family are very supportive of his career; however, it can still be difficult. “It’s a sacrifice because [my wife] suffers. Every time I leave, she’s very sad.”

Ferro’s wife also serves as an inspiration, as someone he can count on and admire. “She inspires me in life mostly. She has a regular job, so she works every day,” Ferro explains. “You have somebody like me that can have [a] job he loves to do and is passionate with, and comes from a passion. It is harder for her [because she] has a regular job, [and has] to be there in the office all day… She made a big sacrifice for our lives together as well. So I totally admire her, and she’s been totally supportive all the way.”

Marco "Maus" Biazzi

Having a female band member can often lead to unwanted press or undesirable ways of becoming famous. For example, many bands such as The Pretty Reckless and In This Moment have become famous because their front women are attractive and exploit their bodies, not necessarily because their music is good. In cases like The Pretty Reckless, this is especially unfortunate, because their music is absolutely fantastic.

Lacuna Coil clearly makes a point of not showing off Christina for her looks, but instead marketing her beautiful voice, the band’s musical creativity, and the meld of two different voices. This becomes especially clear when watching one of their music videos, which tell stories and enhance the music.

“Christina got more attention from the media, especially when we started, because it was something different,” Ferro says. “Not many women front a metal band. When we did OzzFest in 2004, we were one of the first bands with a female singer, not the only one, but one of [very] few…[We were] very unique when we started, and a lot of the attention focused on her, but we always felt like a band, we always work like a band… We are a family, so we perform our music the way we like it. Christina doesn’t want to be in front all the time even though she is because of the situation.”

Ryan Blake Folden

At Aftershock, Lacuna Coil performed on the side stage, and the crowd absolutely overwhelmed the space, spilling out into the encompassing area. The enthusiasm put forth by every band member was enthralling; it was an amazing experience.

Check out this amazing band, a branch off of the gothic metal genre, aligning itself with other bands such as Within Temptation and Evanescence. Even if you’re not a fan of such bands, Lacuna Coil is worth checking out.

Zoe Adler is a music journalist from Long Beach, California. Besides her website, which is her pride and joy, she works with the GRAMMY Foundation and the Long Beach Independent. Additionally, Ms. Adler is a musician, spending half of her time playing the flute, piccolo, trombone, and marching baritone. She has been with TeenView Music since the very start and hopes to make something of it in the future.

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DoubleView of VI∙ZA at Aftershock 2014

10/12/2014

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VI∙ZA at Aftershock

Lead singer K'noup Tomopoulos

Original? Ground-breaking? Talented? Yes, VI∙ZA is all of those things. However, they are so much more than an exciting new band. On album, VI∙ZA is not just an "avant-garde, progressive, cultural" band; they are musicians of incredible skill who experiment with new ways of manipulating sound and use their intelligence to be funny and entertaining. On stage, VI∙ZA is charismatic, always putting in one hundred percent and pulling the crowd in.

Intertwining an Armenian folk sound with Western traditions combines to create an extremely revolutionary sound. Featuring an oud player (Andrew Kzirian; to read an exclusive interview with him (click here) in a band will undoubtedly place you on a higher level than bands close to your genre.

I would describe VI∙ZA as a cross-cultured rock band that is not afraid to dabble in new musical concepts and explore different sounds.

I sat down with guitarist Orbel Babayan and lead singer K’noup Tomopoulos backstage after their set at Aftershock. Somehow, it always works out that VI∙ZA only plays at twenty-one plus venues whenever they come to town, so this was only my second time seeing them live.

Recently, Tomopoulos says, “We’ve just been laying low, writing, playing some local shows on the West Coast. It’s been a quiet summer. It’s okay. We recorded a little bit; we recorded a new song with a couple of other covers that are associated with our kick-starter campaign…and here we are at Aftershock. Good times.”

Oud player Andrew Kzirian

Not too long ago, VI∙ZA hired an American publicist to help them increase their following here in the states (they are much better known in Europe). “It’s just putting your face out, and putting it along with your music,” says Tomopoulos about the strategies they’ve adopted. “We take shows that we can, we travel far…we’re trying to make little baby steps.”

