Welcome to the METAL PIT'S METAL MAIDEN OF THE MONTH section. This is where we will feature each month a Metal Maiden that is either a fan of METAL or in a METAL band. We will find out how they got into METAL and why they are METAL fans. For previous Metal Maiden's of the Month see the bottom of this page. Or just click in the drop down box and click on  Previous Metal Maidens.


                                                                                      APRIL 2008

          The April Metal Maiden of the month is Erika hailing from Austin, TX, USA. She has sang in a few metal bands and currently is lead vocalist for Iron Maiden cover Band DRIFTER. Make sure to check out her current and former bands websites. A lot more information to be found then can be covered on this page.

           
  

NAME:   Erika
HOME:   Austin, Tx, , USA
AGE:        36
EMAIL:     erika@skullgal.com
 MYSPACE PAGE:    www.myspace.com/skullgal
WEBSITES:   www.skullgal.com
                       www.drifterlive.com

Former band Myspace pages:   www.myspace.com/ignitor
                                                 www.myspace.com/thetrueautumntears

                                                           


THE METAL PIT:  Why do you listen to Heavy Metal?  
                                  I listen to metal because it makes me feel fully alive. There is simply nothing like it - I forget all my cares, woes and pains when I hear roaring guitars and hammering double bass. I've always had darkness in me. Even as a little child, I sought ways to feed that darkness - surrounding myself with pictures of Dracula and The Wolfman at a very early age. There's little wonder why my frail, Catholic mother was terrified of me - here she was, trying to make her three year old read "The Golden Book of Bedtime Prayers" and all I wanted to do was hide in the closet with my glow in the dark "Movie Monsters" poster. It only got worse from there. The "devil's tritone" resonated in me like a giant tuning fork. I've always been attracted to dark imagery and music. Werewolves, vampires, ghosts, horror movies, pentagrams, witches... is it any wonder that the subject matter and sounds of heavy metal work for me? I am at my most vital and joyful when metal is pouring through my ears and resonating through my chest. It incites me but also can calm me. It's probably one of the only reasons I haven't killed somebody, yet. Urge to murder growing? Just put on some Goatwhore. That'll get rid of it for a while. Ahhhh...


THE METAL PIT:  What was your first metal concert?  
                                 My first major concert was Motley Crue and Y&T on the Theatre of Pain tour. I was thirteen and could have died right then and there once Crue finished their final song. If my parents had wanted me to leave metal alone, they should have never allowed me to go to that show. I had seen my heroes and decided I wanted to be them. After that, I started going to heavier and heavier shows. Ozzy, Anthrax, Metallica... Then the underground death metal scene in Buffalo exploded: Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation... plus a hundred more bands that were all brutal and great. One of my most favorite shows of the early 90s was Deicide on their first tour. It was in this tiny club called The River Rock Cafe, and about 200 degrees inside. Glen had the latex mask and that awesome, brutal armor. Normally I would have been up front but I was so intimidated I hung out in the back like a little 'fraidy cat. If I could do it again, I would be up front...  one of my few regrets in life.



THE METAL PIT:  Your top 5 Metal bands?          

Iron Maiden
Pestilence
Deicide
Morbid Angel
Celtic Frost


THE METAL PIT: What band or moment in your life got you into listening to metal?
                            My entire existence as a child prepared me for a life of metal. I grew up poor and neglected in the rural suburbs of Buffalo, NY. Anybody who has lived in the Northeast US knows old steel towns spawn throngs of metal heads. Something about being down and out, having the useless alkie dad, a junky car, a shitty house - all you want to do is escape. Metal offers that escape. When you put on the music, you're no longer living your run down existence - you're listening to people who in many cases came from the same roots as you, but they've made it, and they have created this wonderful music. You are uplifted, you have hope. Metal unifies you with other misfits like you and creates a common thread of camraderie and friendship. When I look at my upbringing, I realize I had no choice BUT to be a lifelong metalhead.


