Bloody-Disgusting is proud to bring you yet another awesome exclusive interview! This time, we’ve got the beautiful, talented and, when she screams, intimidating Maria Brink of In This Moment telling us about the new album, ‘A Star Crossed Wasteland’, touring on the Rockstar Energy Mayhem Festival and, of course, about horror. She was also kind enough to record a personal message to YOU, the Bloody-Disgusting reader. Check it out below and make sure to enter our exclusive In This Moment contest where you could win a signed Schecter 5-string bass guitar or one of ten autographed copies of the new album!
How are you doing?
I’m great!
Awesome! So tomorrow is the release of ‘A Star Crossed Wasteland’. What are the feelings around the In This Moment camp?
A lot of anticipation and excitement and we’re all just inquiring how everyone is going to, you know, like it and buy it and what’s everybody’s thoughts gonna be. All we can do is our absolute best, all we can put into it and all our heart and we love it! I feel like this is our defining album and I feel like we’re a really experimental band: We like to go from one side of things to the other. But we found a way on this album to make everything really flow really well, like a formula that kind of connects everything and it makes sense and it’s really natural. I feel like we found what our sound is supposed to be.
There were some studio videos that the band put out but are there any funny stories or anecdotes that the videos didn’t capture?
No, nothing to speak of right this second. I mean, we like to have fun and laugh but it was a lot of work, intense studio stuff going on as well so I think that, especially for me because I put my heart and soul [laughs] into the album, so I even cry in there and get all worked up, especially for some really emotional songs. But nothing that I can think of that was too funny, no story during the album that was super funny.
In five years, In This Moment has gone from being signed to touring with some of the biggest names in rock and metal. How do you take in all in stride?
We just count our blessings every day. You know, we’re a hard working band but we don’t ever take it for granted. We realize that we’re one of twelve bands on the Mayhem Festival, so there’s, like, thousands of bands that would love that opportunity and love to be in front of that crowd and so we definitely make sure we appreciate that and we do the best we can and we give it 100% and we just want to continuously grow as a band. Every time we get some new tour that’s really awesome or opening for some really epic person, we’ll just get really excited and keep working towards the big picture.
The Mayhem fest is underway! How’ve the first few shows gone for you?
We are two shows in so far and they are epic and awesome and huge! It’s been great so far. We’ve toured with a lot of bands on the tour and everybody is super nice, super cool and we actually know a lot of the crew because we’ve done Ozzfest and Warped Tour, there’s a lot of the same crew. It’s just pretty awesome. Just so many thousands of people. It’s just such a great feeling to be up there in front of so many people in that crowd and yesterday we headlined the second stage, we were probably in front of five or six thousand people and I jumped into the crowd and my band almost died [laughs] and I walked to the sound board and I got probably four thousand people to circle pit around me and I was standing in the middle all by myself. It was pretty epic!
That sounds like an incredible experience!
Yeah, I could have gotten killed but I wasn’t thinking about that at the moment. It just felt like I wanted to do it. There’s a lot of girls out there in that mosh pit and I saw teenagers crowdsurfing, so I was like, “What the hell? If these girls are out there doing it, I’m going out there.”
What is the one thing you’re going to miss the most while on tour?
Oh, my son, absolutely yeah.
But he often comes out to a lot of the shows, right?
Not as much lately because he’s got his own independent life [laughs]. He’s a teenager, so he’s got all his best friends and his girlfriend and his sports and his summer. So, now that he’s getting older, he might come out for a few shows.
How does he handle the situation with you being in a metal band?
I was a very young teenager when I had my son, so I’m a very young mom. My son is 17, so he is proud of me but he has his own independence as a teenager: He drives, he owns a car, all that stuff. He’s proud of me, he loves me and we found a way to make it work. You know, it works for both of us. He knows he’s my main priority and he’s my life but at the same time he’s proud of me and what I do and he likes me doing it. He comes out to shows sometimes, he goes into the crowd and gets crazy and then I always get mad because I don’t want him out there and get scared and then he’s like, “But you’re out there! You jump out there! You’re crazy!” [laughs].
What do you all do when there is a lot of downtime before and after your set?
There’s really no downtime on Mayhem Festival. We wake up and then you’re loading your gear and then you play your set and then there’s a kabillion interviews and then we do a meet-and-greet right after our set where we sign CD’s and meet everybody: We’re there for a solid two and a half hours straight meeting fans and signing CD’s. Then you go to the press tent and it’s few hours of press and then you’re lucky if you get dinner and then nothing relaxing comes down until the end of the night and that’s when everyone can relax and sometimes have a party and everyone will just chill and drink.
Looking at the artwork and the themes in a lot of the band photos, there’s a strong influence of horror and quote unquote gothic imagery. Can you tell me your thoughts on this?
{Editor’s Note: Maria thought I was specifically referring to the artwork of the new album, ‘A Star Crossed Wasteland’} No, no, no, no, no it’s kind of a post-apocolyptic theme going on in this whole album. Even the album, if you listen to a lot of the lyrics, the kind of story going on, little things, it’s kind of about a post-apocolyptic world where everything has kind of died away and it’s a desert wasteland world and the survivors left are looking for new life, new beginnings and it’s really a lot of my personal experiences. I’m telling this metaphorical story in a way, so the imagery that you’re seeing is kind of this wasteland world that I’m talking about in the songs. Its meant to give you a visual of what the songs are about.
Some of the earlier photographs and earlier album artworks had a very surreal and dark side to them. One set of images that comes to mind are the ones where you are dressed like Alice from Alice In Wonderland. I’m wondering if there is any connection between this imagery and the horror community.
No, no horror influences at all. It’s me. It’s symbolizing life for me; I’ve had a pretty intense life. I’ve been through a lot and not everything is always roses and sunshine, so I think some of the darker images are me making a statement in that particular photo shoot.
Are you into horror at all?
I love horror movies, yes. I got to do a horror photo shoot with Revolver Magazine where I was covered in fake blood and I was Carrie. That was totally cool. But yeah, I love horror movies. I always say I’m not going to watch them anymore but I just can’t stop watching them. I love all horror movies. I grew up watching horror movies, all the way from Freddy to all the Halloween movies, Jason Voorhies, y’know, all of that and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I love it all. Paranormal Activity if probably one of the scariest movies recently that I saw.
What are some of your personal favorite horror movies?
I think I’d have to say that The Shining is my scariest movie ever.
Alright Maria, thanks a lot for taking the time to answer these questions and I’ll definitely be at the Detroit Mayhem Festival date so hopefully we’ll be able to meet up!
Definitely! I’d love to meet you. Thanks!
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