LACUNA COIL’S CRISTINA SCABBIA: THE METALSUCKS INTERVIEW
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009 at 12:00pm by Anso DFWhen you talk about Cristina Scabbia, bewitching singer of Italy’s Lacuna Coil, it’s tempting to devote poetic volumes to descriptions of her melodic acumen, intoxicating voice, and oppressive physical beauty. Even knowing all this, I was still able to be surprised by Scabbia’s effortless coolness: the reader has to imagine her expressing polite disagreement by gently raising the pitch of her voice, dismissing haters with venomless derision, and discoursing like someone casually thinking aloud. Conversely, picture the interviewer perplexed by feelings of sexual longing for his phone, from which Scabbia’s oddly musical speaking voice emanated. (It didn’t help that Scabbia thoughtlessly spoke of wanting more and more, improving your stuff, and getting squeezed in the studio.)
After some shared confusion regarding the difference between Arizona and New Mexico, Scabbia spoke with MetalSucks about her band’s new record Shallow Life (out April 21), boisterous busmates, touring with the melodic dudes of Disturbed, and why Lacuna Coil is a happy band. Check out their new video, “Spellbound,” above; then the full interview is after the jump.
Lacuna Coil is in Arizona now?
Yes. We are in Albuquerque. Yesterday was Phoenix.
The tour just kicked off. How’s it going so far?
It’s going great. We’ve been touring for basically a week. But it’s going great. Oh, actually we’re in New Mexico today. Not Arizona. We were there yesterday.
Great.
We are doing amazing – great reactions from the crowd, the vibe in-between the bands is beautiful. We’re really happy! So far, so good.
So it feels good to be back out on the road with new material?
Oh yes. Especially since we’re gonna play two new songs from this coming album. It’s really exciting that we can change a little bit this set.
Do you get tired of certain songs?
No, Nobody gets tired because they’re still your songs and you love them. But at the same time, it’s much more exciting to play something new.
The tour’s headliners, Disturbed, have a reputation for having a mostly male audience.
Well, to be honest I saw a lot of girls as well. We draw a lot of girls as well to our shows. It’s not about guys only for Disturbed either, ‘cause they’re really melodic as well. I don’t think their music is completely – Can you hold on a second?
Sure!
[Indecipherable scolding] Sorry. They were screaming in the back. I couldn’t hear you.
Was that Italian?
Yes.
Cooool.
I told them [sweetly] “Can you please calm down a bit?’ [laughs] Anyway, there are a lot of guys and girls on this tour.
When can we expect a headlining tour for Lacuna Coil?
We’re talking about it. But, to be honest, I don’t know if it’s gonna be in Europe or America. After this tour, we’re gonna focus on the summer festivals in Europe. So it’s too early to talk about another tour. We have to be careful and pick whatever is best for us. We’ll be back sooner or later.
I can see how those big festivals in Europe would be a priority.
Not really a priority. It’s just that when you’re a musician, it’s really hard to plan that many months ahead. You never know. Plans are changing all the time. Sometimes, problems come up or you can’t do a tour because you’re forced to do something else. For sure, we’re gonna play the summer festivals first.
Some say that you have the best voice around right now.
Thank you!
Oh, it’s a fact. But is your voice a finite thing? How much do you worry about limiting the band’s touring?
To be honest, it’s not that I’m taking care of my voice in terms of being obsessed with it. I never warm up before I go on stage – which is pretty stupid, I would say. You need to warm up. But I’m Italian – I’m a lazy bum, so [before the show] I’m always like ‘Yeah, whatever. I’ll warm up a bit later.’ I definitely should [warm up], but I don’t.
But on the other side, I don’t smoke and I’m not a huge drinker. I drink every once in a while, just for partying. It’s not like I go back to the bus every night and open a beer. On this side, I’m kind of wise. But I ‘m not taking particular care of my voice.
Especially on 2006’s Karmacode, there is so much singing going on – even in addition to [co-vocalist] Andrea’s parts. How do you deal with that in a live setting?
Well, in the live setting, we use a DAT controlled by our drummer. ‘Cause obviously I can’t sing two parts at the same time. I wanna learn that but I didn’t yet [laughs].
Going into the recording of Shallow Life, what was the mood of the band? How satisfied were you with Karmacode?
