Culture Reporter Jack Murray catches up with Lacuna Coil front man, Andrea Ferro, to chat about everything from skateboards and horror movies, to the band’s single “Hosting the Shadow”, ahead of a new album and headline show at SWG3.
Categorising Lacuna Coil’s music into a single genre is no easy task. Originating from the streets of Milan in 1994, the Italian four-piece has strived to bring their heavy, groovy, gothic metal atmospheres worldwide – selling over two million records along the way as per last.fm. Despite his lyricism frequently delving into the heavy topics of pain and torment, Andrea Ferro casts an unassuming figure, more than happy to chat about the theatrics of performing metal, as well as the wider music industry and his connection to Scottish crowds, as their latest tour rolls into Glasgow.
JM: Something that sticks out to me about the band is its origins, apparently it stemmed from yourself and Marco [the band’s bassist] growing bored of skateboarding. It’s quite a jump! How did you go from that to forming a metal band?
AF: [Laughs] Yeah, when we couldn’t go out and skate, we were home listening to our favourite bands which at the time were mostly metal bands like Pantera, AC/DC and Metallica. Because of the skateboarding, we had a more punk/hardcore background in the Sex Pistols and Dead Kennedys. All the alternative stuff was popular, so it was natural for us to stay home and jam. We’d take washing baskets, turn them upside down, jam on them. Makeshift acoustic guitars! Just to have fun and try to learn something. Then as we grew up, we shifted towards proper music, finding rehearsal rooms and people to play with. It was kind of a natural shift.
JM: Within these early shifts the band went through a few different name changes, Lacuna Coil translates into English as ‘Empty Spiral’. What does this mean for the band’s music?
AF: Making our original record label demo, the band’s name was ‘Ethereal’. But when it came time to sign the deal, we realised it was taken and felt best to not start from that position. We brainstormed a bit to try and come up with a term similar to ‘Ethereal’ in terms of atmosphere… but that also didn’t exist. We put together a Latin word in ‘Lacuna’ which is an emptiness, and the English word ‘Coil’, which could be taken as spiral. So the meaning was meant to be in the air and atmospheric, but ‘Lacuna Coil’ sounded good and was original as we’d made it.
JM: The difference between early inspirations such as trash metal and the slower, more atmospheric music the band makes is really cool. 30 years and nine (soon to be 10) albums down the line, how has the band’s music evolved?
AF: Growing up we’ve always been very open because there weren’t many barriers into skateboarding; it was easy to interface with new people and so we’ve always been open to new inputs and new ideas. Our tastes have developed and changed, incorporating nu-metal such as Deftones into our more European-style doom to forge our own personal sound diverging from gothic metal. I think incorporating the heavy groovy stuff stood us apart from other bands of the genre, maybe a reason why we got picked up later down the line.
JM: Funny you mention being open to new inputs as the new single, “Hosting the Shadow”, features Randy Blythe from Lamb of God. How did you find working with him?
AF: I wouldn’t say [a pre-existing relationship] is mandatory but we’ve been working with him for 20 plus years, since Ozzfest hosted by Ozzy Osbourne. We forged a friendship back then and we’ve toured together in different situations. He’s got a big passion for photography, so occasionally I’ll take him round to go and take pictures of stuff. It was a very natural, even if spontaneous thing to ask him because we knew eventually it was bound to happen. Just a voice we love, and a band we love, and a friend. There’s nothing easier than that.
JM: How does the latest single set the scene for the upcoming album, Sleepless Empire?
AF: There’s going to be a couple more singles before the release, but I think “Hosting the Shadow” is a very good compromise between the traditional sound of Lacuna Coil and the new direction of this record. Like the new stuff is pretty heavy but there’s new elements especially from Christina’s voice which are really familiar to the more classic atmosphere of Lacuna Coil. I think the latest single “Oxygen” is one of the heaviest songs on the record. It’s still melodic in the chorus with atmospheric parts here and there, but it’s also straight to the point, in your face and pretty groovy. For some reason we’re getting older and getting heavier. The music scene in general has gotten heavier. Pop metal bands like Bring Me The Horizon and Sleep Token aren’t soft. Everybody these days has growl vocals and double bass.
JM: I’ll come clean for a minute, my Dad’s a big fan and the way he described the band’s music was ‘almost operatic’. I feel with Gothic Metal there’s an inherently performative aspect – how do you approach performing these songs live as opposed to in the studio?
AF: I think you’re right, there’s a certain theatrical vibe when we perform which we quite like, actually. For example our light design comes from a lot of theatre and circus as well, sometimes it’s a matter of budget but we love to have performers on stage. There’s a duality in our music that Christina brings which is even more accented now due to the heaviness, contributing to the theatrical. We like using violins alongside the guitars to make the noise bigger among everything else, sometimes we’ll use electronic stuff too. It’s not something we look for, but it’s inherited in our sound in a way it’s already there.
JM: Talking about live performances, the upcoming gig will be your first in Glasgow since 2019. Do you have any specific memories of the city? How does it compare to some of the other places you play?
AF: We’ve played from King Tuts to Barrowlands in Glasgow and the audience reaction has always been great. For some reason I feel there’s some common ground between Scotland and Italy in the way that people will interact at the show, the reaction towards the music. There’s some warmth in a way even if Scotland is quite far up north! Even if these days there’s a lot more cell phones and streaming there’s still a certain level of depth to the crowds in Scotland that I think you can feel at the show.