Interview with Marika Mura (Red Masquerade)

Even though concerts performed in 2021 weren’t many, I had the pleasure of going to some. And in the last one, I was lucky to see a very interesting band called Red Masquerade. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity of interviewing their lead vocalist, Marika, about music and more.

Hey Marika, how are you doing at the moment?

Hi! I’m all good, and I hope that you and all the readers are! Luckily it’s a very intense period, rich in good things.

Great! The name of your band, Red Masquerade, is inspired by the book by Edgar Allan Poe. How many other literary works have influenced you?

Basically, we take his tales as a starting point to develop ideas that are inspired by other things, such as news, history, poems, etc. Usually, we try to associate to Edgar Allan Poe’s stories some themes of various kinds: the writer almost becomes the link between literature and more current topics. In “The Seventh Room”, we have centred all album on the tale “The Masque of the Red Death”, in which seven rooms are described; to each of them, we have associated a specific theme, like for example, the exploitation of prostitution in Casanova, the social indifference in Shame, the problems related to depression in My Prison and so on. Like in the story, the visit of each room comes to the tragic ending of the story, so to retrace all these themes, it takes us to a reflection of the society that we are, that we have been and that we are becoming.

That’s awesome! If you weren’t working in the music industry, which other job would you do?

That’s a good question! I have a thousand hobbies, and I have always liked doing everything: surely to restore cultural heritage, to work in a library, or I wouldn’t even mind being a mechanic, a carpenter or a painter. I know that those are very different jobs, but don’t think I’m crazy: I love art in all its forms, for cars and practical jobs… so… if you ever want to paint your house, you know who to call! Hahaha!

Noted! 😉 Who is the messiest person of Red Masquerade?

Without a doubt, our drummer, Danio. He’s very messy, but in the music actually, he’s an extremely precise person!

What do you think the pandemic has taught you?

The value of time. This pandemic has had a lot of negative aspects, but lockdown forced us to slow down, giving more value to time, home, and loved ones. Often we lead excessively frenetic routines, and we don’t realize that we lose sight of the truly important things in life. Surely from now on, we will give more importance to whatever before 2020 unfairly passed in the background.

Do you sing in the shower? If so, which songs?

Yes, of course, I sing when I’m in the shower! I go from Yebba, Alicia Keys, Tool, Agent Fresco, Jinjer, System of a Down, Litfiba to some opera. So… I have a wide range!

How cool! Technology is affecting our lives more and more. Will music and art keep up the pace of it?

I think so. Everything evolves, so music and art will succeed in making the best of the new technologies. These can surely be used to the advantage of music and musicians: just think that in the past, for example, recording a song was a process within reach of a few, while now each of us at home can have basic tools to be able to record. There are also negative sides, like the fact that we all listen to music with our smartphones, which doesn’t make us appreciate a well-produced album. Not to mention the frenzy that comes from social networks: you have less patient while listening to a song or a video clip, and they have to leave a mark from the first few seconds; otherwise, it’s going to be swiped up! This, I think, affects the songwriting of the artists who are forced to come to terms with social networks’ dynamics. Anyway, I’m a big fan of technology but also nostalgic: what’s more fascinating than a good vinyl?

Amen to that! What is your opinion on the differences and the discriminations that exist between women and men?

There are have been some big steps forward, but the road is still long. As much as I am a lucky person, I’ve had some unfortunate situations, just like when I was asked if I had a partner and if I wanted to have kids during a job interview, or when they replied to me, “Women do not do certain jobs” when I asked to make a university internship at a recording studio. Not to mention differences in salaries, still strongly present, especially in Italy, or the lengths a woman has to overcome to make a career. I’m stopping here, but we could talk about this subject for hours.

Let’s play a little game. Would you go back to school if you could? If yes, would you choose elementary, middle or high school?

I don’t know if I’d go back: I prefer the life I led for these last years, and the thought of going back and doing again all the tiring path I faced between school and work just gave me the chills! Anyway, if I had to choose, I’d go back to high school.

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview! Would you like to add anything else to FemMetal’s readers?

Thank you for the beautiful and funny interview; thank you to all the readers that took the time to read it. I want to finish by wishing the best to each and every one of you: stay positive (not in the meaning that we have given to this in these last two years, hahaha), listen to good music, go to concerts and take advantage of every chance you have to build your happiness! A big hug!

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