First, a quick bio
Formed in the Fall of 2000 by Rachel of hardcore stalwarts Indecision/Most Precious Blood, THE WAGE OF SIN came about through her interest in assembling an all-girl band. "Why not?", says drummer Vanessa, "all the other all girl bands out there suck." Jenn and Barbara joined on bass and guitar respectively, with Melissa rounding out the quintet on vocals. THE WAGE OF SIN has faced much criticism due to their gender, but they manage to write songs that combine elements of hardcore, metal, punk, and classical music that clearly holds its own against their more testosterone-heavy counterparts. They have shared the stage with such hardcore and metal luminaries as Sick Of It All, Poison The Well, Shai Hulud and Keepsake; their live show never once coming across as "the weaker sex".
Bio update
"Jenn left in March and has been replaced by Laura of the band All for Nothing on bass. We asked Barbara to leave the band due to musical/personal differences after Hellfest, and we plan to continue on as a 4 piece with Rachel playing guitar out of two amps using a switch pedal. We're really happy with the current line up. Its solid, fun, and productive." - Melissa
Melissa - Thanks
Melissa - Yes, Things are going great. The current lineup is me (Melissa) on vocals, Vanessa on drums, Rachel on guitar(s) and Laura on bass. This lineup is solid. We all have the same goals for the band and we have good chemistry which is very important for writing songs and enjoying being in a band.
xVANESSAx - Our lineup is Melissa on vox, Rachel on guitar, Laura on bass, and me on drums.
Melissa - Yeah, of course there are lots of shows we get offered and have to turn down because she is touring, especially now because MPB is a full-time band, whereas The Wage of Sin isn't. We all still have jobs and Laura and I are finishing up college. Its just a lot more planning ahead. We all have to basically know each others schedules pretty well so we can switch off of work, or there have been times where Rachel doesn't play with MPB because we have a show. Laura is also in another band, All For Nothing, so those are more dates we have to know about.
xVANESSAx - Yeah, Rachel being in MPB holds us back from shows but we try to plan things out way ahead of time so we don't end up double booking things. It's hard when she's away on tour. Laura is in another band, but they don't play as often as MPBdoes so it's not too bad.
Melissa - Well, I don't know how much of an influence we are. Its not like we are the first hardcore band with girls in it, but I do think we are really in your face about the fact that girls are in the hardcore scene making music. We get a lot of emails and girls coming up to us saying how much they respect what we are doing and they want to do the same in their scene, or they already have been, which is great. I think our band just makes people aware that there are girls involved in the hardcore scene that are just as talented as the guys, and that are into hardcore for the same reasons as guys. A lot of times when you look at a band with all girls in it you try to think of other bands in the scene that have girls musicians, which is good. They deserve just as much respect. So many girls have been playing in bands for years. Rachel's been doing this for 10 years. Very often girls are always pinned against each other in hardcore, which is stupid. People always compare bands with female singers and try to make a competition of it. I don't think guys are treated that way. So when we have other girls in hardcore who support us, its great to see that they are trying to unify women in the scene, not build up barriers. We get excited when we play with other bands with girls in them because it just further proves our statement that girls belong here just as much as the dudes.
xVANESSAx - That's rather flattering ....if we inspire someone to be in a band or something, that's awesome. I'm humbled.
Melissa - The band as a whole was basically formed to show that there are girls in hardcore/metal who can write and play their own music and gain a fan base based on their talent, not sex appeal. We want people coming to our shows to mosh and sing along, not because we look or dress like Brittany Spears. The lyrics are based on personal experiences. Most have to do with self reliance, self respect, respect for others, and a few songs deal with relationships with friends, family, and love. I write most of the lyrics, but Vanessa and Rachel have written some songs, and our old bass player Jenn used to contribute too.
xVANESSAx - We try to keep our message realistic. All of our songs are about things that happen in our lives, or the people around us. We want people to relate to it... I guess we try to keep it positive... most of the time.
