“Security will think that you’re either the wife or the girlfriend of someone, or a groupie”: Lacuna Coil’s Cristina Scabbia explains how women are “treated differently” in the heavy metal scene

Lacuna Coil singer Cristina Scabbia has explained how women are “treated differently” to men in heavy metal.

Talking exclusively in the new issue of Metal Hammer, the Italian gothic metal vocalist says that while she’s never encountered “problems” in the genre because of her gender, she believes women have to “prove” themselves as rock stars more than men do.

“Honestly, I never encountered problems,” she begins. “I was never treated badly, but you are treated differently. At every gig, or at festivals, the security will think that you’re either the wife or the girlfriend of someone, or a groupie, or a production assistant. A guy can be a rock star just wearing skinny jeans and a jacket. A lady has to prove it.”

However, Scabbia adds that there are “pros” to being a woman in metal as well.

“The cover of magazines was one,” she explains. “When an editor is just like, ‘OK, we have a cool picture of a pretty woman or we have another picture of a guy with a beard.’ Let’s be honest, let’s be real, I think that we got a lot of attention because of having a woman in a band.”

Scabbia joined Lacuna Coil in 1996, taking on co-vocal duties alongside male singer Andrea Ferro. Before she joined the band, she made dance music, but she admits to Hammer that she “never had the desire to become the next pop singer”.

“Even though I liked pop and dance music, I didn’t really feel that I wanted to make that music,” she adds. “We went to a music convention to present one of the songs by the DJ, and I remember the day after, two guys separately came to me saying they were producers. They gave me their card, and they were basically trying to take me to bed. And I was just like, ‘What the fuck is this? I don’t want to be part of this.’”

The full interview with Scabbia can be found exclusively in the new Hammer, which features Swedish power metal wardogs Sabaton on the cover. Before the release of the band’s new album Legends, we sent our writer to their hometown of Falun for an exclusive look at their base of operations.

The new issue also contains interviews with Malevolence, Creeper, Biohazard and many more, plus reviews of new music from the likes of Conjurer, Soulfly and Testament. Order your copy now and get it delivered directly to your door.