Ravenheart Music: Interviews

THE STORY FIRST - Rott on! The story begins. Rott (www.myspace.com/rottband.com) came about after singer Molly Sirenne (pictured)

brings over her huge Rottweiler and belts out some Shirley Manson tune over the PA. The rest of the band is stunned. This chick can really sing.

Rott entered the studio in April 2007 and released the single “Afterlife” June 1, 2007 which appears on their new release “Out of Time”. “Afterlife” was an immediate hit for fans starving for new material from the group which hails from Spirit Lake, Idaho where they formed in May 2001. The single was picked up immediately on Internet radio station Livehardrock.com, and an interview with lead singer Molly Sirenne on mainstream rock station Rock 94 in Spokane, Washington, followed on June 8th.

Thanks to the overwhelming response from European fans after their 2002 debut CD received airplay in Greece, Rott then became noticed in major webzines Born to Die’zine in Poland, Temple of Metal in Greece, rock-in-chair.com in France and even received attention in Argentina from webzine musicextreme.com.

Rott has since developed a following in Europe, South America, Mexico, Australia, Asia and the United States.

But that is not all, let us fast forward towards the end of 2007, and this is when Dave from Ravenheart Music appeared on the scene. As Dave from Ravenheart continues, "Molly has this sort of innocence in her voice, that had bewitched me since I first heard "Out Of Time". I then somewhere along the line started email communications with Molly, and it became very obvious what a lovely down to earth person she is, and we have since become very good friends. I was not prepared to allow a band like this to go un-noticed, so to cut a long story short, I did get Rott noticed very much so by Arizona based label, Renaissance Records. And although Rott has been going since 2001, it only took me a few weeks after my initial contact with Molly, to broker them that all important deal".

Rott's cd "Out Of Time", was released on the 27th May 2008, and we here at Ravenheart can only offer Molly and her band all the very best. They are very hard working musicians, very nice people (I have spoken with them all), and they do sure deserve all the success the world can throw at them!

AND NOW....

THE INTERVIEW:
I just wanna fill the punters in about Rott. Rott are an awesome band from northern Idaho in the USA fronted by an equally awesome lass, Molly Sirenne. I will not hide the fact that Molly and myself over the months have become very cool friends, and I myself am now involved in managing Molly and her band. Indeed, Rott has just signed a licensing and distribution deal with Renaissance Records in the USA, their cd 'Out Of Time' seeing a May release. The music Rott play I suppose is similar to Lacuna Coil, Tool, Alice In Chains and Evanescence.

Anyway Molly, I must congratulate you on your latest release 'Out Of Time', which was released independently in September last year, and will now see a label release in May. I would call your album a mix of the artists I mentioned above. Would that be an accurate statement?
Thank you Dave! Definitely. We try to express our style as the individuals that we are, but there are similarities and influences with the afore mentioned artists that cannot be denied. Dan and I grew up in the Seattle area. Most musician’swithin our style from Seattle who would say they were not impacted by Alice In Chains would be stretching the truth. As for Tool, Dan has the crunch and the dirge down pretty well on tracks like ‘Afterlife’ and ‘Eternal’ and that sound is a nod to Tool. As for Evanescence and Lacuna Coil, I’m a female singer and those comparisons are made in the media a lot. Any comparison with them is quite a compliment and a huge honor.

Out Of Time' to my ears is a real grower. It may not quite hit you the first time, but live with it, and it becomes a totally awesome listen. Would you agree with that?
I think many times there are certain albums that all of a sudden hit you and then you really get into them. I would have to agree for sure. In fact ‘Out Of Time’ is probably one of my favorite tracks on the album. Every time we play it,it really gets us amped up. We often like to end a show with ‘Out Of Time’ for that very reason. The crowd digs it, and so do we. There’s so much emphasis to it! We picked it as the name for the album for several reasons. It seemed to incorporate both the graphic artwork we had in mind (with the clock tower) and because it is the overwhelming central theme to the whole musical collection as well.

Many people here in the UK would not have heard of Rott, although I am working as you well know at trying to change all that! Although I know, can you tell the readers of this article a little about how you arrived at the name Rott and a little about you and also the band's history, and how did you get together?
Your support has been incredibly amazing Dave and I hope Ravenheart Music becomes beyond immensely successful! When we were thinking of a name for the band, we kicked around a few ideas looking for something that sounded kinda cool, but was heavy too. Rott sounded like something that was decaying and it was short. Also, we can say Rott on, instead of rock on or right on. Besides, my favorite breed of dogs is Rottweilers and I have a beautiful female as our mascot. There is a hidden meaning to it as well, an acronym for what the letters stand for. As far as the history of Rott goes, it really began with our guitar player Dan writing some songs and looking for a sound that was different. I mean there were very few bands that we knew of with a female singer here in the states. I am a big fan of Lacuna Coil and I like Garbage a lot. We formed in 2002 completely and I was a little hesitant when I was asked to be their singer.
I have always gravitated to metal all my life because it’s so primal, so angry and emotional. It gives you such a release- almost a high, the energy.
I just try and put it out there and see how the audience responds.

I’m going to let Dan give a little Rott history timeline.