Melissa - Well, right now its just a weekend thing because of school and work, and its been a very rare weekend thing because Rachel's been doing a lot of touring with MPB. We plan on going out for a month at the end of December into January, and then once Laura and I graduate in May we plan on touring a lot more, possibly going to Europe. If someone wants to buy us a van and pay my rent I'll tour full-time!
xVANESSAx - I would love for this band to be full time but everyone is in school or tourin with other bands. I work full time too and can't always ditch my job for tour. Hopefully we'll be able to make the band full time.
Melissa - Laura is in another metal band All For Nothing. She has been playing bass for them for about 5 years. Vanessa plays like 20 different instruments so she always has different crazy projects going on, but nothing too serious right now. Vanessa and I might be starting up a rock band. We already write songs together at our house with her acoustic guitar at 3am, so we might as well do something with them to pass time.
xVANESSAx - Rachel is in MPB. Laura plays bass in All For Nothing. I'm starting up this youth crew posi straight edge kinda band with some friends... and I think me and Melissa are starting a joke rock band called Hip Like Junk real soon.
Melissa - For me, hardcore is what you make of it. I got into this scene because I liked the idea of a place you could go to hang out with open-minded people and just say what was on your mind, and whether people agreed with it or not, they still respected that you have ideas and principals. For me hardcore was standing up for what you believed in, no matter what the cost. The more involved you get with any scene, the more you notice subdivisions and hypocrites and you kinda get discouraged as to why you are involved in the first place. You see people preaching about certain things, and then not practicing what they are saying to a crowd each weekend in their everyday life, and its a turnoff. There are also a lot of stupid scene politics with labels and booking, but there are also plenty of people involved because they love the music. After touring I met a lot of cool people who seemed to be here for the same reasons I am, and it made me happy to be a part of this. There are a lot of negative things with anything in life, and you just have to rid yourself of the things that are bringing you down and concentrate on the good stuff.
xVANESSAx - I came to hardcore shows cuz I liked the music. I don't involve myself with the "community" too much. If I meet someone through hardcore and they're cool, that's a plus but I don't get all social about it because I'm just here for the music. Most of the time people are bullshit, especially in hardcore, there are a lot of hypocrites out there so I stay away from all that, and that way hardcore remains as something positive. I can go to a show and relate to the music I'm hearing and that makes me happy.
Melissa - We've written about 4 new songs so far which are very metal and very moshable. We don't really have any plans to release anything right now. We just put out our 8 song CD "The Product of Deceit and Loneliness" on Immigrant Sun records in March, and then we had our song "Severed" on the Go-kart Comp "Your Scene Sucks." We're just trying to figure out the plans for the tour and some weekends in October and November.
xVANESSAx - New songs and winter tour. I'm excited for both. They seem to be coming along nicely.
Melissa - I like playing at CBGBs. I had a lot of fun at Hellfest, Orlando Magic Fest, Atlanta, Cincinnati. I don't really have a favorite.
xVANESSAx - Anywhere really... CBGB's is nice and so is Dock St. Oh yeah... I like the local bar in Brooklyn too.
Melissa - Our second show was very memorable based on the fact that it was so horrible, so we try not to remember that. Basically everything that could go wrong did. we just look back and laugh. Memorable because of being good... Probably Hellfest, Magicfest, maybe Castle Heights with Shai Hulud, or when we played the Staten Island Roadhouse. That was a funny show.
xVANESSAx - Hellfest was fun, we covered Judge... and Castle Heights with Shai Halud. Good stuff.
Melissa - Haha I'm the wrong person to answer this. I use whatever mic the venue has. I don't know anything about equipment, all I do is scream.
xVANESSAx - For me... Sabian, Evans, Vader, Vic Firth, Tama, DW, and a Pearl (snare).
Melissa - A lot of touring, a lot more crazy tour videos, and a lot of fun.
xVANESSAx - Tours, mosh, and fun!
Melissa - Just check out our webpage-
www.thewageofsin.com
and our label's page
www.immigrantsun.com - thanks to Sean and Pat for their support. and also thanks to Bumblefoot for recording our CD.
Make sure you come see us on tour this winter!
xVANESSAx - Check out the website, talk some shit on our pink message board, come to our shows, check out Immigrant Sun's other bands... they're really really good. That's all I guess...
