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RFUSA FEATURE INDIVIDUAL
Interview
While the explosion of female-fronted hard rock and metal acts like Evanescence, Lacuna Coil and Nightwish have been pushing many aspiring metal front women towards the operatic direction, and inspiring those same hopefuls to deck themselves out in extravagant gowns and dresses, the Phoenix Reign front woman has shunned that image and sound, choosing to deck herself out in denim and leather (hey, it brought us all together, to quote Saxon…) and belt out a powerful vocal style that can be sultry and seductive one minute and smash you in the jaw the next. Fans of classic front women in rock and metal music like Pat Benatar, Joan Jett and Doro Pesch will most certainly find Theresa Gaffney’s vocal prowess and no-nonsense metal image to be a godsend. No bullshit…no illusions…no compromise…no surrender. When the fledgling outfit then known as Phoenix chose Gaffney to replace departed front man Eugene Siouzos in 2002, the band had no idea how the fan turned front woman would fit into the picture, but their fears were soon laid to rest and they decided to see where it would take them. “I think it took a little while (for them to warm up), but not as long as people think because they were just happy to have me on board to grow along with them because they really wanted to take it to the next step, and they thought I was the person to do it," Gaffney says to us in a recent interview. “I have to thank them for having that faith in me to do it. They just got used to it pretty quickly. They actually found it more of a benefit than a hindrance.” Four years and many shows later, guitarists Kostas “Gus” Psarros and Billy Chrissochos, bassist Chris Pollatos, and drummer Wayne Noon all realize that they made the right choice. Gaffney fit Phoenix Reign’s Macedonian-flavored metal style like a fine velvet glove over an iron fist. Since the arrival of the intense red-haired Gaffney, the band has explored more musical territory, written more challenging and more engaging material, and are now on the pantheon to even more success and greater heights. Theresa Gaffney has truly found her destiny as the front woman of Phoenix Reign. She has the right combination of looks, talent, and drive to make it far in the metal scene. Off stage, she is down-to-earth, humble, intelligent, and just a vibrant person who is a pleasure to be around and with whom to speak. So let us get to the heart of the matter and learn more about this up-and-coming vocal siren.
“…they (Phoenix Reign) were just happy to have me on board to grow along with them because they really wanted to take it to the next step, and they thought I was the person to do it. I have to thank them for having that faith in me to do it.” Early Years Theresa Gaffney was born in Astoria, a colorful and diverse neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York on October 28, 1982, to her Ukrainian mother and her Irish father. “I’ve always been a New York City baby," she says, as she still makes her home in the neighborhood in which she was born and raised, in the shadow of the Triboro Bridge and the Manhattan skyline, and the banks of the not-so-blue East River. “I had a great childhood and a very close family. My grandmother owned a building, actually, that we lived in, so it was always very, very close and very Old World in some senses…,” Theresa says. “I had a very good childhood. Very encouraging. I always had all the love in the world that I needed to, you know, go on.” At a very young age little Theresa Gaffney became interested in music. Around the ages of six and seven, she was picked to be in the junior elementary school chorus of the private school she attended. “I guess you could say when you start that young music is a part of your life for the rest of your life," she says. Around the ages of eight or nine, she started to tickle the ivories of the family piano, recalling to us that the first song she probably learned was the Beethoven piece “Ode To Joy” from his 9th Symphony. “Always good to know some Beethoven!,” she happily laughs. In middle school, she started to play the flute and the alto-sax in her school band. “I was covering the jazz and the blues back then. I was really rocking out. I loved the sax, that was really cool,” Theresa says. Around this time, she started to get exposed to heavy metal music. “I started getting into metal by the exposure of my cousins in junior high school,” Gaffney says. “My first bands were Metallica, Iron Maiden, Guns N’ Roses, Pantera, but I’d really say that Iron Maiden pushed me into pursuing more metal in my life.” Theresa also found great head banging pleasure in the music of thrash metal bands such as Testament and Kreator. A metal head was born and the seed was planted for her to turn the volume up…WAY UP! She would eventually find her way to the seductive call of the six string by the age of 16. Not content to be just a juke-box hero though, she would take lessons and practice constantly to become more proficient at the instrument. Soon she would find her way in and out of several bands that were formed with friends and roommates, playing guitar and singing occasionally, and also dabbling in writing her own material. In 2000, Gaffney was among the sold-out throngs that packed the venerable Madison Square Garden to see the legendary Iron Maiden tear the house down on their Brave New World tour. She can easily tell you that this was a life-changing event, as the vocal stylings of the incomparable Bruce Dickinson are a huge influence on her own vocal style. Around the time that the twentieth century was waning, the young musician and metal fan had discovered a promising metal band called Phoenix which was based in her neighborhood. Theresa Gaffney had no idea on what was in store for her next…as this band would play a huge part in her musical future.
