M.S: First of all, good afternoon, thanks a lot for this interview, it’s
a great honour for us, how are you?
C.M: I’m good, thank you, how are you?
M.S: I’m fine (laughs)
C.M: That’s nice
M.S: Now that you’ve just arrived from the USA, did you have the opportunity
to check how Karmacode’s doing compare to Comalies in the USA? Is it doing better
or worse?
C.M: Oh, it’s doing much better. I mean, in the 6 months we sold almost
half of what we sold with Comalies in a few years. I think it’s doing very well
M.S: After this tour at the Ozzfest Festival that you’ve just finished,
which are the conclusions about it? Did you see any of the other line-up bands
live? Did you like any of them specially?
C.M: Yeah! We watched pretty much all the bands. Once you’re not playing
you don’t really have much to do, you know, and usually when you’re playing
at the Ozzfest which is always in the middle of nowhere, so it’s not that you
can go to the centre, or sightseeing… because you’re really in the middle of
nothing so… besides there was some bands we were really interested in watching
such us System of a Down, you know… some of the bands at second stage… I think
it was like 35 shows or something like that… We had the chance to see pretty
much all the bands that we wanted to see.
M.S: Did you have the chance to listen to Poisonblack’s album? Did you like
it?
C.M: I’ve just heard a few songs, I didn’t listen to the whole album, but
I had the first album which we liked a lot… I mean, we toured together already
like… a couple of years ago, so that’s when we had the chance to know them…
we knew Ville already when we toured together with Sentenced you know so… I
liked it very much, I mean, it’s the kind of music I enjoy listening to
M.S: When you came to Spain to promote Karmacode a few months ago, it was
said in the press conference that «Enjoy the Silence» was not meant to be a
single. What happened that made you change your minds about it?
C.M: Well, actually is not that we changed our minds, in the beginning it
was just an idea… we liked the song, and we were thinking about doing a cover
version of one of various pop songs like Duran Duran or things like that… in
the end we found that Enjoy the Silence was a song that would fit to our music
style… so we just put it there because it was something that we liked… but then
when people actually listened to it they were like «this is amazing!»… Even
when we were mixing it with the producer for this album, he was actually working
on the re-mixing of the Depeche Mode album, so he knew the guys, and he made
them listen to the cd and they said it was amazing! So it was just the people
that actually told us to release it as a single and we thought «why not?» We
like it…
M.S: I think it’s the best choice for a single, but I was surprised because
in the press conference Cristina and Andrea said «no, it won’t be a single,
there are better songs in the album for that and besides those are our songs,
there’s no need for a cover…»
C.M: In the beginning we really didn’t think about it because we know we
had like many song we could have used as singles and we like even more and they’re
ours, and we don’t really like the idea of releasing a single that is a cover
version… but on the other hand is like, when you do something like this, people
know the song already and it’s a good promotion support for the rest of the
album, of the 3 or 4 songs of the album one could be a cover version, it’s not
big deal. The most important thing was not having it as the very first single
because that’s not really… (laughs) 
M.S: I know this was also answered in that same press conference, but now
that you’re touring, don’t you think it’s the best moment for a live cd or a
dvd?
C.M: We’re actually working on it like all the time, and we’re trying to
collect as much stuff as possible. We actually recorded a live show that we
did in Florida in the US on the last RobZombie tour. And we were actually mixing
it right at the end of Ozzfest… some of those songs will be released as bonus
tracks for the next singles and they will be also on a future special edition
of Karmacode, but it’s more like a real live cd or dvd. We wanna do things the
right way, we don’t wanna do it just because we have to, we just wanna get all
the equipment just to have something that looks really good and that sounds
really good…is not like something you can do… ok tonight we’re gonna play in
Madrid for example, and let’s ask a friend to come there and record it (laughs).
But we’re working on it, we’re really excited about those tracks that I was
talking about before, because they came up really well, we didn’t even have
to re-record any parts, because it was already really good
M.S: It’s said that when a band spend many hours on the road or in the plane,
they start composing, writing and preparing new songs, is this true for Lacuna
Coil? Do you have any new material ready or is it something you prefer to do
when not on tour?
