Nervosa's Fernanda No Longer Faces the Time of Death but a Victim in Herself

All female thrash metal act from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Nervosa has been doing their thing for some time and now that they have two releases under their belts one of which is their debut album "Victim Of Yourself" along with being signed to Napalm Records, they have a lot of promoting to do and shows to be played. Frontwomen vocalist and bassist Fernanda Lira discusses the new album, the music scene and the plans for playing shows all over the place.

1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.

Fernanda: Okay cool, so actually when I joined Nervosa, it was a project of my guitar player  Prika and former drummer. She wanted to look for girls to be in a thrash metal band and I was looking for a band since I was kicked out of my previous band.  So after our quest was almost over, it was really hard to find committed people to play metal and like it, we met each other, Prika our guitar player,  got in touch with me, we met up at the pub, had some drinks, then noticed we had the same ideas and objectives and wanted the same things. We also got along really well, because when you're dealing with an all female metal band it's really hard to deal with other women. So we got along really well and had the same plans, ideas and I joined the band. From there on I consider it a professional active band to focus on and everything.

2. Where does a name like, Nervosa come from and actually mean?

Fernanda: Yeah there is, usually people in America say it one way here in Brazil we say it the other way.  Nervosa is the word meaning angry for females while male it's nervoso. So it means an angry women and Prika named the band that and I loved it. It's a Portuguese name and homage to our country's place, name, and language, it's a name that people can associate with and is easy to remember because we play angry thrash metal!

3. What's the music scene like in Brazil? Are there any bands there you could recommend we check out?

Fernanda: Sure the metal scene in Brazil is very large and wide and very strong! It's a country with a scene where you can find headbangers, bands, and many genres in metal. I could list you a 100 that I love but I will go with my favorites; MX, Jack Devil, Korzus, Torture Squad, Claustrofobia, Ratos De Porao, Lacerated and Carbonized, Sinaya, Valhalla, Vocifera, Necromesis, Cauterization, many others, and other female metal bands and female fronted bands that I think you should hear, just a lot of quality bands here in Brazil.

4. Why did you want to return to the Mr. Som Studios where you recorded your first EP "Time Of Death"?

Fernanda: There are the metal masters for recording here in Brazil, everybody knows them, they are from the band that I mentioned before and liked, Korzus, so they have been in metal for over 30 years and many years after. So after the EP they did what we wanted. So when we recorded the new album they were the first option, we knew what we could expect and the quality and we really liked what they do. It was the first option to come to mind and how the new album came out, the results we got were what we wanted.

5. How does it feel to have written, recorded, and release your debut album "Victim Of Yourself"?

Fernanda: It feels so great because it's a dream come, I know a lot of people say that oh you're just a passionate headbanger but I'm not. The thing here is in Brazil it's hard you're not supported by anyone it's hard. When you're in your room headbanging and listening to music with your friends just imagining that I may have a band and get signed to a major label like Napalm Records, and release an album, in your homeland and other countries I didn't expect it to happen so soon. We were really focused when writing and recording it we wanted the best results of it.

6. You worked with Heros Trench and Pompeu of Korzus, why did you want them to help out with this album?

Fernanda: They own the studio, so it was really cool to record with them and they know how to do it being in a band for many years. They gave us a lot of help and tips during recording, so we choose to record at their studio because they have worked there and we have worked there and liked what they do.

7. What was the recording process like this time around? Was there anything different that happened or was it the same old studio thing?

Fernanda: It was completely different first because we had a line-up change and second because on the first EP all of the songs were already written by our guitar player. When I joined the band I gave a lot of new ideas, to change things on the songs, giving lyrics, vocal melody, so I my say but there were only some touches. In the new album, it was completely written 50/50 between me and Prika because we both had a lot of ideas. The results of this album is more mature than the EP, we are the main writers of the songs so it's well divided and represents of how we sound right now. The recording process was very different and had a lot of problems we had to deal with, stopping the recording sessions, Prika had her arm in a cast so we stopped for a while, it was different and difficult for many reasons than the first time. Everything was different and completely different from the other release.

8. Can you tell us how this album differs from previous EP? What can we expect and what is the message behind it?

Fernanda: It's very different and mature. The first songs were really raw and the songs are aggressive and mature and has evolved with us. There's a lot of new thinking on the album and way of playing. It's the same but different it's more of how we sound like nowadays. We like writing about things people deal with that's why it's called "Victim of Yourself". If you do bad things or good things those things come your way, everyday everyone is a victim of themselves. We like writing about the human aspects of people and life.

9. What's your take on "Victim Of Yourself" as a whole?

Fernanda: It's difficult to say. It's more mature and I really like it. No other words to explain it but good words. You will find catchy riffs, chorus, aggressiveness, new blast beats, a little more thrash that's faster. I scream A LOT more this is what you can expect.

10. Could you describe your song writing process? What comes first – the music or the lyrics?

Fernanda: To me it's always the music first. Prika and I are always having ideas recording in our own homes, so when the time comes to write new songs, we just put our ideas together and add on. When the music is born I can feel the vibe of the song, if it's aggressive or not. According to what the song demands, I will write about a specific thing, but it's usually the music then the lyrics.

11. How did the idea for the song and video for "Death" come about?

Fernanda: This song talks about people being killed around the world. We question in the song if it's right or fair. There's a part in the song where we ask "Is it right? Is it fair? Is it wrong? What is justice?" Like for example in other countries people are being killed by shots, rocks, hung,  we just question that, it's a debate about death around the world. We chose this song to be our first single because it has a lot of elements, blast beats, crossover beats, catchy riffs, chorus, people can sing along to it, it really represents who we are. When it came to the video clip we wanted to show people, the last minutes of a person's life and receive their death penalty we know it happens in many countries nowadays. Do you think this is fair? Do you think this is right? We wanted people to think about it and we filmed it in a cemetery because that deals with death. The main focus of the video was to show us playing and have the background story to rise the debate about this topic and current in other countries.

12. Do you have a favorite song on the album?

Fernanda: Oh god I hate when I get asked this question! It's so difficult to choose just one. I guess if I had to choose it would be "Victim of Yourself" because there are a lot of elements we use in our songs and "Justice Be Done" because it represents who we are and represents us, it has all of the elements we usually use. The lyrics represents us a lot. "Victim of Yourself" speaks of this moment where I was passing through and trying to blame me for what I did, so there are victims of themselves and wanted to write about that and people who have bad attitudes and take responsibilities for themselves. There are a lot of meaning. "Justice Be Done" I get really sensitive with child abuse and outraged by things I saw online and facts so that really touched me inside. I never suffered child abuse, I just care for people who have, it can affect a whole person's life. That is why I choose these two songs they are very meaningful to me with the lyrics and music.

13. What do you guys have planned for this year?

Fernanda: We have many plans! We want to promote our new album as best as we can and we love being on the road. We have never left Brazil, touring a lot here last year really busy for us. Our main focus for us is to play overseas playing European tour, South America tour, and hopefully work something out in America but we will do our best.

14. Anything else you'd like to say or want to add?

Fernanda: Just keep supporting metal with what you do and what I do with my band and keep the metal flame burning. I feel the need to keep supporting metal through the decades its history  and hard work.