Light This City Interview

Interview
Laura Nichol
Light This City

Lineup:
Laura Nichol - Vocals
Ben Murray - Drums
Brian Forbes - Guitar
Steve Hoffman - Guitar
Jon Frost - Bass

12/20/06
Interviewer: Karma E. Omowale

“I like to think that even if I’m scary onstage, I’m still a nice girl!”

And that she is folks, that she is!! In another installment in our Brutal Beauties series, and grabbing the reigns this go round is Laura Nichol, one of the genre’s most exciting vocalist and frontwoman for Light This City. This quintet may be young chronologically speaking but they have able to accomplish in such a short amount of time is nothing but extraordinary. The band is now on album number three (3) in which this new one, Facing the Thousand, is nothing short of phenomenal. In this interview, we catch up with Laura as we discuss a plethora of topics: her views on femmes in the Industry, the new CD, touring, her hopes and dreams…Read on!

Karma: First off thanks for doing the interview with us Laura! You have been touring for a good stretch in support of your phenomenal release, Facing the Thousand, the New Year looks to be pretty exciting for you! What are you most looking forward to in the New Year?

Laura: We’re going to keep touring our butts off! We’ve got a few dates with All That Remains at the end of January that I’m really excited about. Doing shows with them is always amazing and they are good friends of ours.

Laura: I have been eating way too many cheesesteaks on tour…But who am I kidding; is there ever such a thing as too many cheesesteaks?!

Karma: Well you have a point there! Speaking of shows, which has been the most memorable of the year?

Laura: Our San Antonio show with The Acacia Strain, From a Second Story Window, and Through the Eyes of the Dead was pretty ridiculous. It was near the end of tour and all the members of the bands, not to mention the fans, went crazy! Will, the singer of FASSW sprained his ankle onstage, and managed to get tackled into the crowd during TTEOTD. People from our tour were stage diving right and left, and people were throwing trashcans off the stage… The stage was soaked and everyone was slipping and sliding all over it. San Antonio is one of my favorite places to play!

Karma: What have you learned about yourself and bandmates in the past two years since the inception of the band?

Laura: I’m a really family-oriented person, and I absolutely loved the time I spent in college at UCSC, but I’ve realized that there is nowhere else I’d rather be than on the road, meeting new people and playing a different city every night. I, as well as my band, have turned into a touring machine this past year, and we’re prepared to keep it going for a long time. Sure, there are heartbreaking events and more than one moment you wish you could be in your bed or have a home cooked meal with your family, but right now, this is the lifestyle for me, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Karma: For you and the band being as young as you are, you have covered a LOT of ground in such a short amount of time; have you ever found ages to be a deterrent or just a chronological thing?

Laura: The fact that we are so young has definitely made people extremely skeptical and I’m sure we’ve had to prove ourselves more because of it, but once people witness our determination and passion, they are usually just that more impressed by our being so young.

Karma: Going a little further with the age thing, were you ever discouraged against doing what you do, especially considering you started the band at such an early age?

Laura: Personally, no one ever said explicitly, “You can’t do this!” But it was a little discouraging when labels would take our ages into account and not really want to deal with the whole parents thing. Everything worked out, though, so it’s not a matter of huge significance. Bands are getting younger and younger these days, it seems like.

Karma: What’s your take on how the media/press/fans place such a large focus on woman in the Industry, does it bother you or is it something that you've gotten used to, come to embrace?

Laura: There are days that it drives me crazy and days that I just brush it off. I’ve learned to be playful with the media thing. For example, that “Hottest Chicks in Metal” feature from Revolver was a fun chance to dress up and explore a different side of being a female in metal. But on tour, day after day, when you keep getting mistaken for the merch girl, it starts to grate on the nerves. Also, I don’t take any shit from fans when they are being disrespectful. I’ve learned to squash that kind of bullshit as soon as it arises.

