| Dialogue With Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow |
| Written by Naira Badawi | |||
| Tuesday, 06 September 2011 00:45 | |||
 Arch Enemy, one of the most successful metals bands out there, wouldn't really be the same without it's leading lady, Angela Gossow. Luckily for me, I got to talk to her for a little while and see what her views are on a couple of things. The good people from Arch Enemy have just put out a new album, Khaos Legions and are actually on tour as we speak! Check out their website for dates and locations! Ironically enough, the first thing I thought of when I listened to Khaos Legions was Egypt. Your entire album encourages revolution and resistance. Being from Egypt myself, I appreciated the fact that you released an album around the time of the Arab Spring. It shows us that Arch Enemy is extremely conscious of world events and that you guys actually tackle real issues in your music. What do you think of what's been going on in the world, particularly Libya, Yemen, Egypt, etc? I mean, we've obviously been heavily influenced by what's been going on in the world. We're not that far away from Egypt it's just like, a 3 and a half hour ride from here. And at the time when we were writing lyrics, which was last year; December then January and February, it was just starting out in Egypt. It was very impressive and influential to our lyrics, as well. Our lyrics are up-to-date and in tune with the current zeitgeist. We've been very impressed by it because that's the true spirit or revolution renewal, so I put a lot of what I've gotten from the news, what the people are fighting for; I put it in rather simple words. We tried to book a concert in Egypt but we didn't get any permission so far because it's been very difficult to actually fly into the country because it's not over. You know, with all the stalling and the government not trying to have a trial and, you know, people are getting upset over there, so there's still a lot of uproar going on. So, yea, it is difficult to actually fly there but eventually we're gonna go there. We landed quite closely, we actually went to Morocco this year and there's a lot of people from Egypt in Morocco. Well, we couldn't get any closer! So do you have like a ritualized lyric-writing process or do the lyrics just magically "come to you"? I do get ideas, you know, I pin down stuff and I work on them. I'll write down an idea on a piece of paper, you know like when you don't have a computer around (laughs)? I have all these little pieces; like a little lyrics collection. But then when you actually start writing stuff, you really need the song to fit the lyrics onto it. So, I just look at my lyrics collection and I really kind of, throw it all away.. We have to make the lyrics fit the rhythm and the melody lines and just the flow of the song. But that's when lyrics come alive. I noticed that Arch Enemy's content is relatively anarchistic, which is cool, but realistically, do you think anarchy can be implemented in, let's say, New York? (laughs) Well, no. There is no working model in politics. Our demographic society really isn't very democratic when you look at it. It's all run by industry lobbyists really and the communist society has not worked out. The dictatorship isn't working out, as we can see now because people aren't happy. I think anarchy is more a symbol of freedom; giving the citizens more freedom to change things and make decisions. The idea of anarchy really is that, every single person has the right to make decisions for themselves. For example, I really like weed, you know? (laughs) I grow it in my garden. And I don't intend to sell it, you know? It's just for my own consumption. But for some reason, the government tells you that if you're caught with one gram of weed, you go to prison. You know, governments just got to chill out and just give people their rights back. I think people should have the freedom of responsibility, you know? It just pushes you to take a stand to take responsibility. You have one of the most intense voices I've ever heard. Your voice is actually fascinating; definitely not something you'd expect from a female vocalist. What do you do to take care of your vocal chords and all that good stuff? No, it's really funny when people suck on stuff all day and drink stuff when that doesn't even touch your vocal cords to begin with. You definitely have to remain hydrated. All I drink all day is water. And now I make sure I drink a liter of water every 2 hours. I definitely do not like second-hand smoke. And another thing that's really important is sleep. Just drink enough and sleep enough. Also, if you're very allergic to certain foods, then you shouldn't eat it. There are no, you know, real rules. I used to smoke, I stopped smoking because it really irritated my airways. Also, smoking is complete and utter bullshit if you think about it. It makes you unhealthy and gives you cancer and destroys your skin and ages you! When you smoke, too, you're giving a lot of money to the state and you know, companies that exploit small countries. These industries, I no longer support. Extremely talented musicians never listen to only one genre. So other than metal, what do you really enjoy listening to? Who's your favorite musician? Band? I mean, I really like metal! I love metal. I mean, my favorite bands are like, Behemoth, Angel. I mean, I'm a total metalhead! I don't think I'd ever be able to live without Slayer, for example. But when I wanna chill on flights or when I meditate everyday, I listen to classic music. Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky. I also love ambient music. Like, really good mediation music. Birds singing, water falling, that kind of stuff. It's really good for meditation. I mean, when I go out, running or exercising, it's all metal on my iPod. Do you think you'd ever be interested in doing a collaboration with like, a polar opposite genre? Like, would you be down to compose an album, or even just a song with someone like, neo-soul Erykah Badu or the guys from the indie group Iron and Wine? I would do it with Lady Gaga! But I don't know! I don't really have much time! I don't ever think about it. I sing a lot and record a lot and manage Arch Enemy. So I'm always really busy. I'm just drowning in work. So I don't really think about that stuff at all! If Lady Gaga would do it, I'd go for it! Because she's crazy enough. She'd scream and all that stuff. I'd be very famous, too, you know! So I'm sure you know, metal is something of an acquired taste. If you had to promote Arch Enemy, or metal in general, to someone who listens solely to Rihanna, for example, what would you say? Like, how would you "sell" your music to someone who wouldn't regularly listen to death metal? I'd say it's just like very extreme sex. It's extreme, it's out there, it gets your blood pumping. It makes you very very excited. It pushes adrenaline through your veins, it's loud, it's dirty, it's awesome. (laughs) Ok, so what bands would you suggest to those who are new to metal? Something to sort of, slowly ease them into the genre. That's a good question! Because my stuff, I definitely couldn't give to just anybody! They'd be like, oh my god! I don't know, I'd probably start with, you know, something really slow and stuff. Metallica is really good, it's always a good entry band. Kiss, probably. More melodic stuff. Black Sabbath, yea. I'm a huge fan of yours, not just because of your talent, but because of the fact that you're so explosively successful in an obviously male-dominated realm. Do you ever feel intimidated, judged, or even belittled by the men in the "metal world"? Is it tough to be one of the only successful female screamers out these days? I'm constantly being judged. The things I'm being judged by aren't really important. Because people are always going on about what ever I'm wearing. My gender, in general. But really, I'm a part of a successful band in the metal world and we're self-managed which is also a very strong feature which most bands don't have. And most bands become victims of the business and we are not. They think I'm just this gimmick made up by our record label, which is very very amusing. I mean, I am that record label. We actually JUST licensed our product to Century Media. They don't really understand that I run this entire Arch Enemy business. I do all the work, I'm the boss. People know that when they wanna book Arch Enemy, they have to speak with me. There's a ton of fans out there who still don't get the whole picture at all, they don't get it. It makes me laugh; it's just very, yea. Ok, so I do plan to ask you a few light-hearted questions. What's your favorite thing to eat when you're in New York? Like, something you can ONLY get there. When I go to New York, I have to go to the Whole Foods market! Well, I'm eating raw foods and I'm vegan and the foods there don't have any sugar or anything. I stock up on all kinds of cereals that are without sugars. And I stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. So basically, like the only food I think about when I go to New York is Whole Foods stuff. I'm really happy with like, a vegetable tray and some really good hummus, you know? I love that shit. I eat a lot of carrots and broccoli, too. I'm practically yellow by the end of the tour. (laughs) You must've met a ton of fans while touring. Can you tell me about one of the more peculiar encounters you've had the pleasure of experiencing? I'm getting this request all the time; fans want to kiss my feet or have me stand on their chest or something! I've never done it, I mean, my feet are cool and such, but I don't really find anything sexy about them! I just wonder about that... (laughs) I wanna do a survey, like, how many people with foot fetishes are in the metal scene? (laughs) Sometimes they ask how hard can I kick, or something. I don't know. I think that's quite peculiar! (laughs) Ok, what about weird encounters with fellow musicians? Any memorable ones? Yea, when musicians are very drunk, they become funny. I've just seen a bunch of bands, usually Swedish bands, they really like to get naked in hotel lobbies and sleep there. (laughs) I don't know, I've seen that a couple of times in Japan. I don't know if it's a Scandinavian tradition or what. (laughs). Well, it was really great talking to you, Angela! It was nice to talk to you! For more articles like Dialogue With Arch Enemy's Angela Gossow, please visit the Music Interviews Section of TimesSquare.com
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