“I’ve always been a New York City baby.” Burn it Up, Bird of Fire: Discovering Phoenix The band Phoenix got their start in 1998 when longtime friends and musicians Billy Chrissochos and Chris Pollatos met vocalist Eugene Siouzos on a trip to their native Greece. The band would add veteran guitarist Kostas “Gus” Psarros and drummer Wayne Noon. Back in the Big Apple, the band would grind it out in this incarnation for a few years, playing clubs like the famous Castle Heights and opening for acts like ex-Dokken axeman George Lynch. It was around this time period that Gaffney would become aware of the band and their music. “I met their previous lead singer first, and hung out for a bit, and that’s how I met the rest of the band. They happened to go to the same gym as I do, so we always just kept in touch,” Theresa says. “I introduced some of my friends to the band too, like Jose, and he would keep in touch with them, and I still went to their shows.” Her first impressions of the band’s performance were positive, but she felt something was holding them back. “I thought they were really good. I thought they had a lot of promise except the lead singer needed, really, to be…something needed to go, because he was not very dynamic,” Gaffney says. “God bless him, but he just didn‘t fit for them.” Eventually, Siouzos would decide to leave the band in early 2002. Gaffney, being a strong supporter of the band, encouraged them to find a new vocalist so they could carry on. She had her own band at the time and was eager to continue on with them, but that eventually ground to a halt around the same time. “I was actually pretty insistent on playing rhythm guitar for a band and singing maybe back-ups or a few songs here and there,” she says. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. I never thought I would be part of Phoenix, no, never thought of it. I was always involved with something else.” But, as we have said before, fate has a funny way of working out. Having nothing to lose, she auditioned for the vacant vocal position and was accepted. “I just went in, and I did my thing and they liked it, because I had already been exposed to the music, I guess, so I had a grasp of it and actually gave a damn, so it helped,” Theresa says. “I wasn’t perfect, but I guess they liked what was going on, and the potential, so it was really cool.” With their new vocalist in tow, the band ceased to be Phoenix and was re-born with a new name, just like the mythical bird that was their moniker…Phoenix had now become Phoenix Reign, and Theresa Gaffney’s musical journey had only just begun. The destination, as one of their songs says, was truly unknown…
“ I never thought I would be a part of Phoenix…I was always involved with something else.”The Reign of the Phoenix: 2002-Present After a few photo sessions and many practices, the then 19-year-old Theresa Gaffney made her on-stage debut with Phoenix Reign at the legendary (and now dearly departed) Castle Heights on June 1, 2002. While nervous, Gaffney did not let that phase her. “I had a lot of butterflies. I wasn’t shaking in my shorts because thankfully that night it was like friends and family in terms of the fact that Castle Heights was like family to me already, and that place was like family to a lot of local bands,” she says. “Thankfully I started out in familiar territory and with cool people. I was nervous, but I felt comfortable at the same time. It was weird. It was a really odd experience but a great one, of course.” In the four years which have followed Phoenix Reign’s debut with Theresa Gaffney, the band has performed at many of the top clubs in the New York City underground, have released two demos, and have earned a reputation as one of the hardest working acts in the NYC metal scene. Before Gaffney joined, the band was known as a solid performer but lacked in the stage performance aspect. “That was something they really felt that they were lacking, so I really came in as an energetic person and I tried to give that to them,” Gaffney says. An observation of any of Phoenix Reign’s performances will tell you that she is not only gifted in the vocal department, but an energetic stage performer as well who has the ability to capture an audience. “I think it’s extremely important because you can be great musicians, but if you don’t come off performing, you won’t capture the audience’s attention,” she says. “Those are the people that are gonna say, 'Hey, I like Phoenix Reign, I think I’m gonna check them out in the future.' Also, it’s fun for you as a performer to go out there and just give your best and go out there and just have fun.” She also adds, “I love reaching out for that person at the back of the room, in the front of the room, that guy over there drinking his beer, hi fives, come on, fists, metal, whatever! I think it’s great. I love being active on the stage. I was building upon what the last singer was a little weak at, I think, so I always felt like I have to one up that guy, so I did, I hope!” On some nights, you could swear if they were playing on a bigger stage, that she would not be in the same place for five seconds. While her incredible cohorts bang out an eclectic mix of power metal and Eastern European musical influences, Gaffney wails her metal heart out like a civil defense siren signaling an incoming attack. I can personally describe her stage performance with this phrase: If Theresa Gaffney was a hurricane, she would be a Category 5 and no one would be safe! Occasionally, even her Phoenix Reignian (thanks Wayne!) brothers take a few lumps because of her antics! “And she is active. You can tell by my black and blues because I’ve gotten punched multiple times,” bass player Chris Pollatos told us. “…elbows to the face. But it’s for love! It’s for performance!” But of course, you can be the most active and visually exciting performer in the world…but if you can’t sing…people will walk out the door, or go back to their beer. Gaffney definitely has the pipes to back up her great stage presence. I can describe her voice as rich and full, with a touch of aggressive street-wise attitude and a solid range of power. It’s just plain straight out kick you in the face, and will remind many listeners of great front women of rock and roll and metal past. Songs in the Phoenix Reign catalog which can best describe the moods and emotions Gaffney conveys with her singing are “Dreaming” (sultry and longing), “Another Night Alone” (seductive), and “Destination Unknown” (straight out aggression). Amazingly, she has had surprisingly little formal training. “I did take a couple of months of real professional vocal exercises with a great guy, Tim, in Manhattan, but that was just pre-album just to make sure I knew that my vocals were going to be strong enough to record,” she says. "It helped a lot just to get the exercises and get the training, just to make sure. I have to