Italian Metal Sextet Rocks the U.S.

The propulsive Italian metal sextet Lacuna Coil needs no introduction to many of the readers of CrankIt Entertainment Magazine. The group has been kicking it with their ethereal vocals and electronic accompaniment, and those grinding riffs, for more than a decade, drawing worldwide audiences into the fold of their fandom.

Certifiable rock stars with dozens of tours under their belts, vocalist Andrea Ferro says at this point, they enjoy getting their minds off their extensive travel routine whenever possible. When their not rocking out with tunes off their latest album Shallow Life, who knows: You might be able to catch up with them at the bowling alley.

“We know how to not over-exaggerate on tour, not to abuse stuff, and we can do it in a way where we can be out on the road without hating each other or going crazy,” Ferro said.

“It’s important to have a balance with this lifestyle. The way we have fun now, we not only party, we go out and do stuff, visit a place, go bowling. Everything we can find to distract our minds from the tour is great.”

Before their Music As A Weapon tour with Disturbed ended in the spring, Ferro said it had been a couple of years since they had mounted a stateside tour. As if making up for lost time, their current schedule looks like it could scare off many a lesser mortal. But Ferro insists that none of the Lacuna Coil members are scaredy cats.

“I know Cristina, she doesn’t like spiders in general, but she’s not a girly girl. Nobody’s really a pussy, or gets scared really easily.”

Ferro filled in CrankIt Entertainment a bit more on the band’s latest Halloween “rituals,” how touring has changed since the band started, and some of the crazy stuff they’ve seen lately.

CrankIt Entertainment: After “Enjoy The Silence,” what’s gonna be the next Depeche Mode song y’all cover?

Andrea Ferro: (Laughter) I don’t know. I don’t think we’re going to follow the same routine. The new generation discovered the original song with our version. It sounded a lot like one of our songs, which is why it worked so well. It’s good that people maybe haven’t heard of you, but can sing along with the song. Even if we don’t cover another version of their songs, we can make it a pop or a rock song, or an electronic song. It makes it more interesting for us.

CrankIt: What do you all like to do together to keep the live-playing, song-writing and music-making experience fresh?

Ferro: We like to keep things fresh for the people who listen to our music, and also for ourselves. We don’t like to repeat ourselves all the time, so it’s important to be open-minded in what you listen to and what you take inspiration from. It’s important to take chances with music, with an instrument that you don’t use as often. ... We don’t want to use a formula over and over. Sometimes we take chances, and you know some of the fans are not going to like the changes. But on the other hand, you win, by having new people come over. On Shallow Life, we’ve had a pretty successful radio campaign that never happened before.

CrankIt: What is something good, and something bad, that has changed since y’all began touring together in 1997?

Ferro: I think when we started, the Internet wasn’t really an important vehicle for promotion. Now everything has changed with the albums, of finding new ways to keep the people interested and listening to your new stuff. It’s been changing a lot. With the Internet, you have a bigger exposure, where people can listen to your music and download it from anywhere in the world. But on the other hand, they take for granted that you can have music for free. There are positives and negatives of the progression of technology. You’ve got to find new ways to go with the flow, not fight against it. You’ve got to find ways to encourage people to buy your CD or download it legally. ... You just have to keep stimulating people to keep following you.

CrankIt: What’s a favorite Halloween memory?

Ferro: I really liked it last year, when we were in Los Angeles recording Shallow Life, and Marco and Cristina, we had a chance to go to Universal Studios for Halloween. They reproduced the sets for the horror movies with the actors. We did a lot of mazes with Jason from Friday the 13th following you, or Leatherface or Freddy Krueger. It was a really fun day, that we experienced that. I recommend it to everybody on Halloween, it was the most fun I’ve ever had on Halloween.

CrankIt: What’s been something crazy or memorable, good, bad or otherwise, that’s happened out on tour lately?

Ferro: One of the latest things, weird things that happened, it was on our European run back in December. We had the bus parked on the first show (in the city of Leeds in the United Kingdom). We heard a big crash, and we thought someone crashed into the bus or something. It was someone drunk on top of the roof. He fell from a couple of floors up from the building, and crashed onto our tour bus. And he could not get down from the top of the roof. The firefighters and the police had to come to get this drunken guy off. It was pretty crazy for a first night on the tour. He was just drunk. ... It was just so confusing, they took him to the hospital. He didn’t injure himself, maybe the next day he just had a hangover.

While Lacuna Coil doesn’t have a stop in The Carolinas this month, they will be rocking out in Charleston on Nov. 9 at Music Farm. To catch up on their latest record, and their entire catalogue of music, head on over to their MySpace at www.myspace.com/lacunacoil. You can also check out their official Web site at www.lacunacoil.com.

As always, keep those eyes glued to CrankIt Entertainment Magazine each month, and check us out online at www.crankitmag.com, for all your music news in The Carolinas!