Karma: Another side of the feminine coin, do you feel your position in the Industry, being a female, would place you in an iconic status automatically? Meaning every woman in the Industry already is making a stance, no matter how good, bad or indifferent they are as artist. What is your position on this?

Laura: I actually feel the opposite way. I agree that females in this industry get more attention because it’s just such a rare occurrence that they become well known almost immediately. But I highly disagree that all or even most of that attention is positive. With the way our society works, at first, everyone seems to be very critical of what a woman in metal is capable of. I’ve had numerous fans come up and tell me that they were expecting me to suck before they saw us play, just for the sole reason that I am a female. So I definitely don’t think that we are elevated to iconic status automatically. That’s something we, like all musicians, have to work diligently for.

Karma: What’s a common misconception that surrounds you that you'd like to dispel or debunk?

Laura: I haven’t really heard any rumors about myself. I try to ignore that shit because it’s so irrelevant. If you’ve heard anything nasty, come up and talk to me at a show and see for yourself what you think about me.

Karma: What is one thing you would say you have in common with your female contemporaries?

Laura: I’ve met a few of them and seen them perform onstage, and I have to say that most of them have these badass personas onstage, which can be pretty intimidating. But offstage, they are some of the sweetest, down-to-earth girls you could hope to meet. I like to think that even if I’m scary onstage, I’m still a nice girl, haha.

Karma: Does it bother you for people to herald you for the brutality you are able to convey in your vocal delivery then turn around and say something like they cannot believe such a “nice girl” can be so “brutal” or something to that affect? However you slice it up, there’s something decidedly Swedish (as in NWOSDM) to your delivery and sound. Hell, I think your vocals are incredible!

Laura: Thank you! It doesn’t bother me. I actually think it’s funny. I say the same thing about some of the guy vocalists I’ve met. I’ll watch them and think, “but he was so quiet and unassuming backstage! How is that voice coming out of him?!”

Karma: What’s one thing you love about your scene, and one thing that you despise that you wish you had the power to change?

Laura: Most of the people I’ve met on tour, whether it’s the fans or other bands or people working at the clubs, have been super hospitable. These people let a bunch of smelly dudes into their homes and cook for us, let us sleep on their couches and floors, let us use all their hot water… It never ceases to amaze me how selfless these people are who support our scene. If I had to see anything change, it would be the bands that make music just to satisfy a trend, or even worse, to get fame and fortune. Who the fuck joins a metal band to make money?!

Karma: Will you ever re-release Remains of the Gods or even The Hero Cycle for that matter since many people believe that Facing the Thousand is your first effort?

Laura: No. We love those albums, but there’s no looking back for us. We are going to keep powering forward and spend our time and efforts making new music.

Karma: Speaking of the new album, Facing the Thousand knocked my socks off; it is wicked evil! It’s in my personal heavy rotation. I see that other press has also been VERY favorable towards you. You ought to be very proud indeed!

Laura: I am, I am. I fucking adore that CD, and I’m glad to see it getting positive attention.

Karma: In your opinion, what can be said about Light This City's progression from The Hero Cycle to the new one? How do you believe you have evolved as a musician/as a unit to this point and in what way and how?

Laura: For The Hero Cycle and Remains of the Gods, Ben, our drummer, was writing all of the music. In addition to Ben and me expanding our musical tastes and finding new influences, we got two new guitarists who contributed an incredible amount to the writing process of Facing the Thousand. Also, touring together is the one thing that will advance any band in the way they write and perform together, and we’ve definitely felt the effects of that. All in all, I feel that we are continuing to make faster, more melodic, yet more brutal, more interesting and more intelligent music.

Trevor Strnad of Black Dahlia Murder (Photo: Kimisha L. Pierce)

Karma: How was it working with Trevor Strnad on your “duet” on “Fear of Heights”. How did Trevor become involved with the song, etc.

Laura: Trevor and I had been friends for a couple of years and he was a huge inspiration to me when I started out. BDM was playing San Francisco the same day I was recording vocals half an hour away, so it worked out perfectly. He nailed the part and I think it sounds great.

