Q and A: Lizi Blanco (The Beautiful Monument)

By ADAM COOPER

Hot Metal: Hey Lizi, great to chat with you. How have you coped becoming a Melburnian?

Lizi Blanco: “My seven years spent in Melbourne were a lot of fun when I was younger! It seemed that the older I got though the further away I wanted to be from the chaos of a major city. So I’ve lived in Newcastle with Amy now for about four years. There’s a lot less going on here which is really nice to come home to after being on the road and being surrounded by a lot of people.”

HM: The single ‘Misery’ is awesome! How was the recording process?

LB: “Thank you! It was a lot of fun heading back to Melbourne for a few weeks and working with Callan Orr. After I wrote the chorus I knew I’d be hating myself whenever we would have to play it live since I have mad anxiety about ‘ball squeaking’ in front of people hahaha but I’ve practiced it enough now that I think I’ll be able to nail it 99 percent of the time… I hope. But the whole experience was super fun, it was the first time we’d written music together as this lineup and it was just an all round good time for all of us!”

HM:  Couple of shows in, how has the Evanescence tour been going?

LB: “It’s been nothing short of amazing. The crowd has been super kind and very receptive to our music, we’ve definitely felt very welcomed to the Evanescence fanbase family. On top of being insanely talented musicians the band themselves are probably some of the most genuine humans I’ve met in this industry. It’s super humbling and reassuring that some parts of the music industry remain unscathed of some of its toxicity. They say ‘don’t meet your heroes’ and I’ve certainly had some pretty disappointing interactions with musicians I grew up with or admired at some point in my life but Evanescence are a totally different ball game. This might be the millennial in me but I wish there was still music like theirs on mainstream radio inspiring younger generations to give music a go because it’s such an empowering scene ESPECIALLY for women.”

HM: Do you follow any sport? Surely being in Melbs you have an AFL team?

LB: “You’re probably going to hate me for this haha I actually very, very much dislike sports; I’ve personally never understood the hype around it and it’s all super boring to me but Amy (bassist) really likes ice hockey though so I will go watch that with her because she enjoys it and she watches spooky stuff with me and she’s scared of it. But yes, hockey is very cold and loud, but she has fun so it makes me happy knowing she enjoys it. Adam and Alex like sports though, I don’t know what football specifically but I often catch them both staring intently and yelling at their phones haha to quote Alex ‘carn the pear’..? Something about the Power, do with that what you will – it’s an Adelaide thing.”

HM: Which band or album would you take to a deserted island?

LB: “Oooooh this one is hard. It’s either What Separates Me From You – A Day To Remember or Mezmerize by System of a Down. I can’t decide.”