We had the pleasure of interviewing Lucianne Wallace and Gabi Seigt from the French band, The Foxy Ladies, to ask them about their music, news and many other things.
Gabi Seigt Vocals
Lucianne Wallace Guitars
Interview
Hello ladies! How have you been doing lately?
Hello here, we are fine! And really happy to answer your interview!!!
What would you tell our readers who do not know The Foxy Ladies yet about your band?
We are a French “Wild rock” band. Our credo is “wild or nothing” by what we want to be “real” / “raw” ‘in our music, not to impose limits on us, and above all, to get people to share these wild moments, escape the everyday control that one imposes on oneself. In fact, our music is a mix between Grunge, Punk and Metal music. If you want to discover more about us, you can listen to our music on Apple music, Spotify, Deezer… We also are on YouTube, so come on, join the team!!
Lucianne, you’re the guitarist of The Foxy Ladies. Do you remember how you started learning to play the guitar, and what made you decide to do this professionally?
Of course! I remember when I listened to the Jimi Hendrix Experience for the 1st time and the effect it had on me. I thought : “Wooooow!!! Really ?! We can do this kind of thing with a guitar ? We can convey and share all these emotions with it ? I have to learn how to play!” So I asked my parents to buy a guitar and an amp for my 17th birthday. I have been learning as an autodidact, with my friend Jen who began at the same time. We had been playing together for hours, trying to do licks, to learn classic rock’n’roll songs, then, working on our little songs and arrangements at 2 guitars. We created a garage rock band called Hurricane Riders. We had our 1st live shows, radios, etc. We had a lot of fun and great memories with it, we also learned a lot. But we were young, we had to study too, and there were no serious opportunities to make only music with it. However I decided to go on in music. I needed it!
After all these years, even if I can’t do what Jimi did, I think it doesn’t really matter because I have found my own way to express my feelings and share it with people. I’m still in music as I found much more that I was expecting to!
I also have to say that my husband has been supporting me since the beginning. He has been taking an important part in the development of my career. He managed my 1st band and he currently manages The Foxy Ladies.
Gabi, what bands did you grow up listening to? And is there a certain vocalist that you took as your ideal while growing up as a vocalist?
Even though a few rock tracks were playing on my father’s turntable; for example van Halen or the Queen, I was not really raised in the rock world. Yes, it came later. I still think a trigger was when in high school, while I was enrolled in music lessons, we studied Hendrix’s work. For the record, I came across “If 6 was 9” for the baccalaureate analysis test. So it was pretty cool : yeaaaaah I kicked ass! Then, I started to listen to more and more rock music (mainly rock classics). Subsequently I attended a lot of festivals: Sziget, Download festival, Hellfest… The energy of the rock scene is so powerful, energetic and crazy that I was totally hooked. And since then my music library has grown: on the rock side I listen to punk, grunge, hard rock, metal, etc. I would add that at the same time, I started to listen to a lot of alternative music, ambient electro chill trip hop. When it comes to rock’n’roll vocals, I’m a particular fan of Beth Hart. For example I would strongly advise you to go listen to her live at Paradiso, in particular the track My immortal. It’s pure energy on stage and she has a powerful, precise and amazing voice. I also love the voice and attitude of Brody Dalle (total fan <3). Besides, we all love Brody Dalle in the band, that is why we made a cover of “The Hunger” (available on our facebook page if you want to listen to it). And finally, beyond even her voice which is extraordinary, I love the letting go, the energy… the madness (!) of Katie Jane Garside, the singer of Queen Adreena. Finally, I will also mention the voice of Taylor Momsen, singer of The Pretty Reckless, which I find “purring” and rock’n roll as possible.
To get our readers to know you better, how about we play a little imagination game? I will give you a scenario in an alternate universe and you’d have to react. Ready?
Always ready to play!
In a universe where the senses of taste and hearing are mixed up, what food would you imagine your musicwould taste like?
A bittersweet complex taste, like a Gin Tonic!
What about you, Lucianne?
I imagine something like Old el Paso!! With good beef, tomatoes, red, beans, peppers and … a hot spicy sauce!!
In a universe where instead of paying for things with money, you pay by making people laugh, how rich would you be considered to be?
I would probably be wealthy!! I love to make people laugh. I’m always looking for things that will make it happened even if it is totally dumb. I’m not a really serious person actually. I try to. But I often fair!! My fellows can witness it, poor people!!