We were pretty happy with it. We weren’t 100% happy about the production. I think we could’ve worked more, but we didn’t have time. Sometimes you need just a little more time to adjust everything or to make everything better. But we didn’t – we couldn’t.
This time, we took our time and stayed in the studio for a couple of months. We had a bigger budget because Karmacode was successful, which got us the opportunity to have a bigger budget for Shallow Life. We decided to record in the US for the first time with an American producer, which is another big change for us. We’re absolutely happy – we were able to get the sound we wanted. We’re happy about the evolution of the band. We’re super excited. It’s gonna come out next month and we can’t wait to see how it goes.
What parts of the production of Karmacode were you dissatisfied with?
I would’ve worked a little bit more on the vocals. And some sounds, especially drums. But it’s not that I’m unhappy; I’m just telling you that it could’ve been even better than it is. We’re really picky. We’re kind of like that every time. We always feel like it could be better, like we could’ve changed this or that. We could go on forever [laughs].
It must be tough to have to draw the line somewhere.
It is. It is. It is! That’s what keeps you going so it’s good to be that excited and to want to improve your stuff. That makes you want more and more every time.
You mentioned that the success of Karmacode allowed for a bigger budget for Shallow Life.
Yeah.
So, do you put any pressure on yourselves after that success?
Not on ourselves. At least, we didn’t really care. Of course, I believe that the label was really nervous because you can never know if you can repeat the success of an album. We’ve been growing as a band, and with sales album after album. We just decided the best way to write and record the album was to just be honest with ourselves. To do what we really wanted to do without feeling too much pressure from outside or without trying too hard.
There is not a recipe. You never know if people are gonna love your record or not. So you just better try to be genuine and have fun with it. And then if people understand, [they] will buy your record. But you can’t really plan it. Being nervous doesn’t really help. So we just chill out and say “Let’s see what’s coming out. Let’s try in the practice room and experiment a little bit. Let’s see what we’re coming with.”
Of all the great producers out there, how did you land on Don Gilmore [Linkin Park, Avril Lavigne]?
It’s complicated to explain. It’s not like you just pick one person and that’s it. It’s much more elaborate. Basically, we picked different names that we were interested in. We sent them demo tapes we recorded in the practice room. We got different feedback, but we found out that Don was the most passionate about it. He told me he saw a lot of potential in this album. So we decided to meet him in Milan, where we live. He came by and we played the songs for him. We went out for dinner, talked about the songs, and just clicked immediately.
He’s the kind of guy, just to give you an example, who’s really anal about recording, so he squeezes you 100% from what you can do. But at the same time, he’s the funniest guy. He puts you in the condition to be absolutely relaxed, and in a good vibe while you’re recording. Which is the best part of it.
So you’re saying he contributed to the atmosphere and work ethic. Can you tell me how he contributed to the music itself? How is Shallow Life different musically from other Lacuna Coil records?
The music was already written, even before we met him. So he basically just cut some parts and together we made some small changes to vocal parts. But the songs are basically the same as they were before. Maybe they were a little longer, and we cut some parts that weren’t absolutely necessary, or were kinda boring after listening to them a couple times. So now the songs are definitely more direct. The message is clear. The lyrics are… we took better care about the lyrics. They’re not as poetic as they used to be. We wanted to be absolutely clear in what we wanted to say so the listener could get our message.
Do you feel that, in the past, your message was obscure?
Not obscure. It was our way to express ourselves. We knew what we wanted to say and in a way it was kinda good, because everybody could have a different interpretation. But this time, we just tried to be absolutely clear. Every song has a specific story that everyone can get. And we’re talking about real life. Everybody who’s listening can recognize himself or herself in what we’re saying.
I was reading some of the reactions to the new single, “Spellbound” – wait, do you pay attention to what people write about Lacuna Coil and you specifically?
No. Never. It’s not that I don’t care about fans, or other people’s opinions, but most of the time, the internet is the space for people who generally don’t have a life.
[nervous laughs]
So they don’t really have anything else to do but go on websites and talk bullshit – even if they like the album! Which is peculiar. I know a lot of people were writing ‘Oh they should write the same songs they wrote 10 years ago.’ So first of all – Sorry I have to shut them up again. [More hot Italian scolding]
[sigh]
I just don’t get it. I don’t really believe in the reviews I read online – or comments and criticisms. I don’t really care. I don’t want them to influence me. Why bother, ‘cause it’ll always be like that anyway. Some people will love the album and some will hate it. You can’t please everybody.
