LACUNA COIL's ANDREA FERRO: 'We Never Expected To Become Professional Musicians'

Cameron Edney of Australia's Inside_Out666 recently conducted an interview with LACUNA COIL singer Andrea Ferro. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Inside_Out666: There's been a lot of talk that you are open to doing an all-acoustic EP and or full album. Is it possible that once you finally get back home that you will start penning ideas for that?

Andrea Ferro: Yeah, yeah, the idea is basically to keep the songwriting going between the Japanese shows and the Australian tour and then come home and keep going into next year. Then we will be meeting up with our management and label to see what is expected, when the possibility of a release will be etc. At the moment we are a bit slow on the song writing, we are collecting ideas mostly. This month we have been mostly arranging our private lives, we have been away for so long touring, we have been busy moving houses, or somebody is getting married. There are a lot of personal things going on! We have been collecting ideas for the next album though.

Inside_Out666: [Laughs] Have you got any working titles that you can share with us.

Andrea Ferro: No basically it's a lot of musical ideas but very rough. We are trying to change the way we have been writing. In the past we have always written the music using a computer program. We were sharing it with everybody and everyone would add vocals or lyrics, but this time we want some songs to be created more naturally. This way we can have some more spontaneous songs created from the jamming room. We would like the next album to be a bit different and fresh. When you listen to it you will go "oh, is this LACUNA COIL?" But not in a bad way [laughs]. I think its time for us to grow with a more mature album!

Inside_Out666: I do want to congratulate you on the massive success you have received since the release of "Karmacode", it's a fantastic album. Looking back on the recording process now, is there anything you would have changed?

Andrea Ferro: Ah, we would have worked more on the production side. We would have spent a little more time on the recording and the sound. Not so much on the songs themselves, but in general on the production. Some songs could have been a little more direct probably. I think an album is a picture of the moment, and for that moment it was perfect. "Karmacode" was a very weird album, we were coming off a big success with "Comalies" and we didn't know which direction to take. It was very hard for us to be 100% satisfied with everything 'cause we were under pressure to decide what we wanted to do. We were very happy with "Karmacode", it brought us to different levels in terms of popularity, but I think we still have time to improve as a band and make an even better album.

Inside_Out666: Andrea, it has been a little over ten years since you released the first LACUNA COIL demos. Looking back at it now, did you ever imagine that by the end of 2007 just over a decade later you would be touring Australia and playing to loyal and devoted fans all across the world?

Andrea Ferro: No, no never in a million years. When we started we just did the demo for ourselves and tried to send it out for a laugh to the labels and the magazines [laughs].

Inside_Out666: [Laughs]

Andrea Ferro: We never expected to become professional musicians or this to become our job. We were just a bunch of friends that were hanging out in the same metal pubs. There was no history of other bands from Italy doing the same thing, making a career out of playing metal. We were really the first example of this kind. It really was a unique experience and we never ever thought we would push it to this level, never in a million years!

Inside_Out666: Andrea, over the years you have shared the stage with so many great bands such as IN FLAMES, BLACK SABBATH, JUDAS PRIEST and MEGADETH, to name just a few. Who have you enjoyed touring with the most and can you share a funny story from the road with us?

Andrea Ferro: Luckily we always have very good experiences and keep good relationships with all the bands, well most of the bands that we have toured with. I think that the tour we did with ROB ZOMBIE was one of the best in the United States. He's a legend, and he was treating us so nicely. At the end of the tour everyone didn't want to leave. We cooked some Italian pasta for him and the crew at the last gig, and we got dressed up like zombies and walked on stage during one of the songs.

Inside_Out666: [laughs]

Andrea Ferro: Rob was very friendly; he grabbed us during the song and threw us on the floor. We filmed everything, it was great! Ozzfest is very cool too. It's like a summer camp for metal bands. There is a lot of hanging out, a lot of drinking and smoking together. It's a big party travelling around America. Ozzfest is always a very funny experience.

Inside_Out666: Andrea, what is the craziest rumour you have ever heard about yourself and or the band?

Andrea Ferro: Oh, there were some weird stories going around. I don't know who bought them out but people were saying that we were all showering together naked with Cristina after the show [laughs]. Sometimes people say that me and Cristina are married and that's not true.

Read the entire interview at this location.