Babayan adds in, “The opening slots that we got for Serj [Tankian] and Gogol Bordello increased our following the most over the past few years. We’re in Europe for a couple of months at a time. We would do just fifteen shows with Serj, or we did a couple with Gogol...That’s pretty much what got us a lot of our following in Europe. We’re still working on the States. It is more difficult in the States.”

The States are indeed probably the hardest of the places to make it because in general the crowds are so fickle. Unfortunately, our culture here has developed into loving songs instead of albums, loving noise instead of music, and loving looks instead of lyrics. Despite these setbacks, the opportunities are still there to make a name.

Each member of VI∙ZA brings different sounds into the band. “Individually, I like to bring passion,” explains Tomopoulos. “Everyone in this band brings passion. But, I grew up watching the greatest front men and have studied them, and for the most part I like to take a page from them for their one hundred percent in every time. That’s what I bring in.”

Babayan brings in a different side of music. “I joined the group later, after everybody was in…so the style was already there. I grew up listening to classic rock, more Western style music. But, when I met these guys, they were into the more Armenian sounding stuff…I think I bring a more Western side. Andrew, for instance, he plays the oud, so he brings that sound, and Shaunt, he’s really into the ethnic stuff, too. So, they bring in a lot.”

Drummer Chris Daniels

You may be wondering how a band like VI∙ZA comes up with their strange themes and fascinating song structures. "I think the best songs we’ve written are where we come with the idea or the concept first and we base it off that," says Babayan. "Once you have a concept, then you have a song, you have a great hook, and it becomes more of an anthem, which is more of the style of songs I like. I always love anthems that everyone can sing along to. I think when you have a concept or an idea in your head first about what you want the song to be about, that’s when it usually becomes more of the universal song that everybody loves, because everybody relates to it as well.”

Tomopoulos adds, “Songwriting—I like to call it magic. It comes out of nowhere. We don’t sit down and say, ‘Okay, time to write this.’ Songs just come out of nowhere. Ideas are spawned out of just the smallest of things. The old saying that we wrote it in the shower, that’s literal. Many times, we’ll be—well, not together—we’ll be individually be in the shower, and [at least] I will be like, ‘Oh, I just got an idea for this an this and this.’ Where music and songs come from, who knows where they come from? We’re just messengers of the songs.”

Guitarist Orbel Babayan

In a previous interview with VI∙ZA, I asked oud play Kzirian about his current top five songs or artists. Now, Babayan and Tomopoulos had their chance to talk about it.

“That is the most difficult question for me,” confesses Babayan. “I will try to narrow it down, and then I’ll feel like such a jerk later for leaving something out that I really like. It’s hard to say. That’s why I usually like to say, ‘lately.’ Actually, on the drive over here, my girlfriend showed me this Tom Waits song called “Poor Edward,” and I’d never heard that song before, but I was just like, ‘wow.’”

“I’m a huge fan of Tom Waits,” chimes in Tomopoulos. ““Blood Money” and “Alice” are the greatest off his records I own. I want to throw Tom Waits into the mix. I love his caricature.

“[Waits] said, ‘I’m going into the Hall of Fame and yet I’ve never written a hit single.’ I love that about him. Well, the songs that I have are very eclectic when in comes down to music. Lately, I’ve been listening to a Hebrew rock band from Israel. They’re called Orphaned Land. They’re fantastic, they’re very along the lines of our passionate side, and hopefully someday we can tour with them. So I’ve been checking those guys out. I listen to Andrea Bocelli, I listen to Queen, and I listen to various artists. I actually checked out U2’s new record because it was put into my iPod, and I’m a fan of U2, so I accept that.”

Adding on to the subject of U2, Tomopoulos articulates his opinion: “To those artists who are giving U2 a hard time for putting their music in their iPod, I’d like to see you last thirty years and sell a quarter of the albums that U2 has sold. Then you guys can talk. Until then, please be quiet. Just delete the album if you don’t like it.”

I can guarantee that if you take just one listen to VI∙ZA, you will become enchanted in their spell of music. So, go look them up, you won’t regret it.

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Interview with Andy Ferro of Lacuna Coil

Interview with Andy FerroLacuna Coil

DoubleView of VI∙ZA at Aftershock 2014

VI∙ZA at Aftershock

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Interview with Andy Ferro
Lacuna Coil