Sometimes the stars align in just the right way and so after featuring in the latest issue of Devolution when a chance for a second chat with Lena Scissorhands presented itself we grabbed it with both hands. After all it would be rude not to. Gary Trueman was duly dispatched to London and asked the questions pre-gig at London’s famous Underworld venue. Up for discussion was Lena’s love of nature, her passion for languages and what it’s like country hopping around Europe.
A lot of people will have noticed through your posts on social media that you have a big love of nature.
“Nature is my favourite and I developed a love for it when I was a child. I lived for some years in Armenia between when I was 9 and 13 years old. The situation in Armenia in my family was quite difficult, let’s be honest, quite poor. We would work in nature a lot and collect fruits and vegetables, and berries and mushrooms. Everything that is possible that will help you to survive or that you can sell to help make some extra money. I have learned though that how important it is to understand nature and how important it is to respect nature, because it gives us so much. As I grew older eventually I made a decision to switch to a plant based diet and the results that I could feel on my own body, my own skin and my own mental health are absolutely amazing. I am eternally thankful to nature for what it offers to us. I’d like to remind people to be a little bit more mindful and respectful towards nature. I wrote a song about it called ‘The Earth Mantra’ but nature themes are always present in Infected Rain.”
Do you ever get the urge while on tour to just get off the bus and touch the earth to connect?
“More I would say you would see me touch trees. Or hug trees, or talk to trees. I’m a crazy girl haha! I try to ground myself and notice what is all around us. Travelling means we get really good opportunities to see really good landscapes, sunsets and sunrises. I know for sure if I need any kind of recharge, especially when I’m home, I go for hikes to have no cell phone connection. Just me and my dog, or close friends and family.”
Those trees will be so old too, they’ve seen so much.
“Yes, the energy they preserve, through all that time.”
You mentioned your dog. Along with nature you have an acute love of animals. Do you have many pets?
“Unfortunately I can’t have many pets because I travel so much. They are living creatures that have a lot of emotions, they miss you and they can get depressed and it’s unfair to them. At the moment I have a mini Schnauzer who is five and a half years old. She is a certified disability animal for an invisible disability that I have unfortunately. She is not only my pet she is my saviour, my nurse, my best friend and she is amazing. She’s been helping me a lot and has saved my life multiple times.”
They have an inner intuition don’t they? A sixth sense.
“Yes, especially if you go to special schools where you can train your pet specifically for your life style and for what you do. It’s so much easier to have this connection with your animal.”
You’re multi-lingual speaking Russian, Romanian, Italian and English. A lot of people around the world speak multiple languages but here in the UK it’s often the case that someone will only speak English. So do you sometimes find yourself translating for people in some countries such as here in the UK?
“Yes, absolutely, if I can of course. I’ve always had a passion for languages. I’m really happy that I grew up in a dual language country and that I lived in other countries though my life, so it helped me learn not only a new language but a new culture. When you learn about other cultures you understand other people a little bit better and you can connect to people better. I don’t speak as many languages as I would like to, it would be great to learn at least one more. I studied languages at university, and if needed I translate if I can.”
Your English is excellent. So which language do you think in?
“Often when we think about certain things we do it automatically. I think for me my thoughts switch to a different language when I am in a different country. So when I am home, I currently live in the United States, I think in and speak English mainly. When I am in Europe I speak mainly Russian because that’s the language used in my band. Secondarily I use Italian because my entire family lives in Italy and I went to university in Italy. Romanian unfortunately I get to speak a little bit less because I don’t live in Moldova any more. But I do Have friends I practice it with. I think in the language that I switch to. So if I go to the gym at home I count in English but if I do exercises on the tour bus I count in Russian.”
We need to talk a bit about touring. You’ve been on tour for a long time but just on the run up to this show in London you played Germany the night before last and then Holland last night. You’re racking up some serious miles. Does it just become a blur?
“No. However it can become a little bit heavy when it comes to travelling. Playing shows every night is our favourite. We prefer not to have days off because you kind of get out of the routine, at least not too many days off. The part that really tires you out is the travelling itself. We have to go through a lot of border controls. You’ve just played a show and you’ve literally slept two hours and then you probably don’t have any more time in the morning to recuperate, and then you have another show. This is what happened last night. I finished showering and getting ready for bed at one and we were at the border at four, and at the ferry at six, and then a few hours on the ferry and then back on the road. It’s not every day like this. However it can be really stressful, and we often get stopped by police because they can be judgemental thinking metal equals drugs. But we have the best team who are great people.”
Three months on tour with the album ‘Time’. It’s a significant progression for the band musically. How has it been received on the tour, how have the new songs gone down?
“It’s been great. It’s summer and we managed to book certain club shows between festivals. During the week on a hot summer night we get almost sold out shows and that makes us really happy, no matter how small or big the club. We are absolutely grateful for every single person that chooses to spend their time like this, coming to support us and share their energy.”
You’ve played in the UK a few times now so is their anything about this country that you’ve found to be a bit…. weird?
“Oh, a lot of stuff is weird in England. Now I love it very much, it’s very beautiful and I love the traditions. However we do find it very different too. Nothing bad though. Like for instance you have your own plugs for sockets. The one thing I’ve never understood is why do you need two faucets? One for cold and one for hot!”
Americans, and you live there now, always say that!
“It’s not that common in Europe either. And then you drive on the other side of the road which can be quite confusing. It’s little things like that but it doesn’t make it bad it’s just different and you just have to get used to it. People are very friendly in our experience and we love it.”
If you had a 15 or 16 year old Infected Rain fan come up to you and say I want to do this, I want to be in a band, I want to play guitar, I want to sing, I want to be like you. What would you say to them?
“First piece of advice. You don’t want to be like me. You don’t want to be like anybody, you need to be you. That would be the best advice anybody could give to a starting artist. It’s important not to be afraid to be unique and to be yourself. We don’t need gimmicks, we don’t need another Infected Rain. We already have one. You can do better by being yourself. If you put in the hard work and try to improve your skills you will be amazing by doing what you do, by being yourself.”
Interview By Gary Trueman
Photos By Victoria ‘Wonka’ Tutukescu