keep these pipes safe, you know?” The scary thing is that with time she will only get better and build upon the already formidable gifts she is currently armed with. In her own words, Theresa describes the chemistry she shares with her buddies and bandmates in Phoenix Reign. “Oh, it’s very creative. Well let’s just say at times we’re at each others throats and other times we just gel so great,” she says. “That’s how I’ve always imagined a band being, like part of a family, like I’m at my brother’s throat but you know he’s still there for you, and we’re going to do something great together. So it’s really good. I think it’s a good working relationship that we have.” In the four years since Gaffney’s addition to the Phoenix Reign musical machinery, the band has evolved by leaps and bounds. “I think we’ve really changed a lot,” she says. “We really tried to focus on just becoming stronger musicians and just listening to each other, and giving a better stage show.” Well, Phoenix Reign is certainly a band whose star is on the rise, as they have already walked away with awards from websites like Garage Band.com for Best Female Vocals in the Hard Rock category back in June for their songs “Transcendent” and “Run Now”. With their first full-length album on the horizon, you can bet your last dollar that this band is on a rocket ride to respect and recognition. You can also bet that Gaffney will be mentioned as one of the rising stars among female vocalists in metal! You can write the check and cash it!
“…at times we’re at each others throats and other times we just gel so great. That’s how I’ve always imagined a band being, like part of a family. I think it’s a good working relationship that we have.” When the Crowds Are Gone: Off the Stage On stage with Phoenix Reign, Theresa Gaffney is a powerful performer with great stage presence and a voice to match. But off the stage, she is a fun-loving, sweet, and intelligent human being, one of the nicest I have met in my short history of covering the best and brightest in the underground. She is not only a driven musician, but someone who knows that the chances of making a huge amount of money in this fickle business is very remote, as she is also a budding entrepreneur and in the process of pursuing a higher education. Theresa is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in History at Queens College, and already holds a BA in the subject. “When I finished the undergrad program, I was off for about six months and missed the whole 'pursuit of knowledge' thing, and decided to enroll in the Masters program,” she says. “So far its been a very challenging experience, but totally worth it. My focus is on late antiquity and the Byzantine Empire.” At press time, she is halfway towards completing the Masters program. We wish her the best of luck. I am sure that the extensive study on the Byzantine era she is undertaking will certainly lead to inspiration for Phoenix Reign to crank out more epic songs like “Constantinople” in the future. As for the entrepreneurial side, Gaffney currently runs a web design company called Labyrinth Web Designs along with a longtime friend (http://www.labyrinthwebdesigns.com). “Well, about a year ago I decided to help out some local artists and musicians with their online endeavors because I know how it feels to be totally in the dark about something that you know you need to advance, and be on a limited budget,” she says. “In this modern age, anyone who wants to promote themselves really should have a website.” They have worked with artists such as Gothic Knights, Har Ik Zehr, Nolo and the Lifters, and also photographers and comedians. Hopefully, it will be a successful venture because we at RFUSA are all about helping up-and-coming talent gain a foothold in a tremendously competitive world. But besides all of that, Gaffney has a fun side as well, and enjoys to play classic video games. “Oh man, I love video games, especially the retro ones like Streets of Rage, Street Fighter, the old Final Fantasies, Bubble Bobble, etc. I've been on an early 90s video game kick,” she says. Another fun pastime for her lately has been trying her hand at recording and mixing music. “I have been dabbling in learning how to record and mix music,” she says. “I finally bought myself a decent preamp. Yes...engineering can be fun kids!” If you ask Gaffney what her favorite movies are, she will tell you the original Star Wars trilogy without batting an eye. Her favorite books are The Lord Of The Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Theresa is also quite the music fan of course, and she enjoys listening to lots of prog, power and thrash metal. “Right now, all I am listening to is Sonata Arctica, Evergrey, Pain Of Salvation, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater. I’m listening to a lot of prog metal stuff right now. Iron Maiden always, that’s always a constant,” she says. “I love thrash, my first bands were all thrash bands, Kreator, Testament, Metallica, Megadeth. I was a big thrash head when I was young.” Besides metal, Gaffney also has a taste for flamenco music and ethnic music like Greek, Ukrainian, and Celtic music, as well as classical music and classical guitar. “I listen to classical composers 'cause I grew up playing the piano and being exposed to the arts by my dad,” she says. “That’s what I listen to besides metal, and metal draws a lot from influences like that, so it’s not really that far off.” Her vocal influences range from legendary heavy metal front men like Bruce Dickinson and Ronnie James Dio to great female rockers like Pat Benatar, Doro Pesch and Shirley Manson. Faith also plays a strong role in this talented young woman’s life. In the realm of heavy metal, many artists downplay personal faith and choose to ridicule it, others go even further and claim to align themselves with darker forces in the spiritual realm. Gaffney, on the other hand, is proud of her faith and it is a strong influence in her daily life. “Faith is important to me in general, not just as a metalhead,” she says. “I've met plenty of other musicians who are practicing Catholics, Christians, whatever...and manage to be just as great a player as anyone who decides not to follow an organized religion.” While heavy metal is unfairly stereotyped as an “evil” musical genre by many devoutly religious people, Theresa sees things in a different light. “To me, I view it (metal music) as an art form with a lot of dark edges that leaves a particular haunting impression,” she says. “Also, its a genre we love because it makes us feel a certain way, it makes us feel as if we're strong enough to face our problems. And it may sound odd to some, but to me that plays into God's plan more than anything. I definitely give thanks for the music I enjoy and play.” Musical talent is truly a blessing from above. In the immortal words of Lordi, hard rock hallelujah!
