Being bold, facing the music industry as a woman and the b snacks for musicians

Who are The Longing and what are you about? The Longing is an LA-based symphonic metal rock band whose members are all formally trained and seasoned session and touring musicians.  Every member of The Longing is stellar in their craft, which makes us work all the harder together and push each other up this mysterious musical mountain. 

Our brilliant drummer Tom Plumb and bassist Michael Wallace lock the band into a frenetic blur of musical wonder, perhaps because Tom is blonde and handsome, therefore very angry.  Michael is generally thought to be crazy, due to the lack of necessary rock musician tattoos. 

Our guitarist Sean Maier, has a Samson complex and will not cut his waist length hair, resulting in his ability to create fantastic headbanging hair windmills which sometimes span a six foot range.  Guitarist John Huldt, is a virtuoso musician, body builder and most alarmingly, a 6’2 Swede.  The combination creates a general fear of being pummeled during rehearsal, resulting in a very well mannered and extremely high energy, if not jumpy band.

As lead singer, keyboardist and composer for The Longing, I will admit to having a boot and corset fetish along with my love of leather, crosses and chains.  I’m bringing together the far-flung worlds of Victoria’s Secret, Harley Davidson and the Vatican onto the stage. 

You’ve had some pretty impressive success to date, tell us about that. The most exciting and recent honor to date is ‘Come On’, the first single from our new CD due out this fall, being chosen as the anthem for International Women’s Day 2017.  We’re just over the moon to be a part of such a phenomenal and timely global women’s movement promoting strength, independence and spirit!  The wonderful reviews and support that have poured in are just overwhelming.

Wicked, the first single off our debut CD Bleed, earned the incredible title of UK record of the week and we had tremendous airplay in the UK and 18 countries worldwide for the three additional singles we released from the album.  The Bleed album was such a lengthy labor of love and to have the recognition right out of the gate for a debut CD was truly magical.

Your new single is called, ‘Come On’ – what’s the story behind that? It seems a bit irreverent to say, but it was about a spiritual tussle I was having, or to put it more bluntly, a fight with God.  I was struggling with catastrophic personal events that seemed on par with what was going on in the world around me.  I just couldn’t make sense of it.    I wanted answers, I wanted resolution.  And when I got neither, I grew angry.  I became the boxer in the ring screaming, “Come On, I can take another round, did you think that this is all it takes to bring me down… I’ve been wrestling the demons in a wonderland of all my doubts and fears, and now I’m so strong, COME ON!”  It’s an incredibly cathartic song to play and sing. 

Congratulations, you’re the anthem for IWD.  Why do you feel ‘Come On’ is the right song for the cause? Regardless of whether or not you believe in a higher power, the songs’ message is about strength.  It’s about taking on something bigger than yourself with absolutely no idea whether or not you will win, and to stare into the eyes of your greatest fear.  It’s about fighting for your cause, your rights, your beliefs, your family, your career.

What are your thoughts on gender equality within the music industry, is it easier to be a woman or a tougher struggle? I think it comes down to representation as a gender in your genre.  If you look around and don’t see too many artists/bands like yourself, chances are it’s still a male dominated genre and that can work against us.  However, I’ve had to exclude myself from that mentality, because there aren’t very many bands that fit The Longing’s precise sound.  I just keep making music and look for opportunities to play with other bands whether or not they are female fronted.  We are currently planning a tour with two female fronted bands and looking forward to working with the incredible female talent that is emerging.

I think that women making music in the independent arena no longer have to deal with the masculine markings and policing of the industry in the way music is created, recorded, packaged, sold and promoted.   This is a fabulous time to make our own records, plan our own tours and promote our projects with no expectation or hint of gender inequality.

Look at the incredible musicians making enormous success alongside their male counterparts – Beyonce, Adele, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga.  And behind the scenes, powerful, talented women are holding some of the most influential jobs in music.

I believe we are making huge strides in proving the jobs should not, will not and are not based on gender.  They are based on ability.  Gender inequality will not always exist and the incredible women working in the music industry right now are very well respected and an absolute inspiration to me. 

The theme for IWD is #Be Bold For Change – would you consider yourself a bold woman? I get up every day and make music.  I practice, I fight writers block, I write lyrics, I argue with writers block, I sit at the piano and compose the melodies and harmonies, I ignore writers block.  I have no idea how my songs will be received, if there will ever be a reward and it’s a risk that every musician takes. But I show up every day.  It’s how we as artists live and what we live for.  To be a musician, an artist of any kind is to be bold.  So, yes, I most definitely consider myself a bold woman.

You have a pretty impressive video for ‘Come On’, did you have to train for that? Thank you very much for the compliment!  We are very proud of the video and the incredible team of family, friends and musicians who made it happen!   The production company, Flock Of Kittens, knew a boxing narrative was integral to the back-story and my only experience in the boxing ring was singing the national anthem at an HBO fight.  I was so busy prepping the video that I only had time for four lessons.  However, they were four very intense lessons and my trainer, Garrett Matheson means serious business.  I would crawl from the gym to my car.  It was such a fantastic experience, I am continuing my training. 

I always throw myself 100% into our video performances, but I’m hoping our next video won’t require me to dive with sharks. 

Who is it you are fighting in the video? Myself. The source of so many of our struggles are internal, so as much as the song is about this so-called fight with God, I am fighting with myself.  And as you can see, I am not a very good loser.

What are your plans beyond this single, any albums on the horizon? Yes! We are releasing two more radio singles before our full-length album is released in the fall!   You can expect two more videos as well!

Our amazing radio promoter, Alex Whitcombe handles our singles in the UK and 13 countries.  We have incredible online radio support in the US as well! 

Can we expect any live dates from The Longing over here in the UK? There are so many UK festivals and venues that we want to perform at, and so many bands that we want to share the stage with.  That is our grandest wish at present, and we are in the early stages of planning the tour.   I promise you, we’ll be there soon!

Any final message for us? Thank you for the opportunity to share a little bit of our story with you.  I suppose if we were to have a final message to impart to the fans, it should be something useful. A tit-bit one can take away.  The Longing has most definitely mastered the art of band dinner parties and more importantly, the perfect rehearsal snacks, which to date are: salted toffee chocolate chip cookies and truffle walnut brownies.  *Takeaway tidbit: We have found that all other treats leave us with sticky fingers on the instruments. 

For more information visit:
http://www.thelonging.com
https://www.facebook.com/TheLongingBand
https://twitter.com/thelongingband