Scabbia, Cristina (Lacuna Coil) (July 2003)

Just Cristina - An Interview With Lacuna Coil's Cristina Scabbia

Lacuna Coil's stock has risen tremendously in the past year. Their latest album, Comalies, has garnered outstanding reviews and critical success. With numerous festival gigs, headlining shows, and tours with Sentenced, Opeth, Type O Negative (coming soon), Lacuna Coil has become a staple in the European metal scene and a promising, noted act in America. Here is my interview with singer Cristina Scabbia, and all I can say is enjoy!

Shawn Lakhani: Hello Cristina. With Comalies doing extremely well, how exciting have the live shows been in both Europe and the United States? How was the overall crowd reaction?

Cristina Scabbia: The crowd in Europe and in the US reacted in an amazing way and we've been really surprised especially to see how much the sales of Comalies increased so much after the tour with Opeth in the US. Comalies is definitely the best album we did so far and people realized how much we've grown in these years.

SL: What's your honest opinion of Comalies, and how does it compare and contrast to Unleashed Memories and older material? What one track best exemplifies the style of the album? I must say, I love "Daylight Dancer."

CS: My opinion is that Comalies is the most complete and varied album we've done in our career. It's the picture of the band and represents what we are now. We kept a balance between melody and heaviness to give different moods during the listening. The other albums we did in the past were not that mature and fluid. There's not just one track that can talk for the album, but I can say that songs like "Swamped," "Heaven's A Lie" and "Comalies" can be good example of what we do.

SL: Has any new material been written or discussed? What should Lacuna Coil fans expect from the follow-up to Comalies?

CS: Is too early to talk about it. We are still collecting ideas and until every track is recorded we could change it thousand times. We never know.

SL: What one thing in the world can't you do without?

CS: Love, music, food.

SL: With one of the most recognizable and amazing female voices in music, have you been asked to contribute vocals to any other projects or albums? If so, which?

CS: I could name thousand names [of people] who [have made] contact [with] me for projects, but it's not correct for them if I say their names in this interview. In the future, when I'll be doing something [for] sure with them, you'll know it first.

SL: Why was the band named Lacuna Coil? Is there any special significance?

CS: We chose the name Lacuna Coil mixing two words from different languages: "Lacuna" is Italian, Latin, and means a lack of something, basically of memory or culture. "Coil" means "spiral" in English. The complete meaning of the name is something like "Empty Spiral".

SL: In general, do you feel that Lacuna Coil has impacted the metal/rock genres? If so, in which way(s)?

CS: I feel that we created something different, putting together gothic, rock, and metal with a modern touch and two vocals, masculine and feminine, who use their voices naturally without being "the beauty and the beast."

SL: In reading magazine articles, reviews, website discussions, it is easy to see that you are considered both an excellent vocalist and a beautiful woman. Do you feel that there are some fans who are attracted to the band because of your image and looks? And, can you discuss the whole image of music in today's world, where looks seem to have an important factor in some industries, many of the popular ones? Regarding music and image, can one exist without the other?

CS: It can be. Of course, if you don't know something you can be attracted from a picture that can look interesting to your eyes. The fact is that Lacuna Coil is a band. You can't really sell copies if the music sucks because people are not stupid enough to spend money to buy a booklet only. I think that the image is really important, that's why we always try to reach a good balance between image and music. A good picture is art anyway, and we ARE artists.

SL: What has been the best compliment you have ever received about Lacuna Coil? What has been the most disappointing?

CS: That we are something fresh and new. We never get anything that negative [that] I can remember as disappointing.

SL: Lacuna Coil has been around for a few years now, and in that time the band has gone from playing the local Italian circuit to performing in huge European festivals and a recent American tour. Through it all, if you had to pick one highlight, what would it be? Also, have there been any regrets, low points, or things you would have changed along the way?

CS: No regrets and low point. Everything happened in the band in the past is experience who helped us out during these years. There are different highlights like the Wacken Open Air in '91, the Rock Machina in Spain, the Dynamo, the Heineken Jammin' festival, the American tours, the meeting with other artist we love ... too many to mention!

SL: How is songwriting done in terms of schedules, timetables, ideas, melodies?

CS: We start from a riff or a melody and then we build the music around it. The vocals come out in the end and the same for the lyrics. For the biography I invite you to check it out in our official website where you all will know more about Lacuna Coil.

SL: Which other female vocalists do you feel are exceptional at this moment? Which vocalists, female or male, have influenced you the most? What are the band's main influences?

CS: I didn't have influence because I loved so many bands in my life without having an idol. I'm inspired by myself. The same thing is for the influence in the band. We can't talk about a direct influence but we can talk about several bands we like. Is this a real influence?

SL: Any future touring plans for Europe, Australia, and here in the States, details?

CS: At the end of July we'll start a tour with Type O Negative for a month and we'll continue with another tour with Anthrax. Both in the US. In the meantime we are doing summer festivals and playing gigs. Everybody can check out the dates in our website www.lacunacoil.it. After the American tour we'll have a break for a while, to compose new stuff and enter the studio next year.

SL: What would you consider the best moment in your life?

CS: When I was born!

SL: What's one question that you wish all interviewers would ask, and how would you answer it?

CS: None. I got every kind of question in these years and I got even the most impossible questions!

SL: Describe yourself in one word.

CS: Just Cristina.

SL: If you weren't a musician, what would you be?

CS: I can't know it. It depends from the destiny. I hope something in common with art. Or maybe the cook.

SL: Comalies saw Lacuna Coil experiment with new textures, sound effects, and an overall?crunchier sound. What brought about these changes and are there plans to continue with them in the future?

CS: It's a natural evolution you can't really plan. It always will be spontaneous and the day I'll be able to tell you the direction we'll follow will mean that we are not creative anymore.

SL: Have anything else to say to the readers, Cristina?

CS: I want to thank all the readers and I hope to meet them soon on the road. Thanks for the support!

SL: Thank you so much Cristina. I hoped you liked the interview. You are the best.

CS: You're welcome!

Discography:
Lacuna Coil (EP) (1998)
In A Reverie (1999)
HalfLife (EP) (2000)
Unleashed Memories (2001)
Comalies (2002)
Karmacode (2006)
Shallow Life (2009)
Dark Adrenaline (2012)
Broken Crown Halo (2014)

Visual Karma (Body, Mind And Soul) (DVD) (2008)