Speed Round Andrea Ferro Lacuna Coil

Ozzfest 2004 Tweeter Center Chicago - Tinley Park, IL 8/21/04 Interview: Karma E. Omowale Photo: Erika Kristen Watt

Lacuna Coil's, male vocalist, Andrea Ferro

Karma: Okay, now I have a Speed Round of quickie Questions…

Andrea: All right!  I'm ready!

Karma: What your favorite holiday?

Andrea: [Beaming with smiles] Spain, I always like to go to Barcelona.  It's very nice because it's very cheap.  The attitude of the people is that they like to party all night long…

Karma: Like in Ibiza?

Andrea: Yeah, like Ibiza.  It's like you go out at midnight, you go out to eat at 11:00 and you stay out til 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning.  Pubs are still open and you can still drink and party.

Karma: Then a little bit later on have a siesta…now THAT'S the life!

Andrea: Yeah!  The first time we went was with our guitar player and we were there and we were dressed for the night and more, not elegant but more of a nice shirt and everything and we were coming back to the hotel at 8 O'Clock in the morning and we run into these parents with their little children [uproarious laughter erupts] and they were leaving out to go to the beach and we were coming in to sleep for the day!  We were like, "Goodnight!" [he laughs]   So we never got the chance to get to the beach and we have been there for 2 weeks. It always like 8 or 9'O Clock in the morning and we are going to bed.  We never see the sun, well almost! [laughing]  Barcelona, it's great.  It's especially a very nice place if you're single because you meet people from all around Europe and Germany, England, everywhere.  You meet a lot of girls and boys from all around.  And it's very Rock.  Like a lot of Rock pubs, Metal Pubs.

Karma & Erika: Ummm!  Okay!!  Some place to check out!!

Karma: Spiritual or religious?

Andrea: Spiritual!  I don't really like organized religion, basically.  We grew up in country, which is a strong Catholic country.  [Laughing]  So we know what we're talking about!  [Now we're all laughing]  We really don't like to follow organized religion. I mean I respect everybody's ideas, I don't care, I not gonna tell somebody that you have to believe or you have to believe this or that.  That's not my cup of tea!  I'm not a preacher and I don't like to preach. 

We have a song about freedom, "Heaven's A Lie".  On the P.O.D. tour, which is like a religious band, so a lot of the young people were asking us about it.  I mean, it's not a song against religion it's about freedom of choice.  Like you have to think with your mind, so if you want to be a Christian, be a Christian!  If you want to be a Satanist, be a Satanist!  Whatever you want!  It has to fit YOU!  Not what somebody else tries to [make you believe]!  We are our own spirituality, we think, we believe.  Might be something like we may go to GOD, to Allah, whatever you choose to call it.  For me it's like a positive energy, positive vibration.  I am closer to a philosophy than religion.  I respect everybody and I think there is spirituality in every person.  I don't like when you have to give a name to it.  That's what I don't like about it.

Karma: So what's you mantra? [laughing from the puzzled reaction I received]

Andrea: [laughing] I don't know!  That's a hard one!  Basically, my philosophy, again, is to respect others as I expect respect back.  So that's the main thing in life.  When you have respect for other people it doesn't matter what they do but most of the time you're not going to fight with them if you respect them.  Sometimes you do.

Karma: Introvert or extrovert?

Andrea: I'm in between!  Because when I'm on stage, I think I am quite extroverted but when I am by myself I don't have to stay with people at any costs. I like to be alone sometimes.  I grew up the only child in my family so I didn't have any sisters or brothers.  And I was fine and I was always having fun by myself, playing or watching TV, whatever!  I never suffered, I'm not incompetent, like I can be alone but I also enjoy being with people.  So I'm both of them.  It really depends on the situation.  Sometimes people come to me and say, "Oh, you are very shy". So it seems like you're pretty soft, and I'm not!  It's just that I don't have to talk all the time.  When I have nothing to say, I don't talk!  I mean why should I talk if I [have] nothing to say?

I mean like even with my friends.  Sometimes we go out and drink a beer and we just sit down at the table, drinking our beers, and not talk for about 10 minutes.  It's just that we know each other, we don't need to talk to each other all of the time.

Karma: And that's when you know you have a good bond with someone

Andrea: I mean yeah, they're my friends, we don't need to talk all the time about stupid things just to talk!

Karma: Is you glass half empty or half full?

