by Vpower
The Band: Lady Beast
Country: USA
Answers by:
Christopher “Twiz” Tritschler (guitar),
Deborah Levine (vocals)
Originally formed in 2009, LADY BEAST quickly
immersed itself in the East Coast live scene, developing a reputation as a band
who can seamlessly blend venerable NWOBHM sounds and thrash. Their second album
,“Vicious Breed”, is LADY BEAST’s most dynamic album to date, offering a wide
variety of moods and flavors, time to talk about it, enjoy this cool chat we
had with them.
Hello
guys, on November 17th you are releasing your new album "Vicious
Breed", what are your expections about it?
Twiz: We just hope that as many people as possible
hear it, and love it. All of us feel
that this is our best album to date.
We’re really proud of the songs, as well as the production on the album. It’s our best sounding record.
Being an American band you have signed by Cruz
Del Sur Music, globalization at it best, how did it happen?
Twiz: I’ll let Deb elaborate on this one because
she was primarily in contact with the label when we were looking for someone to
put out the record. I will say that I’m
really excited for what the future holds for us and Cruz Del Sur working
together.
Deb: We
have actually only released on European labels (besides our own independent
label Cobra Cabana that our vinyl is on).
I would say that's majority where our fan base is as well. Its all about networking and connections and
we were very lucky to work with everyone we have so far and looking forward to
our future with Cruz del Sur.
Comparing "Vicious Breed" with your
previous album “Lady Beast II” what would you say?
Twiz: I think the most noticeable thing is the
sound of the album. The production is a
little more raw on Vicious Breed (as well as with the Metal Immortal EP we put
out last year). To my ears, it sounds
closer to how we sound live or at band practice. I love the songs on “II”. That record has the first songs I wrote after
I joined the band (Bind The Runes, Caged Fury, Heroes Of Our Time, etc). I feel like “II” is where the overall sound
of the band started to gel.
Originally your sound was categorized as a
blend of the NWOBHM and thrash, I think nowadays you have even a more open
style
Twiz: I think we still draw from the same
influences, but it’s impossible as an artist not to try to grow, and get
better. I doubt we’ll ever do anything
that waivers too far from the sound that we are going for.
Lady Beast offers not only strong compositions,
the good melodies are also present in your songs
Twiz: When I write a song, I can tell if I’m on the
right track if I keep hearing the riff in my head long after I’ve turned off my
amplifier. I love a simple melody, or
the hook of a good guitar riff. A lot of
my favorite bands (Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy, Metalucifer) have these perfect guitar
harmonies in their songs. As a metal
fan, I just try to write things that I would be stoked to hear if I was in the
crowd at one of our shows. I like when
albums are dynamic. I remember reading
an interview with Jimmy Page and he talked about how he would put an acoustic
song, or a ballad before a song that was a rocker. I like having that contrast on an album. It makes the fast songs faster, heavy songs
heavier, etc.
How long did you work on "Vicious
Breed"? How was the comsposition
process?
Twiz: I’d say the album took a little less than 2
years to write. Some of the songs (The
Way, Always With Me) were written at the time we recorded the Metal Immortal
EP. When I write the music for a song, I
never sit down with my guitar with the intention of writing a song. I just like
to play guitar a lot. Usually what
happens is I’ll be playing my music room.
Sometimes a riff or a guitar lick will catch my attention, and I’ll
start riffing on it. All of my songs
started with either a riff or a melody of a few notes. Once I get a rough sketch of what the song is
going to be, it kind of writes itself.
The trick is to be receptive to where the song wants to go. Whenever I start a new song, I usually record
it on my phone and text it to everyone in the band to see what they think. My phone is full of parts of Lady Beast
songs. Haha.
Yes, phones are so useful sometimes. What the
lyrics about?
Twiz: I’ll let Deb handle this one since she writes
all the lyrics. I think that she writes
a lot about traditional themes in metal that we like.
Deb: The
lyrics are never written before I hear the song. The way the song feels and moves definitely
determines where the lyrics will go. I
tend to lean towards the same format with all of our albums. I always have the song about how awesome
heavy metal is, the an epic telling of a story, a underdog tale, a song
preaching positivity and self growth. I
am very happy how the lyrics and melodies came out with this album.
