GUERNICA MANCINI Is 'Proud' Of Getting Fired From THUNDERMOTHER: 'I Feel Like That's Almost Like A Badge Of Honor'

In a new interview with The Whatever, Buddy?! Podcast, ex- THUNDERMOTHER singer Guernica Mancini spoke about the formation of her current band THE GEMS. The latter group came together in February 2023 when it was announced that Mancini, Emlee Johansson (drums) and Mona Lindgren (bass) were exiting THUNDERMOTHER after a six-year run. At the same time, guitarist Filippa Nässil revealed that she would continue with a new THUNDERMOTHER lineup featuring singer Linnéa Vikström (THERION, AT THE MOVIES) and returning bassist Majsan Lindberg. Filippa has also since recruited Joan Massing (HONEY CREEK) as THUNDERMOTHER's new drummer.

Mancini said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "THE GEMS started in January 2023, and it was a result of me getting fired from THUNDERMOTHER and the rest of the band quitting because of me getting fired."

Asked why she got fired from THUNDERMOTHER, Guernica said: "Oh, there's a million reasons, but I would say number one would be the guitar player hates me [laughs] and we're polar opposite people. And I've always kind of stood up to her like; I didn't take her shit, and it was like a constant wave of just abuse."

She continued: "Honestly, I don't feel ashamed of anything, and I've been quite honest from day one because I have nothing to be ashamed of. I'm even proud of the fact that I got fired because I feel like that's almost like a badge of honor. That means that I'm a really good person because I'm not the first one that that happened to. [We were] the sixth lineup that got fired. And now we're actually friends with all the former bandmates, former 'Thundermothers'… [We have] our own little community of survivors, and we're open when the new lineup, when it's time to change them out again, we're here with open arms waiting for them and knowing exactly what they've gone through."

Regarding how THE GEMS, which sees Lindgren returning to her original instrument, the guitar, managed to release its first song, "Like A Phoenix", just four months after Mancini, Johansson and Lindgren exited THUNDERMOTHER, Guernica said: "The thing is we have worked so hard on building up THUNDERMOTHER, the three people that left the band, we were the ones that were really driving THUNDERMOTHER ahead. We really wanted to do the big stages. We had all these huge dreams and ambitions. And we did the SCORPIONS tour — in the fall of 2022, we did a North American tour supporting SCORPIONS as THUNDERMOTHER. I'm really proud of that. And they loved us. So they wanted us to do the entire European tour. That was because we did a great job, the fans really enjoyed what we were doing and we were respectful. We impressed them enough to then they wanting us to do the whole European tour. So we had all these really cool things lined up that we had worked our asses off to get. And so when she [Filippa] then went crazy and just changed everything, we just felt that it was almost our duty to take advantage of our own momentum that we had built. Even though we were a brand new band name, we felt like those fans are our fans. We built up those fans. The biggest songs that that band has ever had are the songs that we wrote together. All these are factual things that anyone can look up. So, yeah, we just felt it was super important to make sure people understood that we have no intention in quitting music. This is something a crazy person decided and we're not gonna allow that to ruin our dreams and what we wanna accomplish."

Asked how she felt when Emlee and Mona both voluntarily left THUNDERMOTHER, once they found out Mancini was being kicked out of the group, Guernica said: "I love them. I love them so much, and I'm forever grateful for that. And I just feel like I have two really amazing people on my side. Because, yeah, if they didn't do that, I would probably be in a huge dark hole of depression. I don't know. It would be harder to pick myself up, because we would be crying, writing songs, going through the hurt of a breakup or whatever. We used all that as fuel in the writing, and you can hear it pretty clearly on the debut [THE GEMS] album, 'Phoenix'. And, yeah, we just decided that we would work really fast. So basically the same week as everything happened, we booked a writing session. And we wanted our first single to come out even quicker, but then we got signed within three months."

In the summer of 2023, Filippa opened up about the latest THUNDERMOTHER lineup changes in an interview with Bloodstream TV, saying: "Well, we were together seven years — and that is Guernica, the singer, and Emlee, the drummer. And it [was] amazing; we did so much together. But in the end, we couldn't communicate. 'Cause you travel and you live together all the time. Not even when you say 'hi' to each other. I cannot live a rock and roll lifestyle like this. So I tried to solve it for a long time — like, 'This doesn't work. We have to communicate and be respectful,' and whatever. And it didn't work out. One person didn't come to the meeting, so we had to move forward. Because this is a business as well, and a rock and roll band, and it's supposed to be fun and good and loving also, because we need to support each other. And when that's not the case… Well, I fired [Guernica] — that's the first time I'm saying that now, actually — because she didn't come to the meetings I set up to mediate. We need to talk and be able to work together. Because it's more and more business, and then you can't work and then you can't do your shows. Because it's e-mails and everything — it's a lot of stuff."

Nässil continued: "So friendship — okay, I can buy that; you don't have to be friends. But I think it's much better now anyway. And I'm very happy with… 'Cause I took the old singer… Not the old singer, but a singer that I really loved and admired for a long time called Linnéa Vikström. I actually asked her for the job in THUNDERMOTHER seven years ago, but she wasn't available. She had too much to do, 'cause she sang with THERION, a big metal band, around the world. And [she has] a lot of experience, but we're also good friends. So it's been hard for her to sort of take over something, but it's been fantastic. And everyone says it's really good."

THE GEMS' debut album, "Phoenix", arrived in January 2024 via Napalm Records.

THE GEMS made their live debut on March 22, 2023 at Pustervik in Gothenburg, Sweden as the support act for THE NIGHT FLIGHT ORCHESTRA.

In early March 2023, Nässil shared a six-minute video in which she addressed some of the questions surrounding the departures of Mancini, Johansson and Lindgren as well as her decision to carry on with a new lineup. She said in part: "Some stuff you read online and even now in some magazines is true and some stuff has more to it," she explained. "I mean, there's a depth to what happened and it's impossible to read in a few lines or a quote from someone. And I wanna assure you and tell you guys that I did my absolute best to work everything out between the old members. I think we should be conscious in what we're saying and trust that I have done my absolute best for peace, love and rock and roll and I did everything in my power to work it out with the previous bandmembers. I would never throw anybody under the bridge. I think that's another private matter. What happened has been behind the curtain, so to speak, so it's not everything that people need to know about or should know about because it's just unnecessary to throw stuff at each other, I think."

Photo credit: Gustaf Sandholm Andersson (courtesy of Napalm Records)