“…(Metal)’s a genre we love because it makes us feel a certain way, it makes us feel as if we're strong enough to face our problems. And it may sound odd to some, but to me that plays into God's plan more than anything. I definitely give thanks for the music I enjoy and play.” Destination Unknown? I don’t think so! When we start the long journey that we call life, the destination is truly unknown. Some people meet an early death without ever fulfilling the destiny that each person is capable of. Others go through their lives unhappy with the path they choose and enter their final days with bitterness and regret. I didn’t have the pleasure of knowing Theresa Gaffney when she was growing up and her musical odyssey was in its infancy…but knowing the person and the performer as I do now, I have a feeling that somewhere, deep down inside, she knew. When the young girl started to play the piano in her family home at the age of nine...she knew. When she picked up her first guitar and started to play those first chords as a teenager, she knew. When Gaffney was eventually picked to be the lead singer of Phoenix Reign, and took the stage for the first time as a nervous but excited 19-year-old, clad in a black t-shirt, shiny black pants, and a dream, and started to belt out those first notes, she knew… And now, four years later, when Theresa Gaffney takes the stage at her next gig with Phoenix Reign, you can bet your bottom dollar that she knows…she still knows. She knew what her destiny was all along…it was never unknown. Theresa Gaffney’s destiny is to lead Phoenix Reign to heavy metal respect and recognition, to have them join a new generation of metal bands in the United States of America that deserve to be heard, and will one day become a household word in American power metal. The destination for the sultry siren with a streetwise attitude has never been unknown; as a matter of fact, it has never been clearer. Her destiny is to lead her troops into battle like a leather-jacketed Joan of Arc to metal victory and glory. And the next time you are in New York City, and you pass by one of the many rock clubs and you see Phoenix Reign is on the bill, you’d better walk in and take notice. When the show is over, you will know Theresa Gaffney’s destiny as well. You will know, and you will have no doubt. Matthew Bankes, Rising Forces USA
Hometown: Astoria, New York
Matthew Bankes (MB): You did play your first show after a three-month break last night. How do you think it went? Theresa Gaffney (TG): I think it actually was really good. We had a great time and we were very well prepared, I think, for this one because when you’re recording and you’re finishing and reviewing everything, which we are - we’re done mixing and we’re heading off to mastering (the forthcoming album) - we know the material like the back of our hand at this point so yesterday was very tight. There were a couple of parts where I could have done some work on but, for the most part, I think it was one of our best gigs performance-wise. We had a lot of friends out there to watch, and I think Dublin Pub was very good to us, and Heavy Metal Dave, the guy who booked the show, he’s really cool, so overall I really liked the gig. Thank you for being there. MB: Every story has to have a starting point. Where did you grow up and what was your childhood like? TG: Well, I grew up here in Astoria, New York. I’ve always been a New York City baby. I’ve lived here all my life, and I have a very loving family, my mom and dad, and my brother Joey, so we’ve all grown up here. My parents recently moved to Pennsylvania, actually, you know, your home state (laughs), but me and my brother still live here in New York. I had a great childhood and a very close family. My grandmother owned a building, actually, that we lived in, so it was always very, very close and very Old World in some senses because of my Ukrainian background on my mom’s side and that’s the family we grew up with, and my dad’s Irish, actually, but we grew up more with the Ukrainian side. So very, kind of “Old Country” in terms of morals and upbringing, but with my dad’s Western and Eastern meeting…this whole thing. It was a very interesting childhood, I had a very good childhood. Very encouraging. I always had all the love in the world that I needed to, you know, go on. MB: At what age did you start to get interested in music? TG: Pretty early, actually. About the time when I was six or seven, because when I went for a few years to private school I was picked to be in junior elementary school chorus. So I guess you could say when you start that young music is a part of your life for the rest of your life (laughs). I’d say when I was about six or seven, and then about the time when I was eight or nine I started playing piano, so it went on from there. MB: Were you involved in any extracurricular activities involving music when you were in school, or outside of school? TG: Well, in school, some choruses during elementary school and in junior high school I was part of a band. I actually played the flute, then I moved on to playing alto sax. I played alto sax in junior high school! (laughs) MB: You were like Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull front man) and Dizzy Gillespie! TG: Right!? (laughs) Yeah, so I was covering the jazz and the blues back then. I was really rocking out. I loved the sax, that was really cool. High school was where I broke from being extracurricular and went into bands. I jammed with friends, not so much involved with school, and went on to private stuff, including guitar lessons. MB: What was the first instrument you learned to play and what was the first song you learned how to play? TG: The first instrument was the piano, and I guess the first song would be “Ode To Joy” or something, you know… MB: (humming “Ode To Joy”) TG: Yeah, exactly. Always good to know some Beethoven! (laughs) MB: Were you vocally trained, or did you just open your mouth one day and discovered, “Hey, I can sing!”