Sarah Jezebel Deva: Getting ill on tour is the story of my life. Once someone gets sick, it spreads around the bus and it takes weeks for it to clear up, and that’s weeks I can’t afford to lose. My voice starts of a bit rough, then peaks to its best, then I get ill and its all down hill from there. It’s one F**ker of a profession to be in when you are singing operatically. That’s why I decided to take a different vocal approach with Angtoria because if I get ill on tour, I've a fighting chance to still performing at least 80%. There’s so much pressure for me singing the way I sing with CoF. If Dani messes up, you cant really tell, if I do, it sticks out like a sore thumb. I’m always having problems hearing myself too, so touring in general can be a horror story.
Our bus on the Europe tour late ‘06 broke down about 30 times, that was hell. We didn’t have any clean clothes for 7 days because we all had to get onto the Death Stars bus and get transported to another bus but there was no space for our luggage. Basically there were 28 of us on a 16 person bus. Nasty! We have been at shows that have had to get canceled because of stabbings, we have been tear gassed (well the audience was and it hit us too) in Colombia for crowd control. With Therion 12 of us out of 14 got severe food poisoning where Chris Johnson and the other male singer Anders were on drips, that was horrible, we had to cancel a Mexico show because of that.
Our hotel was also attacked by disappointed fans after our Bolivia show was canceled because the stage was open air and had no roof and it was raining, we didn’t want to blow up and they didn’t really understand that. CoFs Ecuador show was canceled at the very last minute because the runway was closed and no one told the pilot and when the fans found out, they trashed the place, set the stage on fire and there were riots. I’m sure there are loads more stories I could tell but I will be here all day.
Do you have any pre concert rituals?
A quick wee and we all touch each other’s genitals.
What were you like as a kid?
I was a street kid. Rough life, (crap) up bringing, couldn’t do anything so I/we were ruled by the iron fist. Read the lyrics to "Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned". That sums it up. Couldn’t breathe without getting punched but again, its made me a better person, very tolerant of others. I never had toys or anything, never allowed to express myself but I'm making up for that now. I was bitter when in school because everyone had the model mum and dad, makes you feel left out and worthless but again, I always had my goal in life and that was to sing and that’s what kept me going. You need a goal. You can’t give up on it either.
How did you get started in music?
I was 15 and met a girl called Barbarella at my local pub, we were both music minded and she helped me make my first demo. Just after this I started singing for a punk band called Mad Dog, I don’t remember how I got into that but after one album and one show, it wasn’t my thing. The an old school mate told me about a band called Cradle Of Filth looking for a singer. I heard the first album and hated it and binned it a while before I found out about the job. I had actually forgot who they were even. Anyway, my demo that I had recorded with Barbarella, was passed to Dani and Paul. The rest really is history.
Was there a song or album that inspired you to want to perform music?
I think hearing Madonna's “True Blue/Holiday” 7inch made me want to sing. I was only 7 or 8 when that came out and I would play it all the time.
What CD is playing in your version of hell? How about heaven?
Heaven: Emperor – In the Nightside Eclipse
Hell: Reggae/Rave
Who are the most overrated/underrated bands?
Can’t tell you whom I think is overrated. I have a few on my list but not because they are awful or anything. Normally I see overrated as the ones that are constantly on the front cover of a magazine and the underrated ones are the ones that constantly get ignored. The future of music is money, not talent.
What are your favorite web sites?
The internet annoys me more and more every day. More and more rats climbing out of the woodwork but I admit I'm addicted to Myspace. I’m also very impressed by www.chavscum.com
How sick are you of the continuous “women in metal” questions?
It doesn’t bother me. There have been women in metal for years and I don’t see why now it’s suddenly an issue, as if women have been locked up in kitchens all these years. Its almost as funny as "What do you think about women who have an opinion?" I’ve been in metal bands since I was 16 years old. I’m now just about to reach my 30th birthday and I get these questions as if I only started yesterday, it’s really very funny. The metal scene will always be male dominated, that’s a fact and I don’t think us female creatures are out to change that, we just want a piece of the action too. And why not? The "Women in Metal" question is very sexist really but whatever, that’s life, it’s not going to stop us doing what we want to do! You know women can also headbang too? AND we can multi task!
