Interview with DesDemon vocalist Mistress Tina and Guitarist Lord Metadox

Metal act DesDemon’s newest EP The Awakening is about to be released and vocalist Mistress Tina and Guitarist Lord Metadox were more than happy to sit down and talk to me about it. The band has shared the stage with acts such as, Korpiklaani, Rotting Christ, Epicurean and Paul DiAnno to name a few and they will be touring the states in May and then they plan to play the European Festival circuit with appearances at Wacken, Graspop, Summerbreeze, Bloodstock and Metal Female Voices.

Since this is your first interview for PureGrainAudio. Can you introduce the band and tell us how it all got started, that kind of thing?
Lord Metadox: Tina and Dan contacted me after our former bands dissolved. We had met in Canada back in 2005 during a festival that both our bands we performing at, we became good friends shortly thereafter. What we really wanted to do was write and play with our own styles in mind, unrestricted, without any type of power struggle from within the band. That was the beauty of working together and still is to this day. There is no drama in this band! Such a rare thing, especially in metal. We each play our parts the way we like and the songs free flow quite nicely!

Mistress Tina: It’s nice to be able to share and be open with ideas, and be in the presence of friends.

Your brand new CD, The Awakening, is set for release in March. Now that it is complete, how do you feel about it? Are you satisfied with the outcome?
Lord Metadox: For the budget we compiled, and the tight schedule we had for recording, I feel we got a pretty good bang for our buck! Of course you always want it to sound better, or wish that you could’ve gone back and changed something here and there, but for the most part we’re proud of what we accomplished, under the circumstances.

Where did the name DesDemon originate?
Lord Metadox: From Shakespeare’s ‘Othello’. Tina came up with the concept of continuing the story of Desdemona and things just snowballed from there.

Mistress Tina: Othello called his wife “Desdemon” only a couple of times in the story as he was wrongly accusing her of infidelity. The name just always stuck in my head since I first read the book.

As a woman, do you find it difficult working in an industry and a genre predominantly dominated by men?
Lord Metadox: Tina’s handled it pretty well, and once you see her onstage, she has no trouble winning over anyone!

Mistress Tina: It just feels natural to me. I do not feel like just “a woman” in the industry. I can rock just as hard as the men, just like many other women in Metal.

What kind of preparation goes into your live show?
Lord Metadox: Well, we try to take the stage and dominate… not a lot of fancy stuff going on. We do a lot of promotion for ourselves as well as bands that are on a bill with us, so we try to network as much as possible. Here and there we deviate musically, so that the show isn’t always the same… we always want to make sure we give 100% to the fans.

All of that passion that you play with must be tough on you physically. How do you prepare for the physical demands of a tour?
Lord Metadox: Personally, I like to play for bits throughout the day, so that I am fluid come show time. That is not always the case, so those nifty little hand exercisers come in handy on those hectic days. Also, especially for Tina, staying out of cigarette smoke, and talking very little helps you maintain your voice and energy. Plenty of water and beer will keep you going too.

Mistress Tina: Unfortunately as a vocalist, I have to stay relaxed and get a good amount of sleep, which is good for everyone. My vocal coach has really helped guide me through the do’s and don’ts… without restricting too much fun.

When you are on the road for a while I am sure you see and experience many different things you might not even have known existed. Are there any stories that stand out in your mind as being exceptionally strange or odd?
Lord Metadox: I gotta say, Belgium was such an experience for us. We have played here and there over the last year, but Belgium was definitely an experience for us. Our entire conception of the waffles and chocolate country was far from the truth. Even the leaves on the trees were different there. I hope in the next year to have more odd things that we come across.

When you are out on the road anything can happen and often does. Can you think of any disastrous events that happened while out on tour? How did you solve the problem?
Lord Metadox: When we played the Halloween Metal Meeting in Belgium, we were sharing equipment with one of the bands of the bill, our now good friends Ceremony of Opposites. At the beginning of our third song, the guitar amp I was using just blew up all of a sudden! Fortunately by the next song some of the other bands were good enough to have come up and got us up and running for the next tune, but being that this was our first European show, it was very nerve wracking.

Mistress Tina: That was really nerve-wracking but we got through it… just a small bump.

What have been the best countries to play so far?
Lord Metadox: Nothing compares to a good European audience, but there is definitely something to be said about playing in the States. When we performed in support of Paul DiAnno back in January, we really had a great reception, and an awesome show. Still I think we have to get more places before we can pick a favorite.

If you could jam with any famous musician, dead or alive, from any century, who would it be and why?
Lord Metadox: For me it would have to be Andy LaRoque from King Diamond. Andy is one of my all time hero’s and he is a sorcerer of the black shredding arts. I look up to him so much. Hopefully one day we could record our album with him as the producer.

Mistress Tina: I can never pick one, but Doro’s pretty badass! I’d like to definitely sing with her!

What kind of touring plans do you have for 2010?
Lord Metadox: For 2010, we’re hoping to get the opportunity to perform at some of the more notable European metal festivals (Wacken, Graspop, Summerbreeze, Bloodstock, Metal Female Voices, etc.). For right now, we are lining up some good support dates here in the States. We kick of Primal Fear’s BW&BK Tour May 20th in NYC for Live Nation and two days after we are featured on eXile Bookings USA’s “A Night in Hell” with some other really great acts. Currently we’re just waiting for confirmations on festival dates.

Any closing words?
Lord Metadox: Thanks for the opportunity for us to get the word out about DesDemon! We hope that we could speak to you again soon once we have a full length out, and who knows, maybe even a record deal.

Mistress Tina: Thank you so much! We’ll see you out there on the road!  [ END ]