NERVOSA’s Fernanda Lira Discusses ‘Agony’, Being a Woman in Metal, Beyoncé, and More
I had the opportunity to interview Fernanda Lira from Nervosa for our partner website Vita In Musica. We talk about the band’s new album “Agony,” how the band has matured, and being a woman in thrash metal.
During the beginning of the band’s career, people often made up rumors about the band, only because they were women. As the band increased in popularity, the criticism died down and received more support:
“Over time, I think people kinda noticed that we’re not here to show off, you know? We’re just here playing metal because we love metal and we’re metalheads, and that’s it. They have to respect that. It doesn’t matter what our gender is, like if we’re women or men. It just matters that we’re metalheads.”
We also discussed some of her eclectic influences, ranging from Death mastermind Chuck Schuldiner, to Nuclear Assault, to Amy Winehouse, Etta James, and Beyoncé!
“I’m a singer and before I sang in Nervosa–in this raspy, growling way–I started singing in a clean way… I am always learning new techniques and everything. Because of that, I listen to a lot of divas. Like, everyone hates me because of that. My bandmates are like, ‘Awww fuck, you’re listening to Beyoncé?!’ But that’s it. I actually don’t give a fuck. Most metalheads would be like, ‘[groan] she’s not trve enough’.”
She began singing metal doing clean vocals but admits she is still a bit shy about singing clean in public. You can hear her clean vocals in “Wayfarer,” a bonus track from “Agony”.
Nervosa is currently on tour in Europe and will return to North America in the fall.
You can listen to the entire interview here.
‘Agony‘ was recently released on June 3rd via Napalm Records.
Photos: NERVOSA Live in Phoenix, Ariz.
Here are some photos I took at the Nervosa show in Phoenix on Sunday. I also had the opportunity to interview singer/bassist Fernanda Lira, which can be seen here.
MEGADETH, Suicidal Tendencies, Children of Bodom & Havok Live in Phoenix, Ariz. – 2/27/16
This time last year, the future of Megadeth was uncertain to the public. Guitarist Chris Broderick and drummer Shawn Drover had left the band within hours of each other in November. Bandleader, lead singer, and guitarist Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson were auditioning replacements.
There were rumors of a Rust in Peace (1990) lineup reunion. It was attempted, but it didn’t happen.
Angra guitarist Kiko Loureiro and Lamb of God drummer Chris Adler were officially announced as Megadeth’s newest members in Spring 2015.
The band’s latest effort, Dystopia, was released this January. Widely acclaimed, it hit #3 on the Billboard Top 200. It beat Adele and Justin Bieber for the #1 iTunes spot in Canada and has been regarded by many as Megadeth’s finest album in decades (or at least since Endgame).
Fresh on the heels of Dystopia‘s success, Megadeth set out on the killing road with a killer set of supporting bands in tow: legendary crossover punks Suicidal Tendencies, Finnish melodeath virtuosos Children of Bodom, and emerging Colorado thrashers, Havok. I am a fan of all the bands on the bill and had seen them all previously, which made me particularly excited for this show.
Havok opened with four songs. Among those were “D.O.A.” and “Give Me Liberty… Or Give Me Death”. On my side of the pit, you couldn’t hear David Sanchez’s vocals very well, but the band put on a hell of a show, as was expected of them. Considering I had seen them play to packed smaller venues, I was surprised that more people in the crowd did not know who they were. I was also slightly disappointed that they only played four songs. But even though most of the crowd seemed unfamiliar with the band at first, Havok was given hearty applause once they finished their set.
Children of Bodom played another short set, which included songs from their newest album, I Worship Chaos (2015), and classic material like “Hate Me” and “Angels Don’t Kill.” The guitars were nearly inaudible on my side, which saddened me, because I really admire Alexi Laiho’s guitar work. The sound levels were fixed about halfway through their set. Regardless, Bodom shredded.
Up to this point, the crowd was mostly calm in my area, with a few people moshing and one girl crowdsurfing during Bodom’s set. But once Suicidal took the stage, all hell broke loose.
Suicidal Tendencies opened with a ripping version of “You Can’t Bring Me Down,” and singer Mike Muir was running and jumping all over the stage throughout their whole set. None other than Slayer’s Dave Lombardo was behind S.T.’s kit. Their dynamic seven-song set was filled with hits like “Institutionalized” and “I Saw Your Mommy”. The crowd was going wild, with plenty of people headbanging, moshing, and crowd-surfing. Even though they had small rigs (the guitarists only had half-stacks), they were the best-sounding band of the night so far, and definitely the most energetic.
