TOXIC ARMY

This year there are FemME Battles again with preliminaries in the UK, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. And I will introduce you to the bands which go to the Finals. I will do so by asking all of the bands the same questions. So, you have the same information about all the bands which are in the Finals.

The next one is ‘Toxic Army’, winner by jury of the “Dutch Battle”.

Thank you very much ‘Toxic Army’ for answering the questions.

First of all, can you tell us something about the name of your band, ‘Toxic Army’? What does it mean and which one of you came up with this name?

The word toxic grabbed our attention and as we were 4 members, we see ourselves as an army, looking at the future in the eyes, fearless, so we decided to unify both words.

What can you tell us about the history of the band?

The 3 girls played in other metal bands and one day (circa 2006), there was a Jam Session in a big concert hall here in Mallorca. We decided to play together some songs. We had such a great time playing together that we decided to start a different band from what we were used to and introduce electronic sounds in it. Drummer Carlos joined us later, we had 2 or 3 drummers before Carlos arrived, but we consider him as the first drummer of the band, as he was always our drummer live. So, we are really the same 4 members from the very beginning.

Please introduce yourself to us. Who are you, which instrument(s) do you play and about your musical background?

Laura is the lead singer and the sampler/electronic composer. She’s been in different bands, from ‘Riot Grrl’ band called ‘Pregnant Doll’ (where she used to play the guitar also in 1994 aprox) to Rock-metal ‘VenusInferna’, even in some Dark-rock band. The way she sings has been always mixing screaming with melodic voices.

Eva is the guitar player. She’s been also in different bands, generally in Black Metal Style as a bassist ‘Agorazheim’ and nowadays as a guitar player ‘Unburial’. She has another solo project, called ‘Doom of Valyria’ (folk music based on Game of Thrones saga) where she sings, plays guitar and compose everything by herself.

Silvia plays bass guitar. As Laura and Eva, she’s been in different bands also, from Thrash ‘Blind Panic’ to Doom ‘Golgotha’. She’s playing the bass at the moment with another band from Mallorca called ‘Psideralica’ (Industrial-rock).

Carlos has been playing drums from classic Heavy Metal ‘Drakkar’ to Thrash ‘Blind Panic’, Rock-metal ‘VenusInferna’ and Doom ‘Golgotha’.

Which one of you is “responsible” for the songs (lyrics and music)?

Laura writes the lyrics and voice melodies, and the music between the four, Eva or Silvia comes with an idea, or Laura comes with the sounds and electronic of a song and then, we all develop the idea.

Did you release any records already and can you tell something about them?

We have 3 singles so far that are available on iTunes and Spotify 2 of them have official videos published on Youtube.

Singles are “To Death” (2012), “Mechanical Prototype” (2016) and “Toxine”(2016). We have just finished recording 3 more songs: “Deep down in Hell”, “Out of Date” and “Оксана” (Oksana), which is written entirely in Russian as a tribute to all the Chernobyl victims. Those are being mastered right now, so we hope to publish them shortly. We are working for deliver an EP this year with all of them.

Are you full time musicians or do you have other jobs also?

Unfortunately, to be a full time musician is quite difficult nowadays, so we need to have another job.

Laura is a Computer Science Engineer and work as an IT Project Manager for the Health System in the Balearic Islands related with Radiology and Digital Image in general.

Eva is a Radiology Technician and also work in a highly known clothing store in Spain.

Silvia has a Degree in Art History and work as an IT technician.

Carlos is Human Resources coordinator in Mallorca Airport and he’s a plane Pilot also.

Can you describe your music? How would you call it?

Our music is a mixture of metal and electronic/industrial sounds, we call it Industrial-Tinged Metal.

Are you influenced by other bands? And if the answer is yes, which one(s)?

All of us are influenced by other bands, but is more individually than as a band itself as we have such different musical interests, but there are some influences that we have in common, for example ‘Nine Inch Nails’, ‘Rob Zombie’ or ‘Static-X’, but also bands like ‘ Sepultura’ are an influence for all of us.

What was your most cool gig so far?

We would say the WOA Metal Battle Spain Final in 2014 was quite special for us, because it changed our exposure to the metal scene in Spain, we were interviewed by the “Metal Hammer Spain magazine” in different occasions and we met such a great people who we’ve been playing with and the organizers are part from our musical family. And of course, the semifinal in Eindhoven for the Femme this year because it was our first time playing out of Spain as a band. We were selected to play in Düsseldorf semifinal last year, but finally, we couldn’t play due to medical family reasons of one member, anyway the rest of the band went to the gig to support the event and we loved it!

Is there a band you want to go on tour with?

Going on tour with any band mentioned before as an influence would be a dream for us (except ‘Static-X’ for obvious reasons). They represent what is possible to achieve in music and they are great musicians also.

What do you think of FemME?

It’s a great event and a great idea to help women visibility in the metal scene as in the big festivals (WOA, etc) the percentage of women playing is really low. It’s a perfect time to know more women in the scene and make great friends also; we need to support each other!

Are you looking forward to come to The Netherlands?

We can only say YES! YES! YES!, it’s been a pleasure to be playing there and people were delightful and welcoming us to their lives! So we really enjoyed the place and it would be a pleasure to come back every time needed!