That makes sense. It would probably just cause confusion for you.
Well, not even confusion. But you get the risk to be pissed off about something. In the end, you’re like “You know what? You don’t like the album? Fuck you! You have 10,000 bands to choose from.” Why even bother to write a bad comment about a band?
You are cool.
If I don’t like a band, I don’t bother to go on a website to write bullshit. So if they do, I’m kinda happy ’cause that means we catch their attention.
But surely some people make valid points. And do so with the best intentions.
But what I don’t understand about some people is when they would love the band they love to be stuck in the past forever. I mean, this is something that I really don’t understand. People grow up. People get different experiences in life. People listen to different music so how can you be the same person as 10 years ago? We can, but it wouldn’t be honest. I know we could’ve made the same album for 12 years, 20 years, 50 years, so we could please the same fans we have. They have to understand that every band needs to have an evolution just to happy and creative [laughs]. You can’t be creative if you’re copying yourself over and over.
You told me that Shallow Life was recorded in America – in Los Angeles, right?
Yeah!
Lacuna Coil is not exactly a happy band, but L.A. is such a sunny place. Did any of that influence the album?
There is a misconception about us being an unhappy band or anything like that. When we started, we made music more oriented toward goth metal. That doesn’t mean that we’re not happy persons at all. Actually, there are huge amounts of positivity coming from Shallow Life and a lot more confidence. We are a happy band. [laughs] Thank god! [laughs]
Well, your music is not unhappy – I mean, it’s positive, but you agree that it’s not dancing, smiling music.
No. Probably because you’re a little bit more inspired when you’re mellow or sad. I don’t know why but that’s the place where creativity comes out better. When you’re happy, you want to do something like hang out with friends. I know it’s true for myself that I’m more inspired when I’m kinda … blue? So probably that’s why [laughs].
-ADF
Anso DF is a former music journalist in need of several cold showers before resuming his half-cocked worship of Kobe Bryant and He Is Legend on the daily Metal column Hipsters Out Of Metal!
First ! Also, boner.
I can’t wait for the next record. It’s one of the few bands I like that my wife will tolerate on car trips!
“Fuck you! You have 10,000 bands to choose from. Why even bother to write a bad comment about a band?”
~~Ironic which website she made that comment to, no?
She is so damn HOT! But that for me is the only likeable quality. i just can not make myself like this band and i only think she is hot when she is not singing. i just dont like them!
well, Cristina – it’s not my fault your band decided to became a fake-Evanescence filled with poser-lame-hitsongs. some years ago you were being produced by Waldemar Sorychta, and now you have, what? Mr. Avril Park?
if you don’t want criticism, go back making anonymous vocal tracks for techno music. or maybe just admit – “we’re now a pop band and we’re happy with it”. this would have more honesty.
I interviewed her the other day, too. Super nice lady. I wasn’t sure it would go well, because I’d read some email interviews online where she came across kinda snippy and unhappy about the process, but I guess that was just because of all the typing involved; on the phone she was great.
I’m interested to see what the new disc sounds like, while not crazy about karmacode I do like their efforts previous to that disc. Each album does sound different so they do try to progress their sound. Are they going more commercial? Probably, if Spellbound is any indication, but that doesn’t automatically mean it will be crap. Guess we’ll find out soon enough.
“You are cool.”
this part makes no sense, i guess its something that doesnt translate to text well
Pretty col band, worked the crowd pretty well (better than some of the fucking horrible but trendy bands like Dragonforce and SOAD that place main stage the same night) when I saw them at Ozzfest.
Think it’s sorta funny that someone called them a “fake Evanescense” band…especially when Lacuna Coil formed first, wasn’t the (late) American reaction to the gothic metal trend overseas, and they’re still making good albums, compared to the single good album from Evanescense (which seems to be pretty much down for the count now).
I am looking forward to see what they have on this album. Was not the biggest fan of Karmacode, and am not the biggest fan of Spellbound either, but like what the band has done enough to keep giving them a listen
Lacuna Coil an Evanescence poser? R U num pluckin futs? LC IS gothrock. Where the hell do you think Gothrock originated? In the USA? numnuts!!!? Evanescence wish they had the originality of gothic sensibilitied in their music like Coil does. I’m not saying Evanescence is a poser, but they could learn a few things from the true Goth rockers of the world. I think Tiagon is the poser here, that is, he doesn’t seem to have a sense of the origins of different rock genres he thinks he has. Or he lives in his bedroom in mommy’s house with posters of Amy Lee on the walls. geez!!!!!
