Scarlet Sins
Written by Jack Russell
Sunday, 04 October 2009 11:20
Trying to remain composed isn’t easy if you are a typical guy and you meet Scarlet Sins in person. You don’t meet women like this all that often, even if you attend rock shows and write about bands regularly. You certainly don’t usually meet four of them at the same time.
If you can get past the way they look (which I still haven’t) these are the kind of exotic, interesting characters beneath the surface that define rather unique forms of feminine appeal. They draw energy from each other, but also from time apart. The girls of Scarlet Sins each speak more than one language and are brainy without being pedantic. They each exude the cool edge of rock musicians who have a white hot sound. They aren’t cocky, but they do seem comfortable compared with others.
This is a band that resists classifications like “metal” or “hard rock”. They can be both or neither particularly in view of the originality of their sound. But theirs is a closer reflection of who they are personally than any kind of niche within a genre.
I got another chance to speak with them at Toronto’s Tattoo Rock Parlour in August 2009. Having arrived early, I chatted with Jeff Bryant, a Sins fan who has been to no less than forty Sins shows and shot and cut numerous videos of Scarlet Sins songs the band uses for promotion. Bryant filled me in on a number of things about the band that I followed up on during the interview and I am grateful for the unexpected assistance in preparation for the interview.
The girls showed up together on schedule delighting the fans in attendance at the pre-show party. Tanya Nicklaus, the Sins bassist who also arranged our interview, introduced me to Cristina Bishop, the lead guitarist sometimes referred to as the “Original Sin” since she is one of the band’s founding members. I tried not to smirk when I noticed a guy standing behind them with his glasses fogging up.
Tanya, lithe in a white t-shirt and jeans, related my credentials to Cristina in her organised and concise way of speaking as the two of them sipped glasses of red wine. Ms. Nicklaus’ seriousness was, and usually is, contrasted by the good natured affability and seemingly perpetual smile of Sins drummer Elie Bertrand. In Mademoiselle Bertrand’s case, it is just a series of different kinds of smiles – shy, surprised, whimsical, satisfied – I can’t help marvelling when somebody somewhere seems that happy. After a show, she is practically bouncing off the walls. Both Tanya and Elie chatted up their fans effortlessly slipping back and forth between French and English mingling throughout the room.
Cristina led me to Sins singer Sylvya NuVynska who provided me with some amusement as she arched her back slightly leaning forward to speak with me. Ms.NuVynska is all woman, but she is taller than almost everyone she meets, male or female.
I was surprised at their candour in the occasion I had to chat with them. It was a candour I appreciated coming as it does in a world of politicians and commercial pitchmen who stick to talking points. As an all-female ensemble, I was even more surprised at how down to earth they are about the issue of gender and sexism within the music industry. They were quite patient with me when I asked them about certain things they consider routine components of what they do.
Can you explain what is involved in rehearsal for a band like yours in a city like this? You can’t rehearse at home can you? You need to book space somewhere to do that, right? Is there a regular schedule and do you rehearse together still if one of you can’t make it?
Elie Bertrand: We have our sinner shack downtown (rehearsal hall) and it’s practically my home. If we don’t have a band rehearsal, I’m in there hanging out with my baby (my kit).
Cristina Bishop: The rest of us are able to practice and write at home, but it’s great to have a place where you can turn your amp up and jam with a drummer (instead of my metronome). Elie and I live really close to our rehearsal hall so the two of us end up jamming a lot. Sylvya and Tanya live far from the hall so we rely on sending each other MP3s of song ideas so we can make the most of our time together in rehearsal.
How important is taking time away from the other Sins to be by yourself? It is important to get along with who you work with, but you do need to take time away, right?
Sylvya NuVynska: It IS very important. You love your bandmates. It is great hanging with them because they are very much my closest friends. But you need away time. Not just musically, but just to be by yourself.
Cristina Bishop: Sylvya and I have been very tight with each other since day one. Everyone seems to notice that. But we aren’t together all the time though it can seem that way if people don’t see us in any other context.
How important is it to get along with the bands you share a stage with and why?
Elie Bertrand: Well, put it this way, how important is it to get along with everyone at work? Same here, it’s definitively more enjoyable when you like everyone around and, luckily, that’s what we get most of the time.
Cristina Bishop: In general, you should be nice to everyone…there were times when other guitar players have helped me carry gear or lent me their cabinets and they didn’t even know me. I can’t say people would do that if you acted like an asshole. The bands we’ve played with are generally supportive of other bands.
There have been a number of different members of your band over the years since you started in 2004. In auditions can you tell when someone will fit straight off?
Cristina Bishop: Musically? Sure, right away.
Sylvya NuVynska: Sure, yeah, you can tell immediately. Then it becomes a question of how well you can work together. But after that people can change. Like anyone, musicians can change, their circumstances can change.