? TG: Sort of like that. The training that I had with school choruses and in church, but that’s not really “training” training, it’s kind of like…you’re just like a pirate, you’re just copying what they do. They don’t exactly teach you how to do vocal exercises. I did take a couple of months of real professional vocal exercises with a great guy, Tim, in Manhattan, but that was just pre-album just to make sure I knew that my vocals were going to be strong enough to record. It helped a lot just to get the exercises and get the training, just to make sure. I have to keep these pipes safe, you know? (laughs) MB: How did you discover the band Phoenix? TG: It’s actually a pretty long story because I met their previous lead singer first, and hung out for a bit, and that’s how I met the rest of the band. They happened to go to the same gym as I do, so we always just kept in touch. At the time I was just jamming with people, my former roommate Effie and I were in a band together, but that broke up. So I kept in touch with them that whole time. MB: What was your impression of Phoenix when you first saw them perform? TG: I thought they were really good. I thought they had a lot of promise except the lead singer needed, really, to be…something needed to go, because he was not very dynamic. God bless him, but he just didn‘t fit for them. MB: Since you were a fan of the band first, did you ever think you would end up as the band’s vocalist? TG: No, not at all. Never thought of it, never, never thought of it. At the time I was playing guitar and I was actually pretty insistent on playing rhythm guitar for a band and singing maybe back-ups or a few songs here and there. I was forming a band at the time where I would be playing and singing. That was actually with Billy Garcia who is on “Survivor” (TV reality show) right now, he was on this season. MB: We got a celebrity connection! Wow! TG: I still talk to him, you know. He’s cool. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. I never thought I would be part of Phoenix, no, never thought of it. I was always involved with something else. MB: You joined in 2002. How long did it take the rest of the band to warm up to a female stepping into a position that was once held by a man? TG: I think it took a little while, but not as long as people think because they were just happy to have me on board to grow along with them because they really wanted to take it to the next step, and they thought I was the person to do it. I have to thank them for having that faith in me to do it. They just got used to it pretty quickly. They actually found it more of a benefit than a hindrance. MB: Your first gig with Phoenix Reign was at the now defunct Castle Heights in June 2002. What was going through your mind when you stepped on the stage, did you have a case of the butterflies? TG: I had a lot of butterflies. I wasn’t shaking in my shorts because thankfully that night it was like friends and family in terms of the fact that Castle Heights was like family to me already, and that place was like family to a lot of local bands. Even bands that are famous now…Shadows Fall played there. Thankfully I started out in familiar territory and with cool people. I was nervous, but I felt comfortable at the same time. It was weird. It was a really odd experience but a great one, of course. MB: Out of the songs you have had a hand in writing for Phoenix Reign, which one is your favorite? TG: That’s interesting, because I probably would say “Masquerade Angel” because I pretty much came up with that in my basement when I was still not even in Phoenix and not even considering it. Just had it on my four-track tape, sitting there, just the intro and the rhythm, and just the basic song structure in general. When I approached the guys with it I was like, “Hey, you know what, this song sounds like it was always made for Phoenix Reign, can you guys improve upon it?” That’s probably why I like it, cause I saw from the very, very beginning. (laughs) MB: Which song has the most personal meaning for you? TG: Probably…that’s always hard because every song has a connection in one way, shape or form. Right now I’d say “Transcendent” because I wrote it when I just really was going through some crap, and that’s why when you trudge through the shit you come out a better person. “Transcendent” means you’re just rising above the challenges. When someone’s trying to weigh you down, you’re like, “Forget it. I’m too much of a fighter for this, I’m gonna get through it.” MB: What is it like to work with Billy, Chris, Gus and Wayne? TG: Oh, it’s very creative. Well let’s just say at times we’re at each others throats and other times we just gel so great. That’s how I’ve always imagined a band being, like part of a family, like I’m at my brother’s throat but you know he’s still there for you, and we’re going to do something great together. So it’s really good. I think it’s a good working relationship that we have. MB: Do you believe that Phoenix Reign has evolved a lot in the past four years? TG: Oh, more than anything. I think we’ve really changed a lot. If you saw us back in 2002, nothing like what you see now, nothing. MB: That’s always how it is. I listen to some of the old songs, and while they are good, it’s like they are just hinting at the potential that is there. TG: Yeah, we really tried to focus on just becoming stronger musicians and just listening