@blah:
“‘“You are cool.’
this part makes no sense, i guess its something that doesnt translate to text well”
Hahaha. So true. I think Christina’s hotness causes guys to blurt out nonsensical things.
I think this new album will be an occasional listen and guilty pleasure. They definitely have gone more mainstream, but I am also enjoying more mainstream music than I used to. The chorus of Spellbound is catchy, the rest doesn’t really do much for me.
I loved Karmacode at first, but it wore off faster than I thought it would. LC has moments of brilliance, but their mediocre moments outweigh that now.
“Pretty col band, worked the crowd pretty well (better than some of the fucking horrible but trendy bands like Dragonforce and SOAD that place main stage the same night) when I saw them at Ozzfest.”
Pretty amusing to me that in defending Lacuna Coil,other bands are called “horrible but trendy”. One of the big insults on this board seems to be calling bands “Hot Topic” bands and Lacuna Coil is as Hot Topic as they come so it is kinda silly to call other bands trendy and horrible while speaking highly of Lacuna Coil. Kinda of an odd comparison in my little world.
Where the hell does the idea that Disturbed have a mostly male fanbase come from?
Maybe it’s just because I’m from the South so the girls down here like trucks, loud music, and getting dirty, but any girl I know that enjoys hard rock LOVES Disturbed
I just have to say to that guy “Ceth” FUCK YOU! You have 10,000 bands to choose from, so quit writing bad comments about them, they’re a lot better than most the shit you listen to.
Can’t get into their music even though I’m sitting here trying to…
But any band that has that many cheesecake promo shots of their singer must be great somehow, huh?
God! That guy “Nathaniel” certainly gets upset when i say something un-positive about Lacuna Coil! You have 10,000 bands to choose from as well so go listen to something good ! And if they are way better than most of the shit i listen to then i have some serious problems happening on my hard drive and i-pod. And just how do you know what i listen to based off of a little dis like for Lacuna Coil?
Nice interview, although I can’t agree with her generalization about internet users. Cristina rocks!
And about the new album… seriously, I don’t want the new album to be as shitty as Karmacode.
ceth…. what the fuck is “un-positive”???? Do you mean “negative”? I’m going to go ahead and take Nathaniel’s side in this one just due to the fact that you’re too stupid to use the word “negative” instead of making up your own, retarded ass word.
ceth – Lacuna Coil isn’t “trendy”. Most pop kids don’t like music like that, and most metalheads think it’s too “pussy” to like. There’s no /slitwrists to make the emofags happy, and there’s no shitting a pig vocals to make the retards who love metalcore and “hardcore” happy. They may be trendy in other countries (probably because they’re actually decent, and other countries still have te goth rock/metal thing going), but I’d hardly call them that in the US. I don’t see anything “Hot Topic” about them, either.
It’s quite hilarious watching the arguments evolve on here.
Good interview, I have alot of respect for Cristina, barring the internet is for losers comment of course (but everyon has their own opinions I guess).
I wasn’t a fan of Karmacode, it went a little too commercial and smoothed over for me, but it will be interesting to see how the new album works out.
Either way, they’re still a pretty good band.
Have fun slagging each other off! So funny.
xxx
Post the audio!
I am not going to get invovled with the debate on whether they suck or not, but wearing suits and ties is the dumbest shit. What a new idea!
I too would like audio. I want to hear her hot Italian scolding.
“I never warm up before I go on stage – which is pretty stupid, I would say.”
Yeah, but I guess it takes away time from modeling.
Wow man she really went off at the whole internet question….
I think she’s totally lame for being that pissed off at it… just because alot of the internet fans cuss your band out, doesnt mean your not getting A WHOLE LOTTA word of mouth spreading around online, because of all these awesome people, more and more fans are being introduced to the boner-rific lady that is yourself .. HIGH FIVE EVER BODY (expects a wedgy)
To be honest ever since “Swamped” I havent heard another song by Lacuna that caught my attention, and I really feel bad for their other singer, that guy looks like the kinda dude that fails to take a girl like cristina out for a dance, and ends up overdosing on pain killers (dam jimmy jim jim for banging her!!!!) … my only interest now is Cristina’s banging body… hopefully she’ll reply to my nude photos, I sent here.. titled “MY Rock Star” … am not sober.
Oh yea one more thing:
“was reading some of the reactions to the new single, “Spellbound” – wait, do you pay attention to what people write about Lacuna Coil and you specifically?
No. Never. It’s not that I don’t care about fans, or other people’s opinions, but most of the time, the internet is the space for people who generally don’t have a life.
[nervous laughs]”
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!… wait wait AHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!
I love you guys…
we’r so lame (shoots himself)
I’m not really into this band that much, I like the occasional track but for the most part I think they get boring when I try to listen to a record.
With that being said, Christina has a good voice, but you should warm up for sure, you’ll have more longevity. If you keep re-enforcing bad habits they will be much harder to break when you actually have to in order to remain in singing shape.
I don’t quite understand the inspiration comment towards the end, for me, the reason I feel down is usually because I am not being inspired by anything around me. When I get inspired I feel happy and accomplished, maybe I’m wierd? :P
PS. She’s very beautiful.
just another spoiled lil chick that thinks she’s metal. one level above avril lavigne. if I had to choose between living in front of the computer and be a fan of this crap… I’d be already downloading porn
LOL atleast no one should compare them with the commercial posers I.e. Evanesence.
However I feel this album is not metal enough!!! Its slow!!! I love lacuna coil buy these 2 songs so far Arnt as metalish and u know coilish!!! But it will work!!! Atlwat we get to hear new stuff from them so cheers everybody!! They still rock :)
I never read so much crap as i have in Larrys post LC A Goth rock band,They were Goth Metal , you Neanderthal,but now theyre more like Pop Rock since theyre evolution , and what the hell is a true Goth rocker,do you even know what goth is! You wont say that Evanescence are a bunch of Poseurs so ill say it for you, they are POSEURS much like yourself!!! Now that i have your attention lol LC is my favorite band and has been for many years ,but that doesnt mean im happy with their new direction,how can they call themselves Goth Metal for so many years and then just SELL OUT!!! The things ppl do for fame and $$$
Gotta love it when the 13-year old trolls (who can’t even fucking spell remotely well enough to be sitting in front of a computer) start calling bands sellouts.
Sellout = term used by people against bands they used to like, but then said bands got popular and aforementioned ‘tards get pissed because other people know about the band, too.
@cyrus
Dude you need an award for your last comment… LMAO !!!!
“just another spoiled lil chick that thinks she’s metal. one level above avril lavigne. if I had to choose between living in front of the computer and be a fan of this crap… I’d be already downloading porn”
Hey, for all the people as disappointed as I am by most bands with female singers check out Unexpect.
“No. Never. It’s not that I don’t care about fans, or other people’s opinions, but most of the time, the internet is the space for people who generally don’t have a life”
I don’t care how hot she is, or how hot she thinks she is. This is a typical cop-out.
“I just don’t get it. I don’t really believe in the reviews I read online – or comments and criticisms. I don’t really care. I don’t want them to influence me.”
Looks like someone doesn’t know how to read reviews. You read a review and you check for validity in it before you decide it’s bullshit. You read between the lines and make sure that if they ARE talking shit about you, that it’s something that MATTERS. You know, something that could make you a better band rather than a flash in the pan pile of shit that will burn itself out in due time. Which I know many will deny, but if you’re a fortune teller, please raise your fucking hand!
I guess another thing I don’t get is how people think that if someone says you were better before, it means they basically want you to write the same album. I never understood that. Most of the time, when I say a band was better before, I think that a band is shedding a part of them that made them great and that saying that they got better an don’t care what people think is a big pile of excuses. It seems like most bands these days think that their FANS are trying to influence them to suck ass. Why would your FANS want you to suck ass?
I’m all for exploring new territory musically, but bands tend to think that a full on jump, removing as much of their previous sound as possible, will make them more awesome. It more than likely WON’T. It’s a huge gamble and can either make you great, suck ass (Cryptopsy, need I say more?) or get fame for a brief amount of time before you completely blow your wad and end up packing your bags back to BFE.
All I’m saying is…take some consideration. Evolve SMARTER.
I think you all mosunderstood… She’s right according to me.
Whoever says bullshit on other people sites has no life.
If you don’t like a record or a person, you generally go somewhere else or do something else.
She’s absolutely right and I love the band!!!