C.M: (laughs) No, we are not the kind of band that writes while on the road,
we’ve never had and I don’t think it will happen in the future, because… it’s
really the way we work, we need to be focused only on that. When you’re on tour,
you have a lot of free time and moments where you have nothing to do, but is
not like being at home and sitting there with the guitar, the computer and you
only concentrate on that. When you’re on the road you always need to do sound
check and stuff…so it’s like, you don’t really have 3 or 4 hours that you can
take to songwriting, so… besides we don’t even have the right equipment. It’s
kind of hard for us, it’s not like we sit down with 2 guitars and (sings) I
like this… I like to write the whole thing on the computer so we can have an
idea on how the drums will sound like or the keyboards because you can have
an idea when you don’t even have the real ones. We don’t really have anything
ready yet for the new album, we’ve just released the album so we have time…
(laughs) 
M.S: Last time you came to Spain was at Lorca Rock Festival. Apart from
that Festival, yesterday’s and today’s are your first dates in Spain not being
the supporting band. What do you recall from that experience? What do you expect
from Spanish audience?
C.M: Well, the Lorca Rock was… it was the typical festival you know, it’s
not like you go there, it’s the only show… and people go because they wanna
see a lot of different bands… the reaction was great. I must say that we were
really looking forward to come and play a whole show, besides with the new album
too. Last time we came with Sentenced like 3 years ago or something, I think
we played only in Barcelona, we didn’t come to Madrid. It’s really exciting
to be back, having a new album and see how people react, and people are coming
specially to see us. Last night for example in Barcelona was amazing, the place
was really full and people seemed to enjoy the songs very much, which is something
that really makes us happy
M.S: How was yesterday’s concert in Barcelona? How was the audience? Will
there be any change to tonight’s setlist? Because they told me that yesterday
it was just 1 hour and it was just Karmacode songs…
C.M: (laughs) That’s not true… the show’s about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and
we of course play mostly songs off Karmacode… but we’re not forgetting the old
classics like songs from Comalies or even from Unleashed Memories…. We’re not
playing anything from the Halflife EP or from the first album or from the first
EP…we’re touring for so long, and even playing like 2 hours every night, it’s
really tiring, specially for Andrea and Cristina because they have to sing,
it’s seems like it’s not very much but when you see it’s like… how they can
do it? Besides we move along and stuff. It’s not really like we can go on forever,
we’re not like Bruce Springsteen who used to go to the gym (laughs) you know,
to get ready for the live shows and plays 3 hours… we can’t do that (laughs)
M.S: What would you say to your fans to buy Karmacode and not download it?
C.M: Well, they keep downloading it anyway! (laughs) When I like a cd very
much I’d rather buy it than download it. Then sometimes if I think about it,
if I don’t know the band and i don’t know the songs, I can actually download
it and listen to it and if I like it I’ll buy the original, it’s something…
specially with the prices of the cd’s right now. But if you really like the
band and want to support them, buying the record is the least you can do to
actually make sure that they can go on and play the music that you enjoy so
much
M.S: You told us before about a special edition of Karmacode… Do you think
a special edition would make the cd more worthy for the fans?
C.M: There will be a lot of bonus material that has not been released of
that has been released on b-sides for singles, for somebody who doesn’t enjoy
buying single or who doesn’t really care. It could be a special occasion to
find both the stuff that’s been released as a b-side and also stuff like I was
talking about before… live tracks that have never been released before… it could
be a good chance, maybe the publishing will be a bit different, but of course
the album will be the same (laughs). We’re gonna try to make it worth, instead
of like having only the album and maybe a couple of songs added and people would
say «yeah, what should I get…» 
M.S: Can you tell us when will it be available?
C.M: Well, I really don’t know it but probably around Christmas… but I really
don’t know yet, we still have to work on a few things
M.S: We’ll wait for Christmas (laughs)
M.S: Just a few days ago you recorded Closer’s video, how was the recording?
