I think it’s really fun to have an all girl band.”

Wikimetal (Daniel Dystyler): Hi, Mia, how are you? This is Daniel, from Brazil.

Mia Coldheart: Hello Daniel.

W (DD): I’m here with Nando, we are co-hosts of the number one heavy metal and hard rock podcast in Brazil. It’s really great to have you on our show, we’re very excited with all the work that you guys have already done, releasing the two previous albums, and the new album that’s coming up, so we’re very excited. Welcome to the Wikimetal show.

MC: Thank you, thank you.

W (Nando Machado): Hi, Mia. How are you?

MC: Hi, I’m great, how are you?

W (NM): I’m going to start asking, what were your main influences that made you start playing guitar? And what about singing on a rock band?

MC: I started to play guitar because of the Grunge music, I discovered Nirvana, and when I was like thirteen years old they meant a lot to me. From the beginning they were my first guitar heroes. For some people, it might not seem usual for a guitar player to pick up in that way, but for me it was Kurt Cobain, and yeah, Nirvana was the biggest thing. And after a while, when I got better I started to listen to bands like Megadeth, for example and Marty Friedman, and I also love Alice in Chains, for example, Jerry Cantrell was also a big influence. And for Crucified Barbara, I think we don’t have any special influences for the band, I think everybody enjoys different kinds of bands and music. All kinds of genres, not just metal and rock.

W (DD): And what about those previous famous female bands, like Girlschool or Runaways, did they play any role on making you guys put together the band?

MC: No, not really. I think we all started because of Nirvana, actually, in the different parts of Stockholm, where we come from, before we knew each other, everybody was growing up with this music, so we started as a grunge band. But for me, I think, female musicians… The band Phantom Blue was… There’s one record called “Built to Perform”, that I found and I really liked. And Swedish bands… “Drain” was very important for me when I played.

W (DD): And Gigi is the vocal of Phantom Blue, if I’m not mistaken…

MC: Yes, exactly. And when I started to listen to Phantom Blue, I wasn’t even a singer, I was mostly listening to the guitars, but when I heard her sing, I was really like: “Oh my God, I want to sing too!”. I wasn’t a singer at the time, but I think I got an idea that I wanted to sing in that time, when I heard her.

Don’t wait to find the perfect band. You can’t sit home and dream about a band. You have to get out, meet people, play with a lot of different people.”

W (NM): We have a listener, one of our main fans is a big fan of Crucified Barbara, and he just sent us a question. Sweden and Northern Europe are very well known for high quality standards regarding respecting people’s rights and equal right for women in general. Does this also to your day by day activities as a musician on a heavy metal bans?

MC: Yeah, I think in a way, because you are encouraged to play… We get the opportunity to play an instrument, it doesn’t matter if you are a boy or a girl. It’s pretty rare for a girl to play rock music, but it’s not like it’s something strange, and it’s not harder. I think it’s hard to be a girl also here, because people have so many prejudices, like some people think that all girls can’t play, and if it’s really you playing on the album… I think we’ve been around for twelve years now, and we have a reputation here in Sweden and in all of Europe, so it’s hard to say, because for us, it’s never been a problem, we just play and do our thing, and have fun. I think it’s easier maybe in Scandinavia than in many other countries, absolutely.

W (DD): We love the musical direction that you guys took in 2009, when you released the “’Till Death Do Us Party” album. Is the new album, “The Midnight Chase” in the same direction?

MC: I think the new album… I think it’s the best album we’ve done, I’m really really happy with all the songs, and I think that we improved as songwriters and musicians. I think we wrote better songs, I think the sound the sound is better as well in this album. Now we have our own amps and drum sets, the equipment, we really love, so it’s great to have that on the album. We didn’t have our own equipment on the last album, so it’s an improvement, it    ‘s better than the other, I think the songs are better now, definitely.

W (DD): Excellent. We’re very anxious and very excited to hear the new album.

MC: And I think we haven’t changed the musical direction, I think it’s still like, the mix… I think we play a mix between metal and rock and it’s the same thing, but a little bit better, hopefully.

I started to play guitar because of Grunge Music. It might not seem usual for a guitar player to pick up in that way, but for me it was Kurt Cobain, and yeah, Nirvana was the biggest thing.”

W (DD): We have a classic question on our show, that we ask every single person we interview, which is: imagine you’re listening to the radio on a rock station, driving your car or whatever, or listening to you ipod or any music player on shuffle mode, and suddenly a song starts that makes you lose your mind and start headbanging immediately, doesn’t matter where you are, you can’t refrain yourself. What song is that, so we can listen to it on your show right now

MC: I don’t know if that’s a spontaneous answer, it’s “The Book of Heavy Metal”, by Dream Evil.

W (DD): Very good. Would you mind announcing that song?

MC: Ok. You’re listening to “The Book of Heavy Metal”, by Dream Evil!

W (DD): I’d like to know, why do you think Sweden has so many great metal bands? And if Swedish bands are still friends with each other, supporting each other, do you guys hang out together?