Next up was the band everyone was waiting for.
Suicidal quickly tore down their equipment, and a curtain dropped, revealing the massive futuristic apparatus Megadeth would be playing in front of. It was nice surprise to see Mustaine’s guitar tech, Willie Gee, setting up. From what I knew, he had retired last year.
About twenty minutes later, the lights went down. An intro animation of Megadeth’s logo danced on the video screen as “Prince of Darkness” played in the background. Then, the band launched into “The Threat Is Real,” strutting onstage as lights flashed and smoke machines went off.
Dave Mustaine may not be the most flamboyant frontman in metal, but he strode all over the stage throughout the band’s set, bobbing his fiery mane up and down while his fingers danced all over the fretboard. His voice sounded in particularly great condition tonight. Even though the band was tuned down to D to accommodate his vocals, it gave the songs an added darkness.
David Ellefson and Kiko Loureiro also walked up and down the stage as they played, heading back to their microphones in time to sing backing vocals. Even as they sang, they smiled and interacted with the crowd, throwing us picks in between songs. To say Kiko nailed Marty Friedman’s solos would be an understatement.
Chris Adler was situated atop a massive drum riser embedded into their futuristic stage prop. I couldn’t see his face much during the actual show, but the pictures I took show him smiling.
Their setlist spanned 30 years; they played material off most of their albums from Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? (1986) to Dystopia (2016). It was awesome to hear some deeper cuts from Rust In Peace like “Dawn Patrol” and “Poison Was The Cure,” as well as their hits like “A Tout Le Monde”.
What struck me as odd was that the Phoenix crowd did not seem to know the “Megadeth, Megadeth, aguante Megadeth” chant that Argentina had pioneered for “Symphony Of Destruction”. Not only do the Argentinian crowds chant it, but so do the crowds in other Latin countries. Fellow Latino Kiko Loureiro came to my side of the venue and saw me mouthing those words, then he smiled at me.
As the four members united at center stage to take their final bow and throw picks and wristbands into the audience, my only thought was, “Why did it have to end?”
I had seen Megadeth before. Not once, but three times, and those three shows paled in comparison to this one. It was like I had seen a different band, and in a sense, I had. All the members seemed legitimately happy to belong to the same group, and you could feel their radiance beaming from the stage.
Catch this tour if you can. You won’t regret it.
Megadeth Setlist:
- The Threat Is Real
- Hangar 18
- Kingmaker
- Wake Up Dead
- In My Darkest Hour
- Sweating Bullets
- Dystopia
- Dawn Patrol
- Poison Was The Cure
- She-Wolf
- Trust
- Skin O’ My Teeth
- Fatal Illusion
- A Tout Le Monde
- Symphony Of Destruction
- Peace Sells
- Holy Wars…The Punishment Due
Other setlists: Suicidal Tendencies, Children of Bodom
SACRED REICH Talks to The Blaze 1330 AM
Check out this interview I did with Jason Rainey from Sacred Reich! He talks about the band’s early days, SR’s reunion, and returning to Metal Blade Records. Sacred Reich plans to tour Europe and South America next year. You can hear the full interview here!
Interview with Warhead
Warhead is a Phoenix-based classic thrash metal band who pull influence from the likes of Metallica, Megadeth and Iron Maiden. Over the past few weeks, TBOS has been collaborating with them on a set of videos, chronicling the history of the band up to the release of their debut album, “Death Row”.
Here are some excerpts from the interview.
Sam Bollard, bass guitarist. Photo by Alec Damiano.
The Blog of Shredding: What inspired you to pursue music in the speed metal genre?
Sam Bollard (bass guitar): It’s what we write. It’s just what we write. We don’t write anything else.
Nolan Castles (lead vocals & guitar): Like yeah, it’s totally natural. It’s not like we’re going like for speed metal, or thrash, death, whatever. You know what I mean? It was just like, we got together, wrote some songs, and that’s what it came out to be.
Cody Bailey, lead guitarist. Photo by Alec Damiano.
TBOS: What moment made you realize, “I wanna pursue music for the rest of my life?”
Cody Bailey (lead guitar): Definitely watching a lot of live videos of just bands that I liked.