I suppose it’s something very common for you now to record videos, you’re used
to it… Do you think Closer is the best option for a single? What’s the message
behind the video?
C.M: Well, I don’t know if it’s the best option for a single… it sounds
very catchy. Throughout these years we’ve had at least one song on each album
that was a big difference, like for example on Comalies we had Unspoken, or
Cold heritage on Unleashed Memories, I mean, song that are a bit different from
the rest. Closer is actually a little more similar to the rest of the album,
even thought it’s more like a happy kind of song, but I think that it’s a good
idea to have it as a single because it has a very catchy chorus, and the meaning
of the song is very close to us, so we really like to have it as a third video
for this album. I don’t know if you had the chance to see it yet, but it’s very…I
think it’s very cool. We shot in L.A., Cristina driving around in a car… I think
people will like it. It was a very good experience for us because it’s something
we’ve never done before. On previous videos we were more like in a room, and
this time we had a lot of people following us around, with cameras… like just
being in Hollywood
M.S: After more or less 10 years of the band, how do you see the band’s
evolution? Good moments, bad ones…
C.M: It’s always the same thing, when you do the same stuff for a long time
you have moments where you think «argh, these things could be different». But
in the end this is what we actually worked hard for and there’s nothing that’s
gonna make us stop right at this moment when things are actually going great,
no? Besides we’re really good friends, we’re like a family. Of course families
also fight sometimes. I think we’re doing very well considering what we do all
the time, I mean, on this year we’ve been on tour already like 7 months. It’s
been a long time…
M.S: From Comalies to Karmacode there’s a huge step. What made you take
this big step? What are your influences now?
C.M: Well, the point is that when we wrote Comalies it was a long time ago
and we had some influences. When actually Comalies exploded in America, when
all the radios started play Heaven’s a lie and Swamped and so on, we were forced
to be on tour the whole time over there to promote it because even though it
was out for 2 years already it was then that people realised that it existed
and they were like «oh, this is a cool band! We wanna see them like as much
as possible». We toured with so many different bands like Anthrax, Opeth, Type
O Negative… we did Ozzfest, with Judas Priest as well, Black Sabbath. So all
these tours we did together influenced us a lot and of course when it came down
to write new songs all these influences made us write the songs that we have
on Karmacode… you change, your tastes and stuff. It would have been easy for
us to write Comalies part 2, but it’s not what we wanted to do because we really
wanted to write stuff that we really enjoyed at that moment. Comalies was what
we liked 4 years ago
M.S: There seems to be a fairly mixed reaction to your latest album Karmacode.
Has it sold well and what would you say in response to criticism about it?
C.M: So far it seems it’s been selling great, and I haven’t really heard
any critics about it. I haven’t heard any bad critics about it. The only thing
is that people were probably expecting a Comalies part 2, which is good for
the fans because they already liked it, but on the other hand for a musician
if you 
want
to be a musician and be true to yourself you just have to do what you like.
It doesn’t mean that you’re going to change from metal into pop… that doesn’t
work because your fans won’t be willing to listen to your music anymore. But
I don’t think this happen with Karmacode, if you listen to it and listen to
Comalies you can still hear that it’s totally Lacuna Coil, heavier sometimes,
but there’s still the melody, the old keyboards… stuff that there were on Comalies
as well. I don’t really see this huge difference between the 2 albums
M.S: It’s really different, I have to admit that the first time I heard
it I was like «c’mon this is not Lacuna Coil!» (laughs) but then after a few
more listenings I started to think «ok, it is Lacuna Coil but a bit different…»
C.M: But that’s a good thing! (laughs) Because when I buy an album for example,
and I like it right away, after a while I get bored, you know? It’s like you
listen to it a lot and after a while you’re like «blah». For example I bought
the last Slipknot’s album and the first time I listened to it I was like «it’s
sooo different from the old ones», but then after I listened to it a few times
I thought «woo, this is probably their best album». I hope that Karmacode is
the same for the fans…
M.S: Well, that’s all, thank you very much for this interview, good luck
and we’ll see you later at the concert!
C.M: Alright! Thank you!
