METAL MONTHLY: If your fans were to ingest and absorb your music, as
you would seem to want, they would die from being “poisoned”! That is,
according to the definition of the word ‘belladonna’. But, how would you
explain this seemingly contradictory relationship?

BD (Luana): Well, Belladonna is a deadly poison but it’s also an
hallucinatory drug and even, a cure. It all depends on what you want or
need from it. We love this ambiguity, and it’s only contradictory on the
surface. The deeper you look, the more ambiguous certain things appear.
That makes them all the more interesting, fascinating, and even sexy!
We’d love our music to have the same effect on people. That’s the effect
it has on us.

MM: I have to admit, it has that effect on me too….Although your band
is Italian and based in Rome, you have explained that the esoteric
process of songwriting naturally expresses itself to you in English.
What plans do you have to publish your lyrics and/or sing them in your
native Italian, either live or recorded?

BD (Dani): No, we don‘t plan to do that. Just like Italian is the
language of Opera, we believe that English is the language of
rock’n’roll. That’s how it culturally and emotionally resonates in our
hearts, in the right way. We believe that the vast majority of music
fans worldwide feel the same, even those from non-English-speaking
countries. Also, we want to communicate in the easiest possible way with
our lyrics; English is more and more the music world’s universal language.

MM: How interesting; that’s not the answer that I would’ve expected!
I’m slowly learning the Belladonna-way….As it appears on MySpace, your
music is classified as Rock-Alternative. To what degree, are you
interested in experimenting with heavier, or even lighter, musical
genres - either regarding individual songs, or as an album?

BD (Dani): To us, the song is king! Once a song appears to us, it also
dictates what sound it should have to maximize its emotional content. We
always go for what the song asks us to do. What comes out, is what you
hear - without compromises. We are not interested in experimenting. We
are not scientists, or musicologists. We transmute our emotions into
music: If it sends shivers down our spines, we have succeeded! If it
doesn’t, it’s just a pointless exercise; a mere “experimentation”.

MM: Wow, it sounds like you guys are certainly very clear on those
points….Now, moving on to your songs: In “Resurrect My Soul”, you sing
that, ’I am the Magdalene you crucify’. If it’s possible to have Luana
respond, what is her opinion on the historical role of the original
Mary-Magdalene, from the Bible?

BD (Luana): Mary-Magdalene’s role is in my opinion, pretty close to
Eve’s: In other words, she is also the most famous human incarnation of
the identity-relationship, Woman and Evil. This identity was put into
being in pre-Christian times. That’s when the Indo-European concept of a
patriarchal society eradicