LULLACRY Interview

Having just released their brand new album, "Vol. 4" via Century Media Records, Lullacry are once again in the public eye. Featuring dramatic, gothic rock sounds that have a far-reaching appeal, the new album glows with brillance every step of the way. Guitarist Sami Z. chats with staff writer Darren Cowan about the groups alluring new vocalist Tanja, the group's influences and travels in the following conversation.

The Gauntlet: Does your new singer, Tanja, pronounce her name the same as the ex-singer, Tanya?

Sami: It is the same. In Finland, it's "onya."

The Gauntlet: So it kind of rolls off your tongue?

Sami: Yeah.

The Gauntlet: What does she bring to Lullacry that the other Tanya didn't have?

Sami: Professionalism. Overall, she wants to rehearse with the band more. She wants to develop herself more as a singer.

The Gauntlet: So she has more of a professional attitude.

Sami: Yeah.

The Gauntlet: The Gauntlet's review of your disc mentions she sounds like GWEN STEPHANI, CELINE DION, and a little bit like Liv Kristine, depending on which song you are listening to. Is she influenced by any of those singers?

Sami: She has a little bit of Gwen Stephani of NO DOUBT. I don't think she so much likes Liv Kristine or she hasn't heard of her. Before LULLACRY, Tanja was more into artist like MADONNA, CELINE DION, and WHITNEY HOUSTON all that pop stuff, you know. Now a days, she's more into rock because we forced her to listen to rock music. Now she likes male singers in the heavy rock scene like WHITE SNAKE, 80s rock music.

The Gauntlet: Are we going to hear you guys do some WHITE SNAKE in the future?

Sami: It would be great, yeah. We have had some talk about covering WHITE SNAKE sometime, but we haven't gotten around to doing it yet. The next cover we are going to do on onstage is to cover the band ACCEPT the song "Midnight Mover." It was one choice, but I don't know yet.

The Gauntlet: Have you heard the ACCEPT tribute album?

Sami: No. We recorded "I stole your love" by KISS for our latest single release "Stranger in You." That is maybe the most pop rock song from the album. We chose that song for the single because we feel it's a good song for the radio, and if you can get your songs on the radio, it helps you a lot. You know, the commercial SHIT (laughs)!

The Gauntlet: Is getting on the radio one of your goals with the new album?

Sami: It's not really a goal, but if you have ten songs, you can choose the most radio friendly songs from the album. It's not that we want our songs to be on the radio. No, I want to play metal (laughs)!

The Gauntlet: I was listening to the CD before you called, and I picked up on some things I hadn't noticed before. One thing I noticed was the guitar playing. Are you influenced by the band, SENTENCED? I hear a lot of SENTENCED in your guitar playing.

Sami: I wanted to put more feeling, more sweat, more everything into the guitars. I wanted to keep the songs violent. I am very satisfied with my guitar playing. I've always liked the band SENTENCED, but I must say I am not influenced when it comes to guitar playing. I've always liked their songs, though. They have great melodies. They have a great amount of sad feelings on their songs. That melancholy that they have created is really great.

The Gauntlet: Do you think the style of music you are playing is a blend of upbeat rock and, as you said, sad melodies?

Sami: Yeah, I've always wanted Lullacry to be mixed with really, really heavy metal stuff, in a rock way, mixed with a little bit of fun, in a weird way. Our live show is really full of energy. We really have fun on stage, so it's not that sad, but it's a mixture of everything.

The Gauntlet: A lot of journalists describe you music as "gothic rock." Personally, I have a hard time hearing that in the new album.

Sami: You're not the only one.

The Gauntlet: Was the tag "gothic rock" ever a valid description of your music or has it changed over the course time since you began?

Sami: I think we are more rock, now a days. I also think we have never been "gothic." It's tough to word from our biography from the record label. It's tough to come up with a word for it. Maybe it's because of the sad lyrics and sad feeling. Maybe we're just melodic rock with a female singer.

The Gauntlet: Do you guys get compared to LACUNA COIL, NIGHTWISH, and THEATRE OF TRAGEDY? There is a bunch of female-fronted bands. Do you get compared to them?

Sami: Yes, sometimes quite often. It's weird because in reviews there are lots of different band names and artist mentioned. They might mention LACUNA COIL or NIGHTWISH or something like that because we play heavy music with female vocals. There are also weird artist like GWEN STEPHANI or BRITNEY SPEARS . There are lots of different bands we are compared to. It would be so cool if every review said we sound like LACUNA COIL. Personally, I am really proud of our music because I don't think there are that many heavy rock bands with female vocals, today. Of course, in the 80s, there were more bands like HEART, but they were more punk rock influenced. Most of the bands today are more symphonic or gothic like LACUNA COIL, NIGHTWISH, LEAVES' EYE, stuff like that. Of course, you have bands like EVANESCENCE and LINKIN PARK.

The Gauntlet: Don't go down that road!

Sami: (Laughs).

The Gauntlet: Do you share a fan base with bands like LACUNA COIL, NIGHTWISH, EVANESCENCE, and bands like that?

Sami: Yeah, a little bit. Actually, I don't have a clue, but I think so. When it comes to writing on the internet and people write about their favorite bands, I see us along with a lot of LACUNA COIL and NIGHTWISH. We did a tour in the States supporting NIGHTWISH. The crowd was really amazing. The tour was really amazing.

The Gauntlet: Were a lot of the fans who came there to see NIGHTWISH also there to see you?

Sami: Yeah, there was also a little group that came to see us. Most of the people came there to see NIGHTWISH, but after our show, we got to see a lot our fans, but I'm not sure about that. I noticed that after two or three songs fans where like, "what the fuck is going on? This is not NIGHTWISH! This is not operatic! What the fuck is this?" However, after about three songs of us rocking, everybody started to like it. I think people liked us.

The Gauntlet: Your bio says that was a sold-out tour. Did you guys sell out every show on the tour?

Sami: No, not everyone, but most of the shows, I think. There were a couple of clubs that weren't that full, little clubs with maybe 2 or 300 people, but most of the clubs were packed with 1,000 to 1,500 people. Most of the House of Blues gigs were sold out, I think.

The Gauntlet: What HOB places did you play: L.A. and Chicago?

Sami: Yeah, L.A., Chicago, and Anaheim. I think there were four. It was great. Great clubs, anyway. I think Chicago's HOB was the best one because it was one of the coolest ones.

The Gauntlet: You also played Milwaukee Metalfest in 2003. How did that show go?

Sami: Well, it was a show (laughs). There are like a hundred bands, so the schedule was fucked up. We had about twenty-five minutes to play, and had a six or seven-day trip. We had a one-week holiday, and a twenty-five-minute show.

The Gauntlet: So you were over here for a week.

Sami: Yeah, we were in Chicago for three days and Milwaukee for three days.

The Gauntlet: How was the fest experience overall?

Sami: It was really cool to meet a lot of people. Meeting the people was the most important thing. Our record company people from Century Media showed us Chicago. It was great.

The Gauntlet: How does the crowd differ from European shows? Is an American crowd much different?

Sami: You have quite a violent crowd (laughs)�

The Gauntlet: Well, you haven't played Detroit.

Sami: We didn't play a show in Detroit, but I have heard that Detroit is really violent.

The Gauntlet: Detroit is the most violent!

Sami: You know I was really amazed because we played four or five really hard rockin' songs, and people took off their shirts and started hitting themselves. I was thinking, "what the fuck is going on!" It was great, though.

The Gauntlet: They don't do that in Europe?

Sami: No, not much

The Gauntlet: Well, it's probably too damn cold in Finland (laughs).

Sami: (Laughs).

The Gauntlet: How do you feel about the work Finnvox and Astia did for your new album? How do you feel about the sound they helped you produce?

Sami: I really love it! It was a great experience to work with Anssi Kippo again. We worked with Anssi Kippo at Astia studios on "Crucify My Heart." Finnvox is the best studio in Finland and one of the best in Europe. It was great! I love the sound. It's really heavy, yet at the same time, there is a lot of diversity or melody. If you compare it to "Crucify My Heart," it is so full of stuff. This album is more fresh. I really love it. Anssi did an excellent production job. Without him, the album would be crap! He made an incredible sound for this album. He played all the keyboards for both albums, almost all the keyboards. He arranged all the backing vocals. I produced most of our previous albums. Now I have time to drink beer! I'll let him do all the producing stuff. I just relaxed. I usually spend 100% of the time in the studio. Now, I had some time to watch some movies because upstairs there is a big TV set. I don't know if you know the history, it's a really big complex. You sleep there, you eat there, there is a studio there, there is a kitchen, there are computers, there are DVDs, there's everything. It is full service. It's really great to spend time there. It was cool!

The Gauntlet: So you lived there while you did the recording.

Sami: Yes. It is 200 kilometers from Helsinki. It takes two hours by car. I've always to be in the studio for the recording process because the last album, "Crucify My Heart" we did here, in Helsinki. It wasn't that good because every night, after we finished recording, I went straight to the bottle. I started drinking. The next morning I had a hang over (laughs). It wasn't that good. It is better to be in one place, and you can put every single thought to the album.

The Gauntlet: What are your future tour plans?

Sami: We had planned a tour in the states for next year (2006), but unfortunately, it has been pushed back to 2007. We don't have any plans for dates outside Finland next year, but let's see what happens with the "Vol. 4" album. Hopefully, people will find it in stores and buy it. It would be really great to tour in the States again, in Detroit.

The Gauntlet: Ozzfest worked out well for your label mates, LACUNA COIL. Is that festival a possible goal for this next summer? I think you have a sound that would be embraced really well by the fans.

Sami: I don't think so because it is really expensive for a band to get on it. You have to pay to be on it, but I think it would really be a treat.