Cristina Bishop: Yes. They may decide they wanna do something else or they cannot make the same level of committment the others are making and wanna do it more as a hobby than a career.
Must be kind of sad when someone has to make that kind of choice.
Sylvya NuVynska: Yeah, because it affects more people. It isn’t just them leaving. It is the rest of us having to move on and replace them.
Cristina Bishop: Sure. We’ve had people leave and it’s like a break up only worse.
Can you explain the process involved in booking your band and what factors go in to where you play and when?
Tanya Nicklaus: Our show bookings happen in different ways. Sometimes, we’ll be the ones booking the show by contacting bars, promoters, other bands, etc. But some other shows will be offered to us by these same people…This is why it’s really important to establish and nurture good relationships with them.
You have a show at Lee’s Palace coming up on August 22nd after one near Montreal, both are this week. On the day of a show and what needs to happen and when, to make things go the way they need to.
Cristina Bishop: We usually meet early in the day to load up the van and drive to wherever we have to be. It’s a day of double and triple checking every piece of gear to make sure nothing gets lost. Usually we get a soundcheck, which always helps a show run more smoothly when you’ve had a chance to make sure your gear is working properly, etc. Warm ups are also important for a great show! Nothing like having your hands cramp up cause you didn’t make the time for warm ups.
How much prep time would you say goes into getting ready for a single set compared with the actual time of your set?
Sylvya NuVynska: We’re onstage for like 45 minutes to an hour these days, but a lot more time does go into preparing for it.
Cristina Bishop: From getting up early to do makeup to unloading the equipment before a show to loading out after the show, plus the time we spend with fans who we are grateful for coming out to see us…It’s a fourteen hour day for us. Some people don’t know that. A lot of people don’t know that.
Sylvya NuVynska: In the hour before, I do like to go through the set in my mind. If I’m not out talking to people before we hit the stage I am visualising to get ready. Concentration is pretty key.
How do you feel physically after a show?
Sylvya NuVynska: It feels like more than just a good workout. I feel it all over.
Cristina Bishop: For me, these days it is not so easy. I had a nasty spill, slipping and falling in July. I hurt my hand, back and shoulder. I need massage therapy and have been playing injured even though the adrenaline from being on stage seems to wipe out any memory of said injury….you gotta do what you have to do!
It seems like you expend other resources than time and hard work.
Cristina Bishop: Absolutely. We want to put on the best show we can for the people who come out. We’re constantly upgrading our equipment. Plus things break. It is a reality when you move things from place to place. It doesn’t come cheap. We’re talking thousands of dollars every year.
Sylvya NuVynska: Yeah. For my own part, my vocal cords are obviously pretty vital and I get them checked out regularly by an ear, nose and throat specialist. Any singer worries about polyp growths. I’m also conscious of keeping my microphone clean of bacteria. It’s no fun trying to sing with a scratchy throat.
As the members of Scarlet Sins with the most seniority, how long would you say building your brand took before you started to notice you were getting somewhere and
what did that feel like?
Sylvya NuVynska: Wow…I don’t think we were intentionally building a brand. It was more like just a putting a team together to get the kind of music we wanted and get it out there. That happened kind of naturally. It was a matter of working with different people and getting the right mix.
Cristina Bishop: I think things finally fell into place when Elie joined. We could tell pretty quickly by the reaction from the crowds that we got the right drummer. That’s what you mean right? I think our sound began to reach much more of its potential shortly after Elie joined. The right drummer is pretty fundamental to the success of a good band.
It seems as though it is band policy to answer all mail from fans. What do you get out of that and what can other bands get out of that from a personal standpoint?
Sylvya NuVynska: Fan mail rocks! It’s great to hear how we influence our fans or how a song has inspired them. It’s always great to get feedback from fans.
Tanya Nicklaus: It’s extremely important to nurture that relationship with fans. It actually really puts things into perspective for us and gives us even more incentive to do what we do.
Cristina Bishop: If I’m having a bad day (writer’s block, too many pressures, etc.), I love reading messages from people who encourage us to keep moving forward. It’s so uplifting…
Elie Bertrand: I LOVE fan mail. I just wish I had more time to reply faster. Twitter is one of my favourite ways to communicate. We can send daily updates and everyone is part of the process!
Image plays a role in what you do because you are putting on a show when you play. You dress differently than you normally would, I would think, anyway. I can’t imagine Sylvya going grocery shopping wearing her leather pants and snakebelt.
Sylvya NuVynska: Yeah, to an extent. I mean when I go to a rock show I wanna see a rock show. When I go to see KISS or Motley Crue I don’t expect them to be dressed like Joe Blow. Of course we put on a show for our fans. But what I wear on stage is a reflection of who I am and my own personal style. People that know me, know that.
