VIXEN's LORRAINE LEWIS Doesn't Let Negative Online Comments Bother Her: 'They Don't Pierce Me'

During a recent appearance on "That Metal Interview" podcast, VIXEN singer Lorraine Lewis spoke about the band's recently released single called "Red". The official music video for the track, which was written and produced by CINDERELLA drummer Fred Coury, was directed by Drew Johnston and Vicente Cordero and edited by Ryan Conion.

Regarding VIXEN's studio sessions with Coury, Lorraine said: "I was in the studio with him. All of us recorded with him. He was great to work with. He was not easy on me with the vocal. I mean, he really wanted me to deliver. We worked really hard. He was really happy with the end result. I was too. And at the end of the day, when I got home, he messaged me and told me how great I was. And he said, 'This sounds great because you are great.' And he texted me that. And it meant a lot. 'cause, I mean, it's Fred Coury. [Laughs]"

As for how "Red" came together, Lewis said: "Fred presented that to us. We do have other songs that we have collaborated on, but he presented that to us. Roxy [Petrucci, VIXEN drummer] felt like it was a really good representation of us and felt that we could kill it. And so we decided that we would go in and record it. So we worked on that — gosh — about a year ago, to be honest with you. We did the video in April on the Sunset Strip and in downtown Los Angeles, in the historic core of downtown L.A., on a rooftop. We had a great director, Vicente, who has done a lot of videos. I mean, he did EXTREME's video, which you would probably notice their video. We were in the same location that EXTREME was in. It was an amazing studio. And so we did that. And then also with Drew and just a great team of people. It was two long-ass days of filming — gosh, probably a total of 24 hours it took to get that video done. And then lots of editing. And, yeah, we're so excited. It got released October 2nd… The response has been great — for the most part. People really dig it, which we love."

Elaborating on the fan reaction to "Red", Lorraine said: "The Internet is funny. Most people — 99. 9 percent of people — say positive things. You've got a small 0.1 percent of people that just like to talk trash and be shitty. I don't understand it. I don't understand the thought behind it. I have never written a bad, mean, shitty post to anyone, ever. I don't understand the mentality. If you don't like something, move on, whatever. But I don't know. Sometimes that 0.1 percent, they want to say something and you're just, like, 'Wow.'

"Someone wrote — I don't remember who it was, but someone wrote, 'I'll take a bottle of Lorraine Lewis and a Corvette to go,' which if you are a David Lee Roth fan, you know that [line]. So, I loved that comment so much. I thought that was great. Someone else said something that I saw that they said, 'The singer looks like they could be on 'The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills'. They might have meant that as a diss, but for me, I was, like, 'Yes, I love it.' I see it as a positive… This stuff rolls off of me."

She added: "You really can't hurt my momentum and you can't hurt my soul because I know who I am. I love rock and roll. I'm a positive person. I love living life to the fullest. And you can throw shitty comments to me all day long, but I'm, like, they don't pierce me. I look at them and I think to myself, 'Well, this is too bad that this person took the time to do this stupid thing and say this stupid stuff.' But I move on. It doesn't matter to me. It doesn't matter. I hope that they'll come to a show. I hope that we'll win them over. And I prefer to just do my job, kick ass, and you either love me or you don't, and it doesn't matter either way. I'm having a blast."

Petrucci is the only remaining member of VIXEN's "classic" lineup.

Nearly two years ago, longtime VIXEN bassist Share Ross announced that she was "taking a hiatus" from VIXEN. Her replacement is Julia Lage, formerly of the Latin Grammy-nominated Brazilian rock group BARRA DE SAIA and wife of Richie Kotzen. Lage made her live debut with VIXEN on February 8, 2022 at the pre-Monsters Of Rock cruise concert at Magic City Casino in Miami, Florida.

In January 2019, VIXEN recruited Lewis as its new lead singer following the departure of Janet Gardner.

Lewis had already performed with VIXEN in March 2018 in Durant, Oklahoma while Gardner was recovering from surgery.

Prior to Lewis's addition to VIXEN, Petrucci, Ross and guitarist Britt Lightning (a.k.a. Brittany Denaro) vowed to "expand upon the VIXEN legacy while remaining true to our musical roots."

Gardner, Petrucci and Ross are considered to be part of VIXEN's classic lineup, along with founding guitarist Jan Kuehnemund, who died of cancer in October 2013.

Gardner contributed lead vocals to VIXEN's most commercially successful studio albums — "Vixen" (1988),"Rev It Up" (1990) and "Tangerine" (1998) — as well as the group's latest full-length release, 2018's live album "Live Fire".

Photo credit: Mark Weiss