Who here likes folk metal like me? Well, if you do, you might want to check out this interview with the fantastic Kupfergold, from Germany!

Benedetta

I’m here with Bonnie Banks from Kupfergold. How are you doing today?

Bonnie Banks

Good, thank you.

Benedetta

How does it feel to play in the anniversary year for Wacken?

Bonnie Banks

It was a great feeling. I feel honored to play at the anniversary of Wacken. We played here two years before. And it was great playing at the anniversary. It’s another thing, I think, yeah. Especially for us, Wacken is always special.

Benedetta

Do you think that the life of the artist is a lonely life?

Bonnie Banks

I don’t think so. I think the life of an artist is a whole life with many people. I have all my friends with me. My band is also my friends. Everyone that’s working for us is my friend. And I feel welcomed every time. I can stay with them and have a good time with them. And it’s combined with earning money, earning fans, earning everything in this life. I feel honored to be an artist. Not everyone in this world has the honor to do this. Being an artist is everything I want in my life. Band and crew is like a chosen family for us. It’s not just people that we work with. It’s family. And they are people we really love to spend time with. And we’re very grateful for that. And this is our choice. We know not everyone has it like that. But we do it because we want this. We want our crew to be our family.

Benedetta

Has it ever happened to you that someone treated you differently than the guys just because you’re a woman?

Bonnie Banks

Yeah. Every gig. At this one gig, there was a man shouting at me. I told him that something wasn’t fine. And after all he shouted at me, he decided to excuse on him instead of me. Even if he shouted at me. And he went to him. He said, “Yeah, sorry, but… That felt wrong. Very wrong.” Because I’m a strong woman fighting for everything. I’m a feminist. It was a difficult situation. The festival was a very small festival. And they really didn’t bring all the stuff and get the stage cleared and prepared as it was written in our contract with them. At some point, you’re not able to play a show anymore if certain things are not done rightly. So we commented on that and we wanted to talk to him. He was not ready to talk. And he made it like a thing. He didn’t take the matter very seriously. There was no roof over the stage and it was a 40°C day. You can’t do a 60-minute show with very light skin. You’re just gonna burn. You’re gonna get cancer. They were always like, “You’re a diva”. Because I was heading for the basics. That’s been the case very often. Everyone could speak to me in a proper way. But they don’t. We’re all humans.

Benedetta

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this interview with me. Is there anything else that you want to add to our readers of FemMetal?

Bonnie Banks

When I was here yesterday, I thought, many festivals don’t display too many bands with female artists. The scene is very male-dominated. But here in Wacken, even in a year where they don’t have Jinjer or Halestorm, they’re not here. Yesterday only I saw many bands that were female-fronted. Compared to other festivals, other big festivals, it’s a lot better in Wacken than somewhere else. I didn’t realize before when looking at the posters, but yesterday just running over the campground, running over the infield, I was really impressed by that. So we’re happy to be invited over and over again here. The whole crew of Wacken seems to be like feminists. They are pushing it and that’s all love. I feel honored to play here. In a safe space for women, where people take me as I am. As a woman wanting to be seen.