Dane White (drums): Metallica.
Cody Bailey: Yeah, I definitely just wanted to be in their position and get them the hell off the stage and put me there.
Drummer Dane White. Photo by Alec Damiano
TBOS: What differentiates you from the rest of the Phoenix metal scene?
Dane White: Our stage show is probably one of the (things). I mean, music is one thing for us, but we have electricity when we play that I don’t really see in a lot of other bands when I look at other local bands. No offense to any of them, but I feel there’s definitely a stronger performance chemistry we have when we play together, and I think the audience notices that too. So I think that’s one of the things that sets us off from the others.
Nolan Castles, lead vocalist and guitarist. Photo by Alec Damiano.
TBOS: How do you get your hair to be so fabulous?
Nolan Castles: To be honest, my hair is all-natural.
Sam Bollard: Head and Shoulders.
Nolan Castles: I wash my hair with dirt, shampoo. Hopefully someone leaves some regurgitation in the sink here.
Dane White: Oh God! (laughs)
Sam Bollard: We wash our hair with brew, take showers with dirt. (others laugh) And that’s about it. We’re thrash. We eat pizza. We drink. We f——- party and we get 45 seconds of sleep and we do it all over again!
Dane White: We literally do none of those things! (laughs)
Nolan Castles: Yes, we party hard. And then when we’re all done, we all go home for dinner.
Sam Bollard: We have a curfew.
Nolan Castles: “Two minutes to midnight” (in reference to the Iron Maiden song of the same name).
Sam Bollard: The f—— thrash curfew!… (laughs) Then we have to “hit the lights” (in reference to the Metallica song).
Warhead will perform at the Nile Theater in Mesa, Ariz. on April 18. Their debut album, “Death Row,” will be released May 16. They will also be interviewed on RockDefRadio Friday, April 5 at 8 p.m. ET.
You can hear their cover of Megadeth’s “Take No Prisoners” below.
Welcome to Warhead
Warhead is a speed/thrash metal band based out of Phoenix, Ariz. Their songs are written in the vein of the Big Four of Thrash Metal (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer). They look like they got time-warped into 2013 straight from the 80s, and they sound like it too.
TBOS got the opportunity to interview Warhead and film them as they were rehearsing for their upcoming show. You can also hear their song, “Death Row,” in the video below.
Tomorrow March 15, they will perform at the Rocky Point Cantina in Tempe, Ariz. Other bands on the bill include: Hemoptysis, Scattered Guts, Existence AD, and Fail to Reason. The show is all ages and tickets are $5. Doors open at 7 p.m.
Warhead will be touring in May in support of their debut album, “Death Row”. The full-length interview and more concert footage will be posted on TBOS closer to the album’s release date.
Warhead “Death Row” West Coast Tour 2013:
May 16 – Phoenix
May 17 – San Diego
May 18 – Los Angeles
May 19 – San Francisco
May 21 – Sacramento
May 22 – Eugene
May 23 – Portland
May 25 – Seattle
May 26 – Boise
May 27 – Salt Lake City
May 28 – Las Vegas
For more updates, visit their Facebook page.
Interview with Frosthelm
Frosthelm is number one on the ReverbNation metal charts in North Dakota. They will be working with Ralph Santolla (Death, Decide, Obituary), and are in the process of recording their first full-length album, which will be mixed by Grammy winner Matt Hyde (Slayer, Skeletonwitch).
TBOS got the chance to speak to bassist and co-founder Jim Cherry. You can hear the full chat below!
Their EP, “The North Winds Rend Flesh,” is available on iTunes.
CORRECTION (3/5/13): Ralph Santolla will be working on Frosthelm’s next album. Matt Hyde will be mixing and mastering the current album, not producing it.
Ex-Anthrax Guitarist Rob Caggiano Joins Volbeat
Today, Danish groove metal band Volbeat announced that former Anthrax guitarist Rob Caggiano has joined their band.
Caggiano onstage with Anthrax. Photo courtesy clintjcl on Flickr.
The guitarist announced his departure from Anthrax exactly one month ago. Caggiano wished to focus on a career in music production and was in Denmark to producing Volbeat’s latest album, “Outlaw Gentlemen and Shady Ladies,” when vocalist Michael Paulsen asked him to join the band.
Caggiano was a member of Anthrax from 2001 to 2005 and again from 2007 to 2013.
The Blog of Shredding 