(Dan) Wow, thanks Molly! I was playing some riffs my friends thought were pretty good, so then began the quest to find additional talent. Fortunately Molly came along. I had been drawn to female singers ever since I first saw the Lita Ford video with Ozzy as a kid. I still have that poster of her with the B.C. Rich. (smiles) It was something unique for me to hear, since I was mostly into thrash and speed metal. I was mesmerized by it and still am.

(Molly) Tell the truth Dan, you found me at a bus stop with my guitar case open playing for spare change. Seriously though, we’ve been through quite a few different line-ups. Especially with our drummers. One guy, bless his heart, we’d secretly call ’50 First Drummers’ after the movie with Drew Barrymore where she had amnesia. Almost every week he’d ask,“have I played this song before?”

Was the recording of 'Out of Time' simple, or did it bring some headaches, and what is your fave song on the album?
For me, recording and composing ‘Out Of Time’ was pretty simple. I have a large practice area in my home and alot of days it was like “ok Dan,let’s go down and put together a new song.” Because you always keep a good stash of lyrics, thoughts, chord progressions, and riffs stored miscellaneously in your mind (and hopefully some written down) it was a very smooth composing experience. Recording at Audio Jerk Records with Aaron Birdsall was also a very seamless endeavor. He is a master artist with Pro Tools. He did a wonderful job at editing and mixing. I really enjoyed working with him. After Dan and I recorded our tracks Carrie Anne came along and added her beautiful contribution with the keys. Least I forget to mention, Bill Jacobs at Sonik Wheel Productions in New York did a kick ass job on the mastering to wrap things up!

What has the reaction been like to 'Out of Time' from the fans and the media alike?
The reaction from the fans has been unexpectedly overwhelming! I can truly say I am humbled and grateful. Maybe it’s a case of mom saying “if you can’t say something nice don’t say anything at all.” Seriously though, everything has been positive, positive, positive. The media has also been encouraging. With requests for radio interviews, web interviews, airplay, magazine reviews, ect. We did get a score of 4 out of 10 from one critic, but everyone has a bad hair day sometimes. Industry individuals as a whole seem to be behind us. We hear a lot of comments like “interesting new band, can’t wait to hear what’s next. Lots of potential.”

What are your inspirations musically and who influences you the most?
I’ve been inspired by many talented musicians, but since we are speaking mainly on the femme rock genre I’ll list a couple of my first faves. Shirley Manson-Alternative, post grunge, fashion goddess extraordinaire. If Ziggy Stardust were a girl, he’d wish to be as cool as Shirley. Otep Shamaya-The brutally wrenching passion and raw pain of her guttural alto takes no prisoners. Cristina Scabbia-The girl flies the metal flag loud and proud. She also holds her own hanging with all the big bad boys at Ozzfest.
Sharon den Adel-The beauty of her other worldly voice is beyond belief. She puts the songbirds to shame. As far as what influences me the most, it’s all the artistic, introspective, seeking, “secreting”, very kind fans and friends who share their lives and musical influences with us daily with emails on MySpace. Thanks Tom.

Have you or any other members of your band been involved with any other musical projects that you would like to let us in on?
Carrie Anne is constantly involved in community theatre and has been since an early age. She’s a music major at our local college and plays a variety of instruments. These include violin, clarinet, bassoon, and piano. This is her first opportunity for her talent to be heard on a more international level. Dan and I have been sharpening our teeth on a variety of projects over the years. This involved some miscellaneous musical endeavors in our miss-spent youth not worth mentioning. This was, for myself, always in the metal genre. That is my passion.

Other than Evanescence, Within Temptation have been making waves here in the UK recently. What are your expectations of the femme rock and metal scene as a whole in the USA, mainland Europe and indeed the UK too?
As most self proclaimed metal fans will tell you. Born to rock, live to rock, die for rock. I’ll be there whether it’s popular or not. It looks like timing and popularity are in our favor at the moment. All signs point to a huge wave of femme rock that’s been gathering popularity in the UK, Europe, South and Central America, Canada, Australia and the Orient for the recent while. I feel certain it’s going to hit America with such brutal force that it may catch some pop and hip-hop promoters by surprise. Better get on board boys!

I myself cannot wait for the next album from Rott, and my motto is..."If it ain't broken, why fix it"!. What can we expect from you and Rott regards the next album?
Now that we have label support and a bigger budget the world is our oyster. Except that I’m not a huge fan of shellfish, but you get the expression. For myself, there are so many songs penned but not recorded I can’t wait to get out. I’m simply bursting. There are so many baby ideas you want to see grow up. I’ve always enjoyed the theme album such as Queensryche’s ‘Operation Mind Crime’. However, as a band we seem to enjoy multiple tempos, and mixing songs that one might not even expect to find within a single compilation.

And what's next for you?
What’s next is letting our amazing label market our music for the highest level of exposure. They have excellent ideas for things I’d barely dared to dream about including international tours with our label mates, video shoots, radio play, magazine interviews, meet and greets at record stores, etc. Can you say Konichiwa! We’re going to Japan-trey trey cool!

Finally is there anything that you would like to say to your fans out there?
We love you guys! Keep contacting us. We really do read all your comments and your emails. Thank you to our wonderful manager (brilliant interview questions by the way Dave), the team at Oasis, Audio Jerk Recording, Ravenheart music, and John Edwards at Renaissance Records. All things are possible. See you soon. Peace. ~Molly