It occurred to me once that women who rock don't just take the road less traveled, they spend their days running twice as fast down the path, while dodging slings and arrows from brutal critics and narrow-minded fans. Many years ago, someone challenged me to name more than five women who "really rocked" and after I'd finished firing off a list that would have filled ten sheets of paper from top to bottom, I swore to always acknowledge the unsung heroes of music: the ladies.
Liv Jagrell, the dynamic front woman of Sweden's Sister Sin, has never needed the distinction of being treated like a delicate flower. Her stage presence and explosive rock vocals speak for themselves.
There are plenty of women in rock these days but I always maintain that plenty is never enough. Are you more conscious that you are out there with the big boys of legend and does it inspire you to give them a run for their money?
Yes, absolutely. As you said, in my experience it is like that. I have to fight so much harder and I have to work my ass off to earn that respect. Women are out there getting more jobs but they have to work harder and you get a thicker skin from that. When you play with other bands, I go out there and show them that even though I am female I can rock the balls off of them too. You have to have that comfort and confidence in yourself.
Your live shows have people talking and you are getting ready to hit the road in the US with Doro to support your new album Now And Forever. You are from Sweden and I know you've toured extensively in Europe and the States. What are the biggest pros and cons about touring close to home as opposed to the United States which is a whole different kettle of fish?
Absolutely, I think it's maybe a little bit different for us since we had Victory (record label) from our first record, which is our American label. The first tour we did after we released the record with Victory was the US tour and not Europe and not so much in Scandinavia, so for us we actually built a fan base in the US pretty much first. Now finally we are getting more attention here in Sweden and of course now with the last album, too. I feel that we have more attention from them now than we did before and I think that's because we have matured so much and feel comfortable touring here but before that, I strangely felt more comfortable touring in America than Sweden. There are so many good bands here in Sweden it's so much competition, the musical styles and the talent! Touring in the US can sometimes be bad because they don't understand the music sometimes because it's hardcore metal music. It's also good because it's old school metal but it's somewhat new for them now. Here in Europe and Sweden, there are so many bands who play this kind of music.