Cristina Bishop: (Laughs) You’d be surprised to know how many times we HAVE gone shopping dressed in our stage clothes, but usually only on the road.
….And the Ankh or “Life Key” you wear? It is more of a Goth motif than a Metal one isn’t it?
Cristina Bishop: I just like it and believe in what Ankh’s represent. It is not about projecting an image for people to read into.
You are active in a genre within popular music very often characterised as misogynistic, and even more often mischaracterised as satanic. Do you feel limited at all by perceptions or do feel like you have an opportunity to redefine those perceptions?
Cristina Bishop: I don’t really think of it as goal to change perceptions in any way. We just play the music we love. Sexism? It’s unfair to discuss one sex’s hatred towards the other without recognizing that it goes both ways. In our case, we’ve had a lot of support from both men and women.
Sylvya NuVynska: I agree. We always try to relate a positive message. We have never been treated negatively by any of the guys in bands because we’re female at least not that I can remember. (To Cristina) Can you?
Cristina Bishop: No, if anything they just help you move gear, for which we are forever grateful!
Sylvya NuVynska: As for satanism, believe it or not some people have taken us for a Christian band. Some people are just gonna see what they wanna see and hear what they wanna hear. Perception is NOT always reality.
What does “making it” as a band even mean today beyond “The answer is different for everyone” answer? Beyond cost recovery what do you see as realistic?
Tanya Nicklaus: I think that in order to “make it”, a band has to have a strong relationship with fans, and to have these fans be inspired by what the band does.
Elie Bertrand: For me “making it” means being happy doing what I like to do and surviving financially, even on the most basic level as long as I’m playing drums. Obviously, a castle in France and an enormous drum collection would be awesome, but I will rest in peace if I can play music until the end.
Cristina Bishop: Me too…as long as I can play guitar for the rest of my life, I will consider that a success. I definitely love playing for other people, writing songs, but I would be playing guitar regardless of whether someone else would eventually hear it.
Sylvya NuVynska: Being able to go up on stage and perform a song we wrote for our fans; that to me is making it.
Let’s talk about the process of marketing a recording online. Where and how can people buy your albums online and what was involved in your making them available
that way?
Cristina Bishop: In terms of marketing, there are so many bands on the Internet; you just hope your songs are good enough for your fans to spread the word about you. Word of mouth from a friend beats any marketing strategy…
Tanya Nicklaus: There are three ways people can buy our album/mp3s: online through cdbaby.com or maplemusic.com; through our store at http://www.scarletsinsonline.comwhich features certain exclusives such as autographed CDs and combo packages…
Elie Bertrand: And we’re also on iTunes. You can get us directly on your iPhone…
Any thoughts about a tour of Europe or the States? I know that you have talked about doing that before.
Sylvya NuVynska: Oh, personally I would love to do a tour of Europe, especially Poland, I was born there. But from an economic perspective, as a band we need money to do something like that. Yes, we have talked about doing that before and we still might. But it really is a matter of economics and simple timing.
Sponsorship is part of what bands get as a bit of help these days and Scarlet Sins has a number of beneficial relationships with various outfits. Can you explain what some of these are?
Elie Bertrand: Endorsements are amazing. We get support all around the world, access to products easily; we get great opportunities to meet people in the industry, to exchange ideas, to try out stuff. I proudly endorse Pearl Drums, Sabian Cymbals, Evans Drumheads and Los Cabos Drumsticks.
Cristina Bishop: We can’t be grateful enough for the support the band has received from companies such as Seymour Duncan, Planet Waves, D’addario, Amp Clamp…
Tanya Nicklaus: …Ernie Ball as well…
Sylvya NuVynska: We’ve also been lucky to have support from M.A.C. makeup, Schwarzkopf (hair products) and Zoogee (merch company).
Cristina Bishop: These companies created quality products that we were already using before becoming endorsed so it’s a great reciprocal relationship when it comes to touting something you believe in.
Toronto has been Sylvya’s home since she was very young, but it is the fairly recently adopted home of the other three Sins. In my own experience, it is expensive to live here and the metal scene here has seen better days. Any serious thoughts about relocating?
Cristina Bishop: We don’t need to physically be in a L.A. or New York to get our music out there especially with the internet. Toronto is a nice balance for us living, playing shows, composing, recording…
Sylvya NuVynska: I moved here from Europe when I was six and have lived here ever since. There’s good and there’s bad, but it’s home to me.
What are your thoughts on being Canadian and do you feel the country and the government do enough to support artists?
Sylvya NuVynska: Canada rocks! There are so many different grants that as an artist you can apply for. Canada definitely supports their artists. I’m proud to be Canadian.