ToxicRose
It All Begins With Production of Costumes

10.10.2015

ToxicRose stands for aggressive but also melodic sound, powerful vocals, furious energy and outrageous costumes. The band formed in Stockholm in 2010 brings together vocalist Andy Lipstixx, drummer Michael Sweet (both formerly of Lipstixx’n’Bulletz), guitarist Tom Wouda (Gemini Five) and bassist Goran Imperator (ex-Sexydeath). Even though so far ToxicRose only have a five-track EP and a two-track single to their credit, it is definitely a band worth looking out for. In an attempt to catch the future stars on the rise, we met with the four-piece after their performance at the MeriRock festival which is held aboard the Viking Line ferry in the Baltic Sea.

What’s up guys? Do you have any news for the fans?

Michael: The album is coming out soon, we're working on it, we’re putting the final touches so that it will come out most likely early next year.

What do you do in your spare time?

Andy: Actually the music eats up most of our spare time. Love to draw and build things, like stage clothes.

Could you tell me some funny story that happened to you during the tour?

Andy: Well, on the road we do not have really funny stories — they're all ugly and scary, some solid disaster haunts us when we are on tour. We are suffering. We need them to be kept in secret. You still will be able to read them in our book.
Goran: Tom's book comes out first!

Why don’t you tour Russia? You could perform in St. Petersburg or Moscow...

Andy: In fact, we’ve talked to the promoters of possible performances in Russia in the future, we hope to come to Russia after the release of our album. We were connected with the Russian promoter. When we release the album, we will have significantly more gigs.

When will it be?

Michael: Probably, the album will be released early next year... in any case, before the summer.
Tom: You never know how it’s going to happen. We have promised a hundred times a specific release date — it comes out on such and such date, and then everything gets shifted.
Goran: But we will hold on to the idea of playing in Russia, when we release the album, we will play a show in Russia — in Moscow and (slowly) in Saint-Peters-burg, right?

Right.

Andy: Yeah, we really want to do it, I even have a friend, who were playing in St. Petersburg, and somewhere else, and they said that it was very cool, a lot of people, the crowd got completely wild, and when I heard his story, I lit up — oh, I want to play in Russia!

Where did they play – the clubs?

Andy: No, it was something big, some festival... They had three performances in Russia: one at a festival, and two in the clubs.

Was it a thrash (or metal) fest?

Andy: Thrash festivals in Russia? (looks surprised) It must be something like a copy of the festival in Finland...

There was a festival by the name of “Moscow Metal Meeting” in Moscow this August.

Andy: But we were not invited? (laughs)

What do you know about Russia?

Goran: Na zdorovie, teatr...
Tom: Da, si, Yeltsin, gracias, Kalashnikov...
Andy: I know the history of Russia, during the Second World War onwards, but it does not say anything about modern Russia. So I do not know anything about your country today. You better tell us yourself! I've never been to Russia, but would like to. And in general, mmm... Let's make this interview in reverse order. Did you hear the new songs?

Yes, just in a concert.

Andy: But they were played almost for the first time. Was there something that you liked? For example, a slow thing? (sings the rhythm) So simple. Bashing rhythm. Did you like it?

Yes, I liked it very much. Do you put your make-up on yourselves?

Andy: Yes, of course, we put on our make-up ourselves.

Just like Kiss... It's your favorite band, isn't it?

Michael: I love it, yes.
Andy: No, not KISS, rather, W.A.S.P. or Twisted Sister.

Do you make your costumes yourselves too?

Tom: Yeah, we are making our costumes, all elements. And it's great! In fact, this is also part of our work. It all begins with the production of costumes. We have today our new stage clothes on. We have done something with them and now they represent a new stage image for this, so to speak, kind of a tour. Unfortunately, the stage was too small, and no one saw our costumes in all their glory. We have worked on them so hard and the crowd is all too drunk to appreciate and remember anything. How long have you been working on your costume? (looks at Michael)
Michael: You mean this part? (pointing to the vest). Since my birth, I worked on my stage costume! (laughs)

And do these multiple spikes on your costumes save you from obsessive groupies?

Andy: Yes, of course, they save us from them! Wonderful, I love it! Take a look, I have spikes here and there. (pointing at his crotch)
Goran: Well, in fact, we don’t have a lot of groupies, really.

It should be pretty hard to remove all this make-up?

Andy: You know, it is washed away only after three days of intensive showering. You get into a shower, and you take the toughest sponge — oh, it hurts painfully! — and you start to scrape off the paint. You all turn red like a pig, then it turns out that almost all the make-up stays on, and that’s how you go to work. And then you're back and you go into a shower again – but the make-up still remains. After a week on tour you are already looking pretty bad when you come back home.

OK, thank you guys for the interview!

Andy: Not at all! Thank you.

ToxicRose on the Internet: http://www.ToxicRose.org

Lena Reutskaya
September 12, 2015
(с) HeadBanger.ru