– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What’s currently going on into the band’s camp?

Hey! We are currently gearing up for some tour dates that are coming in the spring/summer of this year! We’ve been getting some new songs ready to add to our live set! Also, Life’s Blood has just been released on vinyl! I am thrilled about it!!!! It’s our fourth album but our first to be released on vinyl. I am a vinyl freak so it means so much to me to finally have our own record!

– You have just released your fourth album, “Life’s Blood”. How has its feedback been?

It has been better than it ever has! We have received so many great reviews, we are very happy about it! We worked very hard on the album, and it feels good to be recognized by people around the world. It was in the best of 2011 list for many writers and fans, so we couldn’t be happier! Thank you all!!!!

 

– Have been 4 years since your previous “Nightlife” and this new “Life’s Blood”. How were you feeling about releasing a new album after that gap of time?

Well, with this album we really wanted to take our time and deliver a better album than we ever had before. Our goal was for this one to exceed all the other ones, but that’s hard to do! We wanted better songs, better recording, better album cover, better everything!!!! I am proud to say that I think we’ve done it with this one! I wanted to the focus to be on songwriting, just making better, more memorable songs. Don’t get me wrong, I love our other albums too. We’ve always done the best we could do at the time. But I knew we had to make something superior to take Widow forward!

 

– The sound is simply superb, delivering that 80’s essence but mixing it with details of more modern Heavy Metal so please, tell us where did you record it and your thoughts on the final result.

Thank you so much! Our bass player, John Wooten, has his own recording studio at his house. We have recorded all our albums there. But he has learned a lot about recording since our last album Nightlife. He really felt the same as me, and worked very hard to step things up on this one! He went to recording school and I really think it has paid off! I’m glad he knows how to record because it definately helps us! We can take our time and make things sound great!

 

– And is it easy delivering a sound influenced specially by the NWOBHM but not being pigeonholed as a “revival” band? Do you think you have now reached the mature sound you were aiming for during these years?

Yeah, I think we have. We have never tried to be a retro band, or whatever. We’re greatly influenced by the 80s metal, and NWOBHM. But we have always just played what’s in our hearts. I’ve always gone with what comes out of me naturally, never trying to force anything. I like music that’s honest, and I know people can spot honesty. I think that’s the difference between records that stand the test of time and those that don’t!

 

– Melody is another important element on this effort, as you have managed to create a perfect blend of different melodic tones with heavier parts. Was this something you were looking for or just a result of how things went?

We’ve always had a lot of melody in the music, but this is what happened naturally for us. When I write songs, I basically just sit down and jam. It’s funny, because I don’t write down what I do, or record myself jamming. I used to do that, but then I stopped doing it! I feel that if the song is not memorable enough for me to just remember it, it’s not good enough to be a Widow song haha!

 

– Due to all the aforementioned I would like to know how was the songwriting process like. Is it something spontaneous?

Basically, i just jam at my house and write all of the music. While I’m doing that I will sing along some words off the top of my head to create a melody for the song. When I get enough songs done, I will go ahead and record them at Johnnys studio. I always want to make sure that the first thing I record could end up on the album. Some of the recordings on Life’s Blood were the first take! Same with the solos, I felt my first attempt was the best! It’s all downhill from there haha! But, after we get the structure worked out, Peter lays down the drums and then Johnny finishes up the bass and vocals. This really works best for us. I live two hours away from the other guys, so we really don’t have a lot of time to practice. I’ve always been the songwriter and lyricist for Widow. But those guys add so much, it’s a team effort for sure! The three of us make Widow, we have a great chemistry!

 

– All this being said; how could you describe the album in just 3 words?

We Wanna Rock!!!!

 

– And what are the band’s main musical influences?

We love a lot of stuff! I am influenced by stuff like King Diamond, Maiden, Priest, Ozzy, Dio, Sabbath, Slayer, Mercyful Fate, Crimson Glory, Leatherwolf to stuff like Van Halen, Dokken, Ratt and even punk like the Ramones, Black Flag, and the Misfits. Also, I’m hugely influenced by a lot of great 70s music like Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Skynyrd, Rainbow, UFO and many more! I listen to a lot of artists, and believe me stuff that sounds nothing like Widow has still inspired me in different ways. We really try to mix up a lot of different things, to give Widow a unique sound!

 

– Leaving the musical aspect of this piece aside; would you mind to shed some light on the artwork?

The artwork was done by a German artist named Timo Wuerz! This guys is amazing!!!! I love his work! We gave him a concept of the girl in our opening track «Lady Twilight». The idea was to create an innocent girl that was seductive and evil on the inside! We wanted to see it come out of her! He really nailed it. The final cover was far above what I had pictured in my mind! I knew this guy was perfect when I saw his other paintings. He’s awesome!

 

– And what about your lyrics? As they are not the most standard into the genre, which I actually consider something positive.

Well, a lot of our songs in the past have been horror stories in the beginning, and also a lot of drunken party tales. I love this, I always will! But this time, I really wanted to just write about my own thoughts and feelings, on my life and experiences I have had. I was really nervous about it, exposing myself like that. I didn’t know if our fans would appreciate it! But they have, and this album has been better recieved than ever, so that feels really great! I mean, don’t get me wrong, we’re still talking about partying in some songs, that is part of our lives! But all people have a range of emotions. It seems like most bands think you’ve got to write all happy songs, or all sad songs and could never mix it up. But that’s really how we all are as people. Nobody is happy or sad ALL the time. So, I tried to my best to convey my thoughts and feelings on this one. And I am so happy with the results!!!!!

 

– You are now working with Pure Steel records; how’s everything going with them so far? Why did you decide to sign with them?

We met the guys when we played over in Germany. They have been Widow fans for a while now, and we were seeking a new label at the time. It was just perfect. I love Pure Steel, I knew it was an awesome label and it would be perfect for us. I basically told them they should sign us over some beers, and they agreed. Maybe now that they are sober they regret it hahahahaha!

 

– And finally, what are your near-future plans? I read you are planning a tour for this year; what could you tell us about it?

We are planning to tour and play any and everywhere we can. We took the Nightlife tour to many places in the world we’d never been. We are planning to take Life’s Blood even further! We love playing live, and love to hit the road. We are such big metal fans, it rules to go different spots and meet other rockers! It means a lot to us, especially to meet fans of Widow, because we’ve worked so hard for so long to be able to tour. Our fans mean everything to us, that’s why we’re still doing it!!!! You will be hearing from us!!!!!!

 

– That has been everything from my side, thank you once more for your time. If you now want to add some final words, last lines are all yours.

Thanks so much for talking to me, and for the support from Queens of Steel! Thanks alot to all the Widow fans around the world! You guys support means the world to us! We’ll see you in the night…

Sergio Fernández

sergio@queensofsteel.com

 

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