I am not a funny girl. […] Ok, seriously, I’m not too good at making jokes or pranks. I tend to laugh before the end. Well, the important thing is that we all end up laughing. On the other hand, it seems that I am very good at going “freewheel” (according to Lucianne’s words : “Gabi part en roue libre”), that is to say that I go crazy, for example, after spending 8 hours on the road, I end up spouting incoherent, sometimes vulgar words… And often incongruous. Apparently, it makes other people laugh.
Lucianne, in a universe where people worship guitarists, what would the festival celebrating your godhood be like?
Jimi Hendrix would be the Pope of my festival 😀 Then, my festival should have Brody Dalle. She is my idol as a woman punk-rocker. She is so cool and has class. Voice. Attitude. I’m totally in love with her former band the Distillers and her. They are a great influence for me!! Joan Jett also!! Because she played an important role in the emancipation of women in music. I admire her and what she did with the Runaways. There is also Nita Strauss, the current guitarist in Alice Cooper. This woman is just incredible. She plays so well… and looks fantastic too. Then, I love a lot Nuno Bettencourt. He is so amazing! I love the way his technique serves the music he plays!! Brian May should come too lol. And to finish, I would be honored to have some pioneers : Robert Johnson, John Lee Hooker, Son House, Howlin Wolf, SRV. So, do you want a ticket ?
Gabi, in a universe where you’re the singer of a Jazz band, what would the band’s name be?
The Foxy ladies ? I think it could work… 😀 Yes, it’s an easy answer. Or it could be something about Rivers, because the environmental cause is very important to me and that I find a lot of inspiration, a lot of poetry in Nature.
Finally, in a universe where a dark lord has invaded humanity with the help of an army of goblins, and it was discovered that the goblins’ weakness is heavy music, what The Foxy Ladies’ song would you lead the charge against the dark lord with, Lucianne?
I would choose a song from our next album!! I think I will open fire on the goblins with City Hunters. They all would die at the 1st chorus, for sure.
And you know what ? You are very lucky because this song will be soon released in a new live show … So stay in touch!!! Follow us on social media to be noticed when it is out!
What about you, Gabi?
I would also choose a song from the next album. I do think that City Hunter is a good choice. I think I will attract them first with our “Oh my god” song (this song is a trap) and then afterwards we would bring out the heavy artillery!
Thank you for playing, ladies!
It’s our pleasure :p
Lucianne, have you ever been treated in a sexist way? How would you face sexism and what advice would you give to young people who face any kind of discrimination?
Once during a show with The Foxy Ladies. But I was totally in my music and with the lights I did not realize what happened. I can’t even find the rights words to describe sexism and related behaviors. Those people seem to forget how they came on this planet!! My way to react is not always the same. If I am in front of someone who is aggressive, I would be aggressive too, certainly ready to fight. When this is what we call “ordinary sexism”, candid, with sentences like “you play right for women!”, I try to explain why this is sexist and how to change states of mind. To young people who face discrimination, whether it is sexism or something else, my advice is : don’t listen to it, follow your heart, do what makes you feel alive, happy and unique, work hard, spread it, share it!!
What about you, Gabi?
Like Lucianne, I think I react differently to ordinary sexism than to aggressive sexism. It may seem abstract but these are sometimes quite clear situations. It is true that we often hear “that plays well for a girls band”, and under cover of a compliment, there are years of struggles against sexism which crumble (Ouch). So, yes, in these situations, I think that raising awareness, explaining things can maybe help to move mentalities forward. On the other hand, it happens that an act of sexism is violent, and there, we can only react. For example, I received a nauseating proposition by messenger, a message to which we responded with a song on the Backbone album. It is titled “For fools”. It’s a pretty abrupt, violent song about inappropriate sexualization; the confusion that people can have between the stage character accessible to the eye and the ear, and the person who comes down from the stage, human and sensitive… who belongs only to herself, always happy to speak to people and exchange about music, but obviously not a “common” property to whom questionable proposals are made. Music is a way to break free, it’s about sharing and respect, it should remain so regardless of our gender, our orientation, our origins, etc.
Thank you so much for the interview, ladies! Hope you enjoyed this. Take care!
Thank you a lot for your support FemMetal!!! Take care!!