to each other, and giving a better stage show. That was something they really felt that they were lacking, so I really came in as an energetic person and I tried to give that to them. I was like, “Come on, this is what we love, it’s metal.” MB: You were what…18, 19-years-old at the time? TG: I was 19 going on 20. MB: So it’s like, here’s this young teenager coming in and goes, “Ok, let’s give it some youthful energy!” TG: Yeah! (laughs) MB: And I’m not saying the other guys are old, of course (the rest of the band is between the ages of 27 and 31)… TG: No, but sometimes new blood just does it. You always need to get somebody’s extra opinion in music to develop your own. You need it because you as a self-contained unit could be very creative, but you can’t be creative without some inspiration and some excitement. MB: What have been the biggest challenges you have had to deal with since joining the band? TG: I just had a lot of personal issues, I had a couple deaths in the family and I had to move out on my own, so doing that at 21 was a big thing for me, so it was a big change in my life, but I had my band there, so that was always a constant. I just had to make sure not to let the personal problems come in the way of the band or the creative process, because I could have let it. I had a lot a problems at the time. When you come to terms with deaths in the family, you come to terms with major life situation changes, sometimes that’s why there are so many people I’ve known who have quit jobs or bands because of these things, but I just didn’t want to be like that. I always said you know what, my grandmother, when she passed away, she wouldn’t have wanted me to change what made me happy. She always wanted me to be happy, so I always said I’m gonna do it for grandma. MB: Have there ever been any moments where you just wanted to say, “That’s it, I quit, I’ve had enough.”? TG: I can say there were times where I’ve come relatively close, but never close enough to actually do it. When you’re going through tragedies or hardships sometimes your first instinct is to preserve yourself, and you want to cut off any extraneous issues that might be giving you any trouble but I’ve never had so much trouble with the band that I wanted to quit, so at this point, no, I can’t say that I’ve ever really come to that point. MB: Who have been your biggest supporters since joining the band? TG: My best friend Chloe has always been very supportive. We’ve always pretended I was rich and famous and she was my stylist and she would give me ideas on what to do. Her and her boyfriend and high school friends would always come out to see me play. So, my personal friends have been very supportive, and in the band of course they have all wanted me to succeed with them, so they’ve all supported me. My parents…they may not totally love heavy metal, but they just wanted me to enjoy myself and express myself. To be honest I haven’t had too much opposition. I’ve always gotten a little thing with my dad, you know, he would say, “Maybe you should just focus on something else because you never know if this will succeed," but he never said quit, so thank God for that. MB: As a front woman of a heavy metal band there always seems to be this pressure to look a certain way, to dress a certain way, etc. Has anyone ever pressured you to change your looks, or to glam it up, or to fit a certain mold? TG: Well when we did photography sessions for the promo packages we’d send out to places, and we have some on the site, the photographer said, “Maybe you should get black hair and go for a little more gothy look.” I’m like, “You know what, I think it’s been covered by Nightwish and Lacuna Coil already, so I’ll just stick with my look and we’ll go from there.” If it doesn’t work out, people are just going to have to deal with it. That’s what I look like. I obviously take care of my appearance but I don’t… MB: You remind me (image wise) of a female Paul Di’anno (ex-Iron Maiden vocalist). TG: (laughs) You know what, he put on some great stuff with Maiden, and you know, he had some cool leather stuff, so… (laughs) MB: Except for the pork-pie hats and the frilly shirts. TG: Yeah, well what are you gonna do, so you know what, I just do my own thing and that’s it. MB: I heard a quote from a friend in Finland that said many American metal fans still have a close-minded mentality towards female performers in metal music. The quote was that the only place for a woman in heavy metal according to many American metal fans was “on their backs or on their knees.” Your thoughts? TG: To be honest, Europeans obviously are more used to female-fronted bands, you know, Doro (Pesch) and beyond, you’ve had a lot of great female-fronted metal bands. It surprises me about America to hear that because we’ve had a lot of female people in music that have been rockers, you’ve got Joan Jett and Pat Benatar. You have a lot of people who paved way for females to be in rock, not just metal, but rock at least. I can see why in metal if you’re talking very, very specifically, American metal bands don’t usually go out (to perform) with females. That’s just not a tradition here, that’s just not. It’s just something they don’t see as “metal”. It does get me a little upset to hear that, because I did talk to somebody a couple of weeks ago, and the guy was like, “There was this girl who came to try out for my band and I didn’t like that because that doesn’t sell because guys are more aggressive and they can get things out.” I’m like, “Listen, have you ever been inside a woman’s mind? They go though the same crap you do. Maybe if you’re going for a certain tone, if you wanna go for the Slayer thing, maybe a girl wouldn’t be