THE METAL PIT:  What is the best thing about going to a metal concert?
                     The energy, hands down. Doesn't matter if it's a small club gig or a huge arena concert, feeling all that energy coming from the fans and the band is just electrifying. For a while, I was very down on the idea of getting battered about up front in the pit, but as of late, I'm back into it. That crush of bodies, the sweat, the heat, the struggling to stay on your feet (when you're small like me, you get knocked down a lot!) - it's so very vital. I think all the illnesses and injuries I've had in the last couple years have made me realize I'd better experience the fun stuff while I still can. Get close to the performers, connect, share that energy. Survive and celebrate. Leave the show with a host of bruises and missing patches of hair and a huge grin. Something about the mix of crowd and musical brutality is really working for me at this point in my life. I'm just going with it, taking my lumps, and having a hell of a time.



THE METAL PIT: 
            If you can only pick one what is your favorite metal album of all time?

         This is such a hard question. I cycle through favorites about every six months. Currently, it would be Deicide's "Deicide." That album is pure evil made audio. It makes me feel the exact same way now as when I first listened to it 18 years ago: murderous, powerful and free. Thank you, Glen. "I can strike the light and see through the truth... For I'm the Deicide, Dominus, what could you do..."

                                                                        



THE METAL PIT:  Outside of Heavy Metal what is most important in your life?
               My health. Anybody who knows me has heard about the extensive list of medical unpleasantness I've had to endure in my life. As I'm writing this interview, I'm recovering from yet another surgery. Nature sacked me with a pretty shitty set of genes and some fairly bad luck. I feel like my time on this planet may be short. I work hard to stay healthy so that if I do get sick, I'm strong and able to bounce back quickly. Good health also permits me to perform, go to shows, and live the life I love. It's paramount. Without good health, you might as well take me out behind the barn and put me out of my misery. I'd like to think I'm a tough, stubborn bitch and it will take a lot to knock me out of the game for good. When I go, I hope it's at a show, either on stage or in the crowd, I don't care which. Just not somewhere dumb, like the bread aisle of the supermarket.





 
THE METAL PIT:  You have a very unique marriage in that you and your husband are both in different Metal bands,does that put a strain on your marriage at times?

  It works for us remarkably well. We're both very independent people who need a lot of personal space. I don't need him to come to my shows nor does he need me at his. If I'm there, I'm not just hanging on his arm - I'm working: hauling gear, selling merch, running errands, taking pictures. Same thing for him with me. When he's on tour I'll go to one or two of the gigs but otherwise, I leave him alone. There is no freaking out if I don't hear from him every day. I know he knows what side his bread is buttered on. We understand and support each other fully in our endeavors, even if that means we are apart from each other a lot. Being a metal couple takes a lot of flexibility, trust and sacrifice. I keep the good paying job and have my small band so I can hold down the homestead; he walks away from job after job to do what he really loves. It's not always an easy existence, but it's how we stay true to ourselves. The best thing is we get to do it together.


THE METAL PIT:   What age did you realize that your voice was something special and that you may want to do this professionally?
            I'd say at about five years of age. My bus driver would have me sing songs - she thought it was cute. In the end, all it did was make me a target for beatings. At that time, I was too little to put two and two together and realize how ungodly annoying I must have been, singing the Wonder Woman theme song on the way home from school. I can't blame the local bully for knocking me into the mud every chance he got.  My music teachers in school always encouraged me to develop my voice. I hated it when they forced me to enter competitions, but looking back, I'm glad they did - at every single one I screwed up, so by the time high school was over, I had zero stage fright. Now, I just get up on stage and make lots of noise and don't care if I mess up a lyric or if my pants split down the middle (both have happened, multiple times!) I'm thankful people enjoy what I do. It's really nice to be able to share what you love with others.


THE METAL PIT:     What is your favorite metal concert you have seen?