Laura: I’m set to work with Vincent Bennett from The Acacia Strain. He is one of my favorite vocalists/people and I can’t say enough good stuff about him. Collaborating with him is bound to make anything 100 times more brutal and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun doing it.

Karma: If you had to do Facing the Thousand all over again, would you change a thing?

Laura: We spent a lot of time in the studio and listening to it to make sure it was up to our standards, and I am more than ecstatic about the way it came out. I don’t think anything needs to be changed.

Laura: “Exile” is my favorite song because it has all of my favorite elements; it is extremely catchy, epic, and it has a sweet lead part at the end. Not to mention, the lyrics talk about ripping hearts out of ribcages and eating them…

Karma: Mario Gaza did an amazing job breathing more life (if possible) into your CD. He was able to visually portray and sum up the embittered/fed up lyrics, which run rampant throughout the CD. Was he left up to his own devices for the creation of the artwork or did he receive direction from you/the band?

Laura: It was a mixture of both. I told him I wanted a picture for every song and usually, I would tell him what I wanted the pictures to portray, but he found all the pictures and made them look as evil as possible. You are definitely right. That guy is a genius and we love him.

Karma: Speaking of the layout, just curious as to why the scratched out words exist? What significance does it hold, if any?

Karma: Now it is time for our infamous Speed Round Questions… Spiritual or religious?

Laura: At times…haha. I think I’m going to end up buying myself a new iPod. I’m getting awesome girl stuff like clothes, makeup, and jewelry from my family and girl friends. I’ll leave it up to my guy friends to get me the music I want, but I’m not going to lie; one of them got me the Little Mermaid DVD and I couldn’t be happier.

Karma: If not music then what? What do you think the rest of your bandmates would do if it were not for Light This City?

Laura: I would go to school in Santa Cruz, write, and travel. I can’t imagine any of them not playing music. It’s what we’ve all devoted our lives to and made huge sacrifices for.

Karma: If you won the lottery, what would you do with your newfound windfall?

Laura: Travel, live in New York City, buy a tour bus for my band, buy everyone awesome presents, support my best friend’s sneaker addiction.

Laura: I really like The Hope Conspiracy’s “Death Knows Your Name” That is one solid fucking band right there. I’ve liked every single thing they’ve released.

Karma: Who have been some of your biggest musical influences? Do you have an idol?

Laura: Tomas Lindberg from At the Gates, John Henry from Darkest Hour, Wes from American Nightmare… I’ve had the pleasure of meeting them all and I think I acted pretty star-struck with each of them.

Karma: Is there a Light This City song that sums up your life in a nutshell?

Laura: “Remains of the Gods” tells the story of Perseus and Medusa in a way that it relates to my life. I love that myth because it has to do with a young kid making a goal for himself that no one believes he can accomplish. He is tested almost to the brink of his willpower and goes through some hardships, but eventually he proves everyone wrong and brings back the head of Medusa. I know it’s a little dramatic, but every night we play that song, I feel like I have a severed head in my hands.

Laura: Not really, but I do love my vintage Megadeth shirt and we always seem to have pretty good shows when I wear it.

Karma: If you could commission a band to do a Light This City cover, who would do it and which song would it be?

Laura: It would be fun to see a real contemporary Swedish band do one of our songs and I’ve always wanted to see Hypocrisy live, so I guess it would be them doing…um… “Maddening Swarm”.

Karma: That’s an amazing choice right there!! Peering into the crystal ball, what does the future hold for Light This City?

Laura: A ridiculous amount of touring, including a sweet European tour, and more Acacia Strain tours! A metal-as-fuck video for “The Unwelcome Savior”, and a new album that blows the socks off the previous ones…

Laura: Thanks for everything. You are the reason we’re here. Come out to some shows and headbang with us.

Karma: HAPPY holidays, all the best to you and yours in 2007; we look forward to seeing you in the New Year! Thanks for offering such an amazing album; horns high Laura!