Andrea: It's half full! Sometimes, it depends also!  [Laughs]  'Cos sometimes I'm very dramatic.  Sometimes I like to suffer to feel my own pain, to leave it…not just to try to wash it away, but to keep it there.  Sometimes I just like to be happy, have fun.  I don't see my life in one direction.  Like I just can't listen to one type of music.  Life always happy, live always sad.  Since people stick us with the genre of Gothic Metal, they expect us to be Gothic people: sad, dark; …we're NOT! We're from Italy!  We like sunshine, we like a positive messages.  Sometimes we also like songs which are also sad, some sad love song too!  It's just that in our life, they're are may colors not just one.  We don't always need to be in one direction. 

I think everybody's like this!  When you're happy you want to listen to happy music and when you're sad you want to listen to more [of an] atmospheric sound.

Karma: What was your first job?

Andrea: [shaking head] I have a very bad memory! [Laughter from all]  I worked as a courier.  Like with a van!  Yeah that was one of the first!  In Italy it was called Pontiac Express, with the little motorized bionic little scooter that you'd go around for the city delivering stuff.  I liked it, it was a good job because I had to know the city very well so I really enjoyed to live in my city.  I know every place, I know many places where people never go.

Our city is very big, compared to Chicago.  It's something like 5 million inhabitants living there, but Italy is very big itself.  I know many older parts of the city where people don't go.

Karma: Ah, like all of the hidden spots where tourists don't go!

Andrea: Yes, like the statues that are very particular and old.  And people just don't know!  There is one statue that always get my attention.  It's one of a woman with God and children in his arms.  It's because a wall and there were little students walking by and the wall fell down and killed some of them.

Karma & Erika: OHHH!!

Andrea: So it's not a famous monument so when you go to visit Milan, it's not like you're gonna go to visit that monument.

Karma: How long ago did this happen?

Andrea: Probably 15 years ago.  20 maybe.  Nothing ancient, compared to the rest of the stuff we have in Milan.  Very ancient stuff.  That statue is also not in the center of the city.  It's really beautiful.  And not that many people in Milan know about this.  I liked that job, because it showed me all of the city. I don't want to so it any more! [smiling]

Karma: And I'm sure you won't

[Laughter from all]

Andrea: But it gave me a lot of experience, and living on the street, you could really see every type of people.  When the kids want to [walk in your shoes], you see all kinds of people, rich and poor…maybe one day you're rich! [smiling]

Karma: 2 more!  Who's your favorite visual artist? 

Andrea: I like paintings a lot! The father of my friend is a painter and it's abstract style.  I can't just name one like [gesticulates wildly as we all chuckle] Picasso.  EVERYBODY like Picasso.  I like not only classic art, I also like Japanese Anime, like Japanese cartoons and Manga comics.  And the American ones are Marvel comics.  Maybe Todd McFarlane.

Karma: Yes, as in Spawn!

Andrea: Yeah!! We're meeting with him tomorrow.  I don't know why I just know we are meeting with him.

Karma & Erika: Wow!

Andrea: Yeah, I grew up reading the Spiderman comics.  I always like comics in general.  In Milan we have a very ancient School of Art , which is also an Academy and a museum. It's amazing, when you go there they have some paintings from the Middle Era like 500 years ago, something like that or more.  Leonardo da Vinci.  Lots of paintings. Maybe for here it's something more particular, for us it's just for us, we live there and look at the stuff all the time nothing new for us!  It's like for us to go here and go to a Taco Bell.  Like in a movie, like you're in LA or in Manhattan.  For us it's the opposite way.  For here, it's everything new!  For us it's everything ancient.  Both things are good though!  [Smiles]

Karma: Final question, If you were stranded on a desert island, who would you take with you?  Who would be your desert island snuggle bunny?

Andrea: As in a person?

Karma: Yeah!

Andrea: [Voice drops] I should say my girlfriend  [laughter from all]  But maybe also Jenna Jameson!  [Hysterical laughter ensues]

Karma:  Well at least you're truthful about it!

Andrea: Yeah!  No, just to say a stupid name!!  No, my girlfriend!

Karma & Erika: OH!! 

Karma: Well thank you for sitting down and talking to us!

Andrea: Thank you, it was a nice interview.  It was different, because usually we always have to deal with the same questions!  I always try to think of different answers.  Like whenever they ask us what Lacuna Coil means…

Karma: [Blushing] Well thanks!  I try to break it up some!

Andrea:  Well no, that's good!

Karma: Well thank you very much!

Andrea: [Smiles]