MC: Yes, we do hang out with each other, and it’s a good atmosphere, like, in different parts of Sweden there are different kinds of metal, so we can really hear what the other bands are playing. I think that if one band is successful and is getting bigger, more people want to play, you know, young people want to start their own bands, they want to do the same thing. So I think that every band that becomes successful, like, new bands are formed.  We have a good music scene in Sweden, you’re encouraged to play, you can play instruments in public schools, and… It’s getting harder with rehearsal places, but still, there are organizations that help young people form bands and perform live… Yeah, I think it’s a mix of that.

W (NM): So, Mia, you guys are confirmed to play at the “Sweden Rock Festival” this year. What does that represent to you and so far, what was the highlight of your career?

MC: This will be the fourth time that we play… We played it three times before, and one of those moments was actually one of our best concerts, five years ago… I think in 2006. We had bad luck, we were going to play at twelve in the morning, and we didn’t think that anyone would be awake, but when we came out on the stage, it was packed, ten thousand people, all screaming and it was a surprise. So it was such a great moment, and of course, we were filled with happiness, because, so many people there to support you and sing your songs… We have done so many cool things, that was one of them… A good memory.

W (DD): And how was your participation on the “Eurovision Song Contest” in Sweden? Probably it was a lot of fun.

MC: Yes, it was a lot of fun. First, we wondered if we wanted to do it, we were asked by the songwriters if we wanted to play our songs, and we said “Well, I don’t think this is for us really, because we already have our fans, and it might even hurt our reputation if we participate in this”, because it’s not really seen as a cool thing to be in the “Eurovision Song Contest” if you’re a rock band. But we decided it would be just fun, because we didn’t have anything in the schedule at the time, and we’d played so much and done some other things, so we thought that the people who liked us would still like us after, and the ones who didn’t like us, in the competition they wouldn’t like us anyway, so… It was a great time, and lot of fun, there was a lot of press, media, and to play in front of hundreds and thousands of people is not a bad thing, so it was a great experience.

We’ve been around for twelve years now. We have a reputation here in Sweden and in all of Europe.”

W (NM): Mia, can you pick a song now from Crucified Barbara that you feel really proud for having written, so we can listen to it on our show now?

MC: Maybe you can play our new single “Into The Fire”. Should I introduce it?

W (DD): Yeah, that would be great.

MC: Ok, so here’s our new single “Into The Fire”. Enjoy!

W (DD): So this was “Into The Fire”. You guys released, on your website, a very nice video of that song. And we strongly recommend our listeners to buy the new Crucified Barbara album, “The Midnight Chase”. Are you guys planning to release any other videos from this album?

MC: Yes, we want to release a lot of videos, because we haven’t made so many videos in the past, and I think it’s… I love watching bands’ videos myself, so I have a lot of ideas for, like, almost every song, I do the videos in my head, so I hope there will be more videos to come.

W (DD): Mia, this is a silly question, but I’m curious: right at the beginning of the song “Creatures” of the last album, was it you that recorded that kind of cry that turns into a scream, or was it somebody else?

MC: No, I do everything. I try to do it live, but sometimes I get a really bad headache from doing it, so I have to like, bend over for a while… No it’s me doing it.

W (NM): So Mia, what do you know about Brazilian heavy metal?

MC: I know it’s a great country for heavy metal, we have so much support on our website. We can’t wait to get over there and play, we’re going to do that for sure, it’s so great.

W (NM): Do you know any Brazilian bands, like female bands, or bands that have girls? There are some really good ones here.

MC: No, I don’t know any female bands, can you tell me some?

W (NM): Yeah, there’s one called Nervosa, which is really good. We can send you some links later on, if you like.

MC: Yeah, that would be cool, absolutely.

W (DD): Mia, what would you say to a young girl, that is thinking of starting a band or pursuing a music career? What advice would you give her?

MC: I would say like: just go for it. I think for girls it can be harder… For me, for example, it didn’t matter if I played with girls of boys, but I think it’s really fun to have an all girl band, because it’s like a special feeling, I guess it’s the same for guys to play with other boys… The problem is that it can be hard to find band members, if you are alone in your school, for example, to find other girls who play. But don’t wait to find the perfect band members, I think you should just start to play with the people who want to play with you, even if maybe it’s not the same kind of music that you want to play, just play, because you have to practice and get better and as soon as you get out, maybe you get some gigs and meet other people and start networking. And that’s when you find the band you want, after a while. You can’t sit home and dream about a band, you have to get out, meet people, play with a lot of different people.

W (NM): We’re just about to finish our interview, Mia, thank you so much for your time, first of all. Can you leave a last message to all the Brazilian fans, all the Wikimetal fans?

MC: Yes, Crucified Barbara can’t wait to come to Brazil and play, it’s been so long that we’ve been in Sweden. We hope that you like the new album and hope to see you on tour.

W (DD): Excellent, Mia, thank you so much for your time, you were very nice. You can count on Wikimetal in order to promote Crucified Barbara here in Brazil, whatever we can do, we’ll be doing it.

MC: Cool, thank you.