Kobra And The Lotus's Kobra Interview On Metal, Her Name, Musical Influences

Well, the inspiration comes from a lot of different places. Every song is about different things. But they are all about fighting your internal demons and it’s like a different battle that I have to explain the songs to show what I am writing about. Like “Heaven’s Veins,” is about an addiction. It’s about waking up with an addiction and “50 Shades of Evil” is about all consuming greed — just thinking over your whole mentality. This greediness, there is a lot of greediness in the way our world works right now and then another example is about my life and carrying forward — when generations weren’t even part of something that happened in the history of other people, but they carry negative feelings for it, like hatred. It’s a lot of that and taking control of your own mind and your own actions. There are a lot of very light notes I guess surrounding overcoming dark things.

I was just remembering when we were trying to record a live show a couple of years back and someone spilled beer like all over the monitor where I put my foot up on and so my foot when I went to stand on it. it really hurt but the funniest part was that the people didn’t notice during the show, but when we were listening to the show after, all you can hear is like a bang. It was pretty funny to listen to afterwards. On our last European tour, two pairs of my leather pants split right open in the crotch while we were playing at two consecutive shows. There was nothing I could do so I just kept power lunging, head banging and doing my thing while shocking the first three rows. Show goes on!

I guess how late the nights are. It’s very physically demanding. One of the hardest things that we have experienced is when we are driving ourselves. That makes it really hard and we get really crazy because there is no sleeping at night.

Oh yeah. Absolutely! There have been a few instances that stick out a lot. Actually one was really recent, a show two nights ago, man in the audience kept grabbing at my leg and my stomach and stuff, like no barrier. He kept like touching me and hitting me basically, but it was like for attention, like look over here and I really really didn’t appreciate that, it was really bad. I didn’t know what to do. I was just singing and he just grabbed my leg, grabbed me in the stomach. It was just terrible! Another thing that happened was one time two years ago, there was a girl that came up to the front of the audience and she was really drunk and she decided she didn’t like me and she was going with her hand like she was going to grab my feet, my foot from underneath and like she was teasing. But the guys beside her, they were fans and they were looking at her like, 'If you do that, we’re going to kick you out.' She was there the whole time. It was really hard to ignore that. Two nights ago a man actually broke out into the Gangham Style dance in beat to "Welcome To My Funeral."

The root of it is basically in the mentality of being aware of it in life and where it all started and just the Native Americans vibe. They draw things from the energy of nature and I think that’s where it all started for people. Everything came from the earth. And I think that no matter who the people were in the world, they all started as a tribe and I just want to bring that to strength at the stage.

No, we don’t at all actually. No pushups. Charlie does that I’m pretty sure and right before he goes on stage he gets his arms jacked up. I just run through a set of vocal exercises and it’s the same every time. I say a little mantra to myself as well.

Oh yeah, definitely. I don’t know when exactly we’re coming down there but it will happen at some point in the nearby future. Yeah, now that we have Charlie especially.

The origin of my name came from the band name really. The band name is because metal to me represents just beauty and metal is really like a brotherhood or sisterhood within the people and the community that comes to the show. They all just feel like they are coming together, when they all know the words, it’s very cool loyalty towards the music that they all share with each other. The cobra is kind of a symbol to see worldwide as a protector. It’s always there with its hood up. It’s very fierce. The lotus is a flower that comes from the mud, and that’s metal.

When I was eight years old, I started doing classical training, vocal training and piano. And I did that for the next like eight years and so when I was a lot younger is when it all started for me. I wasn’t actually interested in pursuing opera around that time when I was around 15. When I was 15 I was already on my way out of singing. I was trying to get out it but I had another exam to finish with that was at some conservatory. So I was hanging around to wrap up what I had started. I was over it. That was the moment that basically turned me on to metal and I knew exactly what I wanted to be a part of exactly after that.