WALLS OF JERICHO Frontwoman: 'I'm Gonna Do My Own Thing And I'm Gonna Do It In My Own Style'

Roadrunner Records U.K. recently conducted an interview with WALLS OF JERICHO frontwoman Candace Kucsulain. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: What are your musical influences?

Candace: "There would be tons of musical influences for everybody in the band, I'm gonna talk as a whole as a band, y'know old METALLICA, SLAYER, there's tons of bands, EARTH CRISIS from back in the day and others, I mean everybody influences everybody nowadays, all we're trying to do is try something that's our own."

Q: How do you feel about playing with bands that have influenced you?

Candace: "Yeah, we really get really excited especially when they're nice people, we did a resistance tour, two years ago and we played with SICK OF IT ALL, we did a tour with MADBALL, so like, it's great touring with bands like that that have been around for so long and realizing they are amazing people as well, so we get really stoked, especially when we're friends cause that's the most [important] thing, 'cause if going out with a band that you don't like, it's horrible."

Q: What led you to doing hardcore vocals?

Candace: "When I was younger I liked a lot of different stuff (music) like, I believe 6th grade I started listening to BEASTIE BOYS, I started getting into punk stuff, MINOR THREAT, and then getting into more grindcore, not so much metal at that point, a little bit of METALLICA, but any real death metal or anything. So, just different types of music influenced me all the time. And HOLE — I liked HOLE a lot, because she had this more aggressive thing going on, she wouldn't just sing and preach, she didn't give a fuck, which I love that, I love that attitude, and then I went more screamy, so there's a lot of other bands, that kinda verge on that, like singy/screamy stuff. I went to a local hardcore show, that was the first time I really fell in love with hardcore, I saw the scene and what it meant to people, and how it was a bunch of people, just there for a good time and even if you're screaming, it's one of those things that's all emotion, you're screaming cause your putting your body into it, you're putting everything you have in, because your pissed off at something, or you're upset with something. Scream at the world, basically, so that's why I like it."

Q: What is it like fronting in a male-dominated genre?

Candace: "It's fun. Why? Because you get to talk about really funny stuff. Last night we talked about an embarrassing incident I had in Ozzfest being a female in a male-dominated field. You have to read Revolver to read that one though! It's a bunch of bullshit half the time, because you get asked these questions, 'cause people don't let it go, cause people constantly wanna compare. Fuck that, I don't care anymore, you know. What is fun about it is I have the advantage 'cause I can hit people, I can show people while we're playing and get away with it and most guys can't, so right there, that's such a good point."

Q: You make an awesome role model to women. How does that make you feel?

Candace: "I appreciate when people say it. I never really wanted to… I mean, it's cool, I just never really thought of it that way, or wanted it to be at any point in time especially when I growing, because I was still searching myself for who I was, so to hear that before made me a little squirmish, because I never want to take away from what somebody else is doing, if there doing something because they have the strength enough and get up and do it, they should get the credit for it, not me. As things are going on and I see more people coming into the scene, I do understand as I'm getting older I do understand how it's very important to have role models, or to have somebody to look at and say you know what yeh, she can fucking do it, and you wanna know why I think that's good? It's because I still hear way too many girls not doing things because they're afraid of what guys are gonna say or how they are going to criticize them. You know what?! Guys still do that, constantly, so, I think it is important to have a girl who can, like… I can get up there I can rock a skirt, and tell you to fuck off, because I'm gonna do my own thing and I'm gonna do it in my own style, and I'm not gonna care about what other people think, I think it's very important, so if somebody looks at me for that, that's amazing."

Read the entire interview at this location.