appropriate, but you can’t just give up and not at least think about it.” It’s bullshit because women go though a lot of the same experiences that men do, we live in the same world. Yeah, maybe we see through different eyes, but that doesn’t mean we’re not as aggressive or as emotional, or love the music as much. It disappoints me to hear that because I thought we were moving beyond that here. I hope that with exposure to bands like Lacuna Coil here now, and Nightwish, and whatever that it’s being broken a bit. Arch Enemy just went through here on two tours this summer, and she’s (front woman Angela Gossow) aggressive as hell. It’s just something that is like a chauvinistic thing that people gotta get over in the metal scene I guess. Every time I go to shows, I see more girls every day. I’m going to see Testament this Sunday and I know a lot of chicks going. It’s changing. I think here it’s just a little slower to catch on, that’s it, so hopefully with time. There’s a lot of bands popping up with girls in them, so I have faith. It’s not that I have no hope for the future, it’s just that I agree in the sense that here in America, yes, we’re behind with females. MB: A lot of people over here still believe that the best place for a woman in metal is dancing on the hood of a Jaguar in a Whitesnake video, like Tawny Kitaen. TG: Yeah. Well, I mean as much as I don’t really care for Evanescence, that’s a hard rock band with a chick fronting them, so I guess it’s changing slowly. MB: What is your opinion of female vocalists in the American pop music scene? TG: Women in pop music are unfortunately just Barbie dolls with a voice. They just happen to have some sort of marketable singing ability, but they have to have this perfect collagen lip injection look, you know, to quote a Guns N’ Roses song. They have to have this extreme, uber made-up Beyonce, Madonna, whatever look, Britney Spears-back-before-she-got-pregnant-twice-over look. That has nothing to do with music. To me, that’s just somebody prancing about like an actress, almost. They do have some ability, but I don’t think they can express it the way they want. I remember reading a story about Pink, how she was kind of pissed off. At first, she wanted a record deal so she did sell-out in the sense that she signed on and did a really “pop” record when she first came out, but she wanted to break against convention and she ended up getting a mohawk or something, I guess. There are some examples of pop artists trying to change the norm, but a lot of female musicians in pop music really mean nothing to me, they don’t do it for me, they don’t feel authentic because they’re being controlled by the producer or the record label. MB: What female vocalists have impressed you or have influenced you? TG: With metal, Doro obviously. Doro Pesch rocks. Pat Benatar was totally my number one, though, because for a female in metal, it’s what you grew up with. Those were the top two. To be honest, there’s not that many females in metal that made me want to go and do this. It’s actually more of me saying I can do what those guys are doing, I can do that. It’s more like a motivational thing…I can do what Bruce Dickinson’s doing, I can do what Geoff Tate’s doing, I can do this too, come on! (laughs) I did have those two female influences, and Shirley Manson of Garbage, yeah, she was very visually, too, an inspiration for me. She had this sultry voice, and I love Garbage’s first and second albums very, very much. Shirley Manson is not as respected as she should be. She also came on the scene when she was like 30-years-old, and she already had 15 years in the music scene, one way or another, playing keyboards or whatever here and there in Scotland. She’s great, she’s probably right up there with Pat. (laughs) MB: What metal bands do you love listening to? TG: Right now, all I am listening to is Sonata Arctica, Evergrey, Pain of Salvation, Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater. I’m listening to a lot of prog metal stuff right now. Iron Maiden always, that’s always a constant. Those are the bands that I can think of right off the top of my head that I’m listening to, and Testament. I love thrash. I grew up actually more…my first bands were all thrash bands, Kreator, Testament, Metallica, Megadeth. I was a big thrash head when I was young. (laughs) MB: What other forms of music do you enjoy listening to? TG: I do love classical guitar, flamenco…I do like a lot of ethnic music. I listen to Ukrainian music, I listen to Greek music, I listen to Celtic music. I really have been stuck on the flamenco stuff recently, and I listen to classical composers 'cause I grew up playing the piano and being exposed to the arts by my dad. That’s what I listen to besides metal, and metal draws a lot from influences like that, so it’s not really that far off. MB: I have noticed that you pick up the guitar on occasion during a live performance. Have you ever considered becoming more accomplished at the instrument or any other instrument to broaden your musical ability? TG: I’ve been playing the guitar since I was 16, and I had lessons for several years in it. So, I’m confident, it’s just that for right now, for what we’re doing, I think it’s a little over the top to have three guitars. On some of our demos I did some guitaring on certain songs. Optimally, I would love to do it in the future, to play as well as the guys on a couple songs, it’s just stage-wise and set up-wise we can’t do it right now. For the future, when it’s taking off as it is and keeps going on, I would love to. I’m getting better with the guitar. Every day I am planning to go back and get some more lessons. I am not trying to compete with the