Interview by Marcy Bell
Rock noir band Belladonna is going back to the UK after their successful recent tour in April. We had the pleasure to send a few of questions to Luana, the ravishing singer and co-founder of Belladonna with the guitarist/producer Dani.
So Luana you´re going back to the UK, but please before every questions please let Femme Metal readers know the adventurous trip you did to reach the UK a couple of months ago. Thirty-six hours from Rome to reach the first gig in London…
First of all thank you very much for asking us to do this interview!! The last trip in UK was one of the funniest adventures we had in our life!! Due to the volcano’s eruption every flight in/from/to Europe was cancelled…and ours too! So we just drove for thirty-six hours from to London singing to ourselves “it’s a long way to the top if you wanna rock’n roll”
Belladonna is a totally DIY band so you and Dani manage everything. Is it difficult combine the artistic side with the business one? In that way you became the biggest Italian rock phenomenon next to Lacuna Coil and you played with, among others, Nine Inch Nails, Korn and Duff McKagan. That´s amazing, isn´t it?
Yes as a DIY band we take care of everything! It’s not difficult to do – very tiring sometimes… but the satisfaction you get by doing things by yourself it’s priceless!! And yes it’s amazing what happened to our little band without having to yield to all those compromises bands always have to bow down to when they are signed to a label.
Two albums are out: “Metaphysical Attraction” and the recent “The Noir Album”, released also in the Uk. What are the main differences between them?
The greatest difference between “Metaphysical Attraction” and “The Noir Album” is in the means used to record the latest one. We actually recorded it in Sylvia Massy’s awesome studio in California… but the approach to the recording was the same : no click, very few overdubs, no samples – just a hi energy rock band playing noir songs.
Your story started from internet. Your MySpace was one of the most viewed in the net, do you think that these kind of new technologies can help music? In your opinion what will be the future social network to become as powerful as MySpace?
We absolutely think that without MySpace today we’d not have been here talking about our music. So we believe that internet can be very helpful for all independent artists. At the moment Facebook seems to be the best candidate… everybody seems to be on it nowadays.
What is your so-called “Rock Noir”. The genre has also its own page on Wikipedia and now other bands are using this term you coined to define their music. You have actually created a new rock music genre.
Yes we were amazed when we discovered the Rock Noir Wikipedia page and to find out that so many bands have taken to call their music Rock Noir – it’s very flattering for us.
You played also a few times in the USA. Once at the famous SXSW Festival in Austin (Texas) and in LA at the Key Club and at the Fonda. Did you enjoy these experiences and are you planning to go back to the USA?
We totally enjoyed our American experiences and we can’t wait to come back to the States…which should happen in the Fall of this year!
Which songs do you like to play live the most? Your fans say that you are improving with every concert and that you kick ass on stage, what is your feeling in front of them? They have created a “Belladonna Family”…
We love to play every one of our songs since every time it’s a different emotional experience for us….we totally love all our friends and fans!!….
You are sometimes compared to Lacuna Coil, because you are both from Italy, but the difference between your music and theirs is clear. What are you feeling about being compared to a popular band such as Lacuna Coil? Have you ever meet them?
Yes sometimes it happens that people compare us to Lacuna Coil, even though we sound totally different, as anybody that has heard both bands can hear. We have met them a few times and we totally love them: they are incredibly nice and down-to-earth people and of course they are an awesome band – the best rock’n’roll band to come out of Italy ever, no question about it – so it’s always an honor for us to be compared to them!
What about a new album? Are you thinking about it?
All is very secret… all I can say is that we are working on it!
What are Belladonna dreams?
Our story so far totally felt like a dream… our dream now and forever will always be to never wake up!
Besides being Belladonna´s singer and songwriter you are also a philosopher. Do you think your wide knowledge helps you and the band in the writing process?
I think that it can help as anything else you read or experience…I mean life itself is always the main source of inspiration for me.
Your personal blog on Belladonna´s Myspace has been listed in Myspace “Most Viewed” blogs. Why did you open this private diary to the public? Can your fans expect other essays from you about social important issues as you did in the past?
When I started to write my blogs my goal was to share my point of view about different topics in a simple way (as opposed to simplicistic) because I always believed that people on MySpace were still human beings with their feelings, their brain, their opinions… not just numbers to use hype up our MySpace page! Maybe in the future I’ll blog again…but at the moment I really don’t have enough time… being a working-class-singer of a DIY band with our profile takes up all of my time nowadays 🙂
For Femme Metal you are a very atypical band because even if we follow many rock-metal female fronted bands none of them have so many girls in their line-up. Besides you there are Tam, on bass and Alice at the piano. You are three gorgeous girls, how is your relationship? Is it easy to get along with Dani and Alex, the only 2 guys in the band?
Me, Alice and Tam are wont to call ourselves “The Three-Headed Monster”… we are so close, especially on tour, that we totally feel like one… and people are often scared of us, ha! 😉 And as I said before Belladonna are – clichéd as it sounds, it’s the truth – a family so of course the two boys and us three girls have a wonderful relationship… even though the two boys are somewhat scared of the three tigers, or, rather, of “The Three-Headed Monster”!
What are your personal dreams?
I have so many dreams… my biggest is to find a way so that every very talented artist can be able to work and express his/her soul freely, without any filters of any kind!
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