IN THIS MOMENT's MARIA BRINK: 'When I Walk Out On Stage Now, I'm Confident'

Niclas Müller-Hansen of RockSverige.se recently conducted an interview with IN THIS MOMENT singer Maria Brink. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

RockSverige.se: When you read comments [online] about you, there's a lot of stupid stuff about the way you look or about your voice, but I guess you're using all that to turn it into something positive instead?

Maria: Yeah, exactly! There's just so much hate. Everyone has their own right to their own point of view and everyone has their own perception of everything and everyone doesn't have to love me, obviously, but I just think that it's too much when people say that they want you to die and it can be so dark and mean. I think it's always beautiful to take hate in some form and turn it into something beautiful. That's what "Whore" on our last album ["Blood"] kinda felt like. We noticed that the more popular we got, the more haters we got. It's almost like a sign you're doing good. I think "Sex Metal Barbie" is gonna be such a slap in the face, because the people who really hate us, thay're really gonna hate us!

RockSverige.se: It's fascinating that there are so many people that seem to spend all their time writing hateful things and complaining about everything.

Maria: And there are so many more things you could be doing with your time and life, so we just basically wanted to take that and do some sort of twist on it. Basically thanking them for their hate, for inspiration for a song. (laughs)

RockSverige.se: How do you look at the band 10 years from now, especially the way the music business is now?

Maria: We're lucky! Everyone says everything's faltering in the music business, but, knock on wood, every album that we've done has sold more than the previous one. Our last album was our biggest-selling album. We've actually progressed and gone up every single time and I know we'll really, really go up with this album ["Black Widow"]. I really know that this album's gonna be our biggest album to date for sure. I understand, with the Internet it doesn't sell the way it used to, so you have to look at it in logical numbers that are like nowadays numbers. That's why I focus so much on our show, because sales are becoming so hard these days, with Spotify and downloading and whatnot. If people buy into the band, you'll always have tour that sells and you'll always have that diehard base. I'm sure that in the future, people are gonna have to start coming up with something in the future where it's not about sales anymore. It'll be web sites and how many hits does your web site get when you release an album and that's gonna determine how your band is doing. Who cares about how many albums you've sold when you have sold out arenas and you're making money?

RockSverige.se: There's gotta be more competition these days, since every single band is out touring?

Maria: Before we did this album, I watched all the DVDs of all the big bands in the world, from METALLICA to MADONNA to ALICE COOPER to MARILYN MANSON. What are they doing that make people wanna go see them? I know we can do our own unique show that's just as comparable, just as big and unique and I think that when it comes to that, aside from the music, you have to have that show. If they go see IN THIS MOMENT, they'll never see anything like that again. We just did a video and the label was there and they were freaking out, "This is just like SLIPKNOT and BEYONCÉ combined!" We want people to say that they can't even describe it.

RockSverige.se: Being a woman in this business, do you feel you've had to prove yourself a lot more than a man would have to?

Maria: I don't think so. I think that that's self inflicted. I fed into this story in my head that because I'm a girl it's harder and no one's taking me serious. I do know that actually trying to get into a heavier band, that was a bit more challenging, because they couldn't hear me sing. It said, "Inspiration: PANTERA, DEFTONES, KORN. Looking for a singer!" and then I would call them and say, "Hi, can I audition for your band?" and they were, like, "What? No!" That part was tricky, but once you're in the position to where you have that band and you're out there, you have to not think like that anymore. If you think like that, I think you're kinda creating that. If I just think, "It doesn't matter if I'm a girl or a guy, it comes down to what I have to offer." When you're there, it doesn't matter what you look like or who you are. When you're putting on a show and the music's playing and you're performing, that's what's gonna speak. Once you start performing, that's the truth right there! Are you good or are you not? It's all really in your personal mindset. I've had 500 people scream, "Show me your tits!" at Ozzfest at the same time. I used to let that have power over me and I used to think that I had to be really tough and scream at the crowd and be like a boy, to be taken seriously. It was all bullshit! When I walk out on stage now, I'm confident. I know that they're gonna love me, I know that I have my craft down and I'm in charge. They feel you and they know what's authentic and if you're insecure and questioning it, they know it. If you're in charge and you just feel like, "I own you, so you might as well ride the ride with me!" they get it and they do. It's all inside.

Read the entire interview at RockSverige.se.