There have been so many, and I've loved them all for different reasons. It's hard to choose just one. Watain at The Brass Mug in 2006. A sparsely attended show but truly transcendent black metal, nonetheless. The entire Blind Guardian Open Air in 2003 - my first European metal festival. Amazing fun! Iron Maiden on the Ed Hunter tour in 1999, at a small 800 person theater in Boston. I was three rows from the front. Talk about connection! It was wonderful.


THE METAL PIT:  Do you think the emergence of females in Heavy Metal in the last five years or so has finally given women the respect they deserve?
                             
                Women have been showing up in metal more and more over the last ten years or so if you really think about it. Nightwish came out with "Angels Fall First" in what? 1995? Anyway, I don't know if it's really helped with respect. It's definitely **less surprising** to see a chick in a metal band, although I still find myself bucketing them into the following categories: "tiny breakable angel singer", "gothy keyboard mistress" or "bassist with no character." Women are still a statistical rarity, so they stand out even more when they suck. That's what people remember. The sucking. Or at least the stupendous mediocrity. It's rotten because there are twenty times as many mediocre guys out there but the girls are the ones who get remembered. What I want to see is a total shredding female death metal guitarist or drummer. There's a death metal band in Austin called Manifestation which has a female drummer - Reba's really good and I hope she gets known. We need more of that. Of course, there are some great talents out there, but they're woefully outnumbered. I constantly get adds from bands on Myspace with a female member. When I check them out, I think: is this going to be IT? Is this going to be the girl that RULES? Occasionally, I'm impressed. Usually I'm not.  I've stopped checking out the songs accompanied by the photo of the naked female guitarist with the strategically placed Jackson V. That's just such a cheap way to market yourself. I know we all like to look pretty and sexy but there's a very fine line we need to be careful not to cross. Veronica Freeman of Benedictium has one of the ballsiest, most awesome voices out there right now but I can't get past her tits and ass look. It distracts me - does she want to be known for her massive voice or her massive boobs? Maybe she doesn't give a shit... and fuck, she's certainly getting more attention than I ever got with Ignitor, so I guess I should shut the fuck up.  I think the most metal chick I know of is LSK from Antaeus/Vorkreist. That girl can play, she looks good, and she'll rip your balls off if you look at her the wrong way.  For real. Go LSK!

 THE METAL PIT: Which metal band from the past do you wish could or would regroup to do a tour?  
                               I wish I could have seen Mayhem when both Euronymous and Dead were alive. I would just want to see one show. Then I'd be happy. Other than that, everybody I really want to see is still together and touring!



THE METAL PIT:  You have traveled extensivley. What are some of the coolest places you have played live?
                          I've traveled a lot, but not really for the band - most of my traveling has been for my job. I wish I could say I'd played Tokyo, but sadly, all I did was work and hope we didn't have anotherearthquake. The coolest place I ever played live was in Lauda-Konigshofen, Germany with Ignitor at 2005 KIT V Festival. That show was the highlight of Ignitor's career. When we played Reinheitsgebot and the crowd all started to sing along - tears started to well up. I'm serious! I was banging my head and having a little sniffle and thinking, "This is the best, I don't ever want this to end." I wish we could have gone back but it just wasn't meant to be. 
THE METAL PIT:   What does it mean to be a Metal Maiden of the Month?
             It means that for at least one more month of my life, I'm not considered old and washed up! Thank you!
 


                                                                                                                                                                                      
THE METAL PIT: Thanks for being the Metal Maiden of the month.. Any closing thoughts to the viewers of THE METAL PIT?
        Thanks, Blake for the opportunity and thanks to everyone who read this interview. Please check out my website at http://www.skullgal.com and my blog at http://skullgal.blogspot.com to read my rants and essays on the nature of being Metal for Life! Feel free to get in contact. Horns up!










                                                              PREVIOUS METAL MAIDENS OF THE MONTH
If you want to be a METAL MAIDEN of the MONTH, please send me a EMAIL with a picture or pictures and a brief bio on why you think you should be a Metal Maiden, or if you have a website or myspace page let me know and I will take a look.