With this album you deliver your first ballad,
properly speaking, softening your proposal or widening the range?
Twiz: The
funny thing is I didn’t really intend for this to be a ballad when I wrote the
music for it. I originally just had an
idea to try to write a slow heavy song like The Zoo or something. That and I wanted to have a song where I
could hit a chord and have a sip of beer during a live show. Haha. Joking aside, it turned into a ballad with
how Deb sang to it, and the lyrics that she wrote for it. She can elaborate on the song’s lyrics if she
wants to, but basically it’s a song about loss, and remembering. I like that this song can be for anyone that
has lost someone, and that is all of us.
It’s our tribute to anyone that is no longer here. -That could be loved ones, heroes, pets,
anyone. When we play it, I always think
about my grandparents, and a dear childhood friend’s mother that lost her
battle with cancer. Lyrically, it’s a
heavy song, but I hope that people realize that it is meant to be a way to
celebrate those that are no longer with us in this world. I love it.
With Lady Beast we find a case similar to some
classic bands as Chastain, Impellitteri, old Omen etc, this is, a big couple
axeman&vocalist?
Deb:
Yes!! Totally Shredding! Like we have said over the years, we are not
trying to reinvent heavy metal. We are
only trying to put our own spin and sound on it. Hopefully we will only get to continue
playing with our favorite bands, and the original female fronted metal bands!
With this new album Deborah Levine submits her
request to queen of the current heavy metal kingdom?
Deb: Yes I
am ready and willing to lead my heavy metal loyal subjects forever!!! There are many queens of heavy metal and we
can all share the title!! Hahaha
Rise the fist and yell for the Queen hahaha Any
favorite song in the album?
Twiz:
Honestly, I can’t say that I have a favorite song on the album. I have a lot of songs that I really like
playing, and I will drift between songs that I like the most. I honestly do like all the songs on this
album. We worked really hard on all of
them, and I can’t wait for people to hear them.
If I’m not mistaken, Andy Ramage was part of
the mighty band Argus, also signed by Cruz del Sur, but surprinsingly there you
were playing bass and now you are the lead guitar in Lady Beast, how was it?
Deb: Andy
has many musical talents. We are lucky
to have him join the band and fill a gap, and allowing us to grow and mature as
a band. Argus are very good friends of
ours and its a great feelings to be able to share the experience of being on
the same label and playing together.
Adam Ramage on drums, Andy Ramage on guitar…
any family tie here or just coincidence?
Andy is
Adam’s older brother. They played
together in Oh Shit They’re Going To Kill Us.
Ironically, it was a reunion with the Ramage brothers on a photo shoot 7
or 8 years ago that resulted in me joining the band. I knew those guys through one of my roommates
in college. We hung out back in the
day. Over the years, we lost touch. I was asked to do some photos for OSTGKU, and
that led to me auditioning as 2nd guitar for Lady Beast. Fast forward to a couple years ago when Andy
joined the band, and everything came full-circle. Andy and I have always admired each other’s
bands, and guitar playing. The band got
a lot tighter after Andy joined. I think
that’s because he and Adam played together in bands before, but mostly because
they’re brothers. There’s a weird deeper
connection with siblings in bands. When
we’re playing out of town, you can usually find Andy and I talking about
guitars, or analyzing the early Metallica albums.
Cool! Now that you have signed by an Italian
label I suppose we will have the chance to see you in some European fest at
least, right?
Deb: YES!!
We have been wanting to tour Europe from the start! But to be honest in a way I am glad we
haven't yet. We are now in this day,
better players and performers than we have ever been. I feel confident and excited to now unleash a
super professional and polished Lady Beast into the world with this new full
length and am ready for the future! Europe if definitely on the horizon!
Twiz:
That’s what we’re hoping. Some of us
have had the opportunity to tour in Europe with other bands that we have been in. I love it over there.
Hopefully we will se you around here very soon,
guys, thanks and congratulations for your new album!
Twiz:
Thanks for asking us to do this interview.
Cheers.
Deb: Yes thank you for taking the time! And thank you for sharing heavy metal!!!
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