already very talented guitarists I have, but I love writing off of the guitar. MB: At this musical level, especially when opening for a bigger band, the smaller groups tend to get shit on and not given a fair chance by the fans. Have you dealt with any of those problems on stage? TG: No, not yet. I don’t think we’ve had that problem yet. Everyone’s been really cool, who we’ve opened for. I know the guys…before I was even in the band they opened for George Lynch, and he was really cool to them, and Riot and Winger. We haven’t ever come into problems. It’s not like Winger hung out with us or anything, it was just like, you know, a wave or whatever, but the people along with their camps were cool. We didn’t have any problems with them. But I’m sure there will be instances in the future…I’ll check back with you. Let’s just hope people have a more communally-minded attitude. (laughs) There are times where some reactions are lukewarm, but we’ve never gotten shit on. (laughs) MB: Do you believe that metal music should be an escape from the everyday problems of the world, or do you think it should be used to shed a light on certain problems? TG: I think it’s a very versatile genre. Some bands do the approach that they want it to be an escape instead of a reflection. When I write, my stuff is not really political, I don’t write political stuff. I just don’t feel inspired to write about political happenings. I guess that’s because of my attitude towards politics. I feel that people (in politics) are not very transparent, and they’re fake, and I don’t want to write about it. I want to talk about people’s everyday experiences and I wanna reflect on that. You know what, I respect…I know Megadeth can get political and they’re cool about it, whatever. Queensryche can be political, and they’re cool, whatever, but it doesn’t do it for me. I can’t do it that way. I think you can do it either way, but I prefer not. MB: That’s a good attitude to have, the escape mentality. TG: Yeah. You know what, you gotta make sure when you’re escaping that you don’t escape too far and you don’t lose a grip on reality. MB: Metal musicians have a stigma surrounding them that they partake in copious amounts of alcohol and drugs. This was especially true in the 1980s. Have you found this to be the case in today’s metal scene, and if so, how do you feel about it? TG: There are obviously still people (laughs) doing drugs and drinking alcohol, which is their personal preference. It’s not mine. I drink, yeah, but I don’t drink, as you say, copious amounts of alcohol, and I don’t do drugs, it just doesn’t do it for me. I have a lot of friends that do, and unfortunately their lives aren’t moving forward, so I prefer not to do it. People nowadays, though, in the metal scene…I think it’s a lot less than what I’ve been told from my cousins who were part of the 80s metal scene. It’s a lot less because I think people have learned a little bit from their forbearers. MB: The will to remain “true” to metal music makes many metal fans mock what’s different just to make themselves feel more “true”. I myself have fallen into that trap. Your opinion? TG: We’ve all done it, I mean, I did it when I was 16-years-old. Sometimes that attitude holds on. I don’t do it really much anymore. I get very passionate about bands I love and I sometimes get pissed off when somebody doesn’t see my way, but in the end I have to try to stop because I would be like, “Dude, you’re so fucking retarded. Why don’t you like this blank-blank band?” or “You like that blank-blank band? I freaking hate them.” You know what I mean? And it’s always fun, actually, to have those kind of conversations because it gets your blood boiling, but in reality, no one’s just going to be universally appreciative of one band. It’s just something you gotta learn to deal with. MB: What was the greatest advice you ever received when it comes to music? TG: There’s a lot of good advice that I’ve gotten, but my guitar teacher, Tony, when I was a student, he just said to “...go with the flow, go with what you are building on, try to record everything that you do, just enjoy your experience”. He was teaching a lot of improv and stuff like that, how to learn to solo over chords. Actually, what he was saying kind of applied to music in general. Just go with what you are feeling, write it down, record it, play over it, think about it, reflect on it. He was really great. I’d say he helped me out a lot. MB: Do you have any regrets with the way things have turned out so far in your musical career? TG: No, none. I think I have no regrets and I try to live with no regrets because it’s impossible sometimes to not feel regret, but musically I feel very satisfied so far. I’m not satisfied enough where I’m gonna plateau here, we gotta go beyond this, but I don’t have regrets. (laughs) MB: Thank you so much! You have been very patient with us for the past few months while we set this up. It’s been a real pleasure getting to know you and Phoenix Reign, and we wish you all the best for the future. Do you have any closing thoughts you’d like to leave us with? TG: I just want to thank you guys for taking the time to interview me and getting to know my band, Phoenix Reign, and for just being good, supportive friends. I should have said earlier when you asked about if anyone outside of your band has been supportive…I should have said you guys, you know what I’m saying, because you guys have been very supportive and it’s only been a very short relationship so far, but I’m sure with time I’ll be able to even more easily say that in the future. (laughs) So, just stay tuned and keep in touch with all of us here.
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