Added by Electronic Brain | 22 April 2013

IN THIS MOMENT

Interview by Dave Bott

Having seen Halestorm on their previous couple of tours I though I would give this current UK trek a miss until I found out that the support act would be In This Moment, a band I have championed constantly during the last few years. I also found out that they would be making an appearance at Download in June so after so many years away from our shores Maria seems determined to make up for lost time.
 
We’ve actually done Download twice along with other festivals but it seems like such a long time since the tours we did with Devil Driver and Papa Roach. It’s just been crazy the way the tours have been scheduled but it is important for us to play here after so long, kinda pay some dues so to speak. This short tour has been amazing and we needed to do the best show we could do, even though we were only performing a short set. We’ve just toured in the States with Halestorm and I just love Lzzy.
 
When I spoke to Maria last year the release of the ‘Blood’ CD was still a few weeks away. The band were playing several new songs live but critical reactions from both press and fans were still unknown.
 
You know, the first album we did was kind of experimental, we were finding our feet in a way. Now we are in a place musically where we are so comfortable and the response to ‘Blood’ is everything we’ve been waiting for. This is our fourth album and finally it seems to be happening for us. It’s done great business, especially in the States, and the videos have had almost 6 million views so far. The record has sold over 130,000 copies so far and it’s not even been out for 6 months yet. I don’t know whether the physical copy of the CD or the download version has done the best business but we are so pleased.
 
A Hot Topic version of ‘Blood’ was released just three months after the initial version and it contained a cover of Nine Inch Nails’ ‘Closer’ as well as remixes of ‘Adrenalize’, ‘Blood’ and ‘Whore’ but it seems anything else was cast to the cutting room floor.
 
‘Closer’ was recorded at the same time as all the other songs and I really wanted it to be included on the original version of the record. I’m a big Nine Inch Nails fan but we couldn’t decide which one of our own songs would make way so it became a b-side track instead. We included on the CD all the songs we recorded, though we had ideas for about eighteen songs in total. The others didn’t seem as though they were going anywhere in terms of the ‘Blood’ vibe so we just dropped them.
 
Current Ozzy six-stringer Gus G made a cameo appearance on the previous CD, ‘A Star-Crossed Wasteland’, but this time Jake E Lee contributes a solo to the song ‘You’re Gonna Listen’. It appears Maria’s In This Moment partner in crime, guitarist Chris Howorth, has a list of his favourite guitarists that he is referring to when they come to record new material.
 
Actually Chris didn’t really ask Jake to play on the song. Our producer (Kevin Churko) was working with Jake at the same time we were doing our record. Chris does love Jake’s playing and because he happened to be there at the same time there was no need to send him the song electronically, he just did the solo whilst we were all there. I’m doing a song on Jake’s album so it just worked out in a complimentary way really.

 
Following this short UK tour with Halestorm, In This Moment will be heading back to the States to share a bill with Stone Sour. They seem to spend a lot of time in their own country yet they obviously have fans all over the world.
 
It will be festival season in the U.S. in May following our tour with Stone Sour and then we are back in the UK in June to do Download and several dates of our own. We want to take a few weeks of in July, a breather of sorts, before touring like crazy for the rest of the year. I don’t really know which countries are our best in terms of sales but New Zealand is somewhere I’ve never been and I’d love to go. I want to be a total nerd and visit the Lord Of The Rings sets (laughing).
 
One of the features of an In This Moment show is Maria’s image on stage. These images appear frequently in the band’s promo videos and during photo shoots, maybe as part of the marketing for the records and tours, but surely she doesn’t go to the store to buy milk in a rubber dress or suspenders and stockings.
 
I think it is really important to create an image for one’s self. When it comes to music it has a lot to do with the heart and theme of the song. The music will always be the most important thing, the marketing is just another side of it. I like to think I’m quite unique and I try to find an image that identifies me as an original. I get to dress up and that’s an exciting part of the show and the videos, all the characters are like my alter egos. Because we couldn’t bring the whole show over to the UK I don’t go through as many outfit changes as usual. Every song usually means a wardrobe change or use of a different prop but when we come back in June the show will be longer and we’ll be bringing more with us.
 
Halestorm, In This Moment and Lacuna Coil seem to spend a lot of time on the road together, and obviously get on as friends, but that doesn’t mean we’ll be hearing any from Maria, Lzzy and Cristina (Scabbia…Lacuna Coil lead singer) together musically.
 
I’d love to collaborate with Lzzy or Cristina, or both of them, but it’s not something I’ve actually thought about. I’d hate it to come across as clichéd but I guess it would be cool. I haven’t actually seen Cristina for a long time but we’ve been out on the road with Halestorm for quite a while this year.
 
So no diva tendencies from Lzzy then since Halestorm received the Grammy award?
 
Ha ha… no of course not. She’s just so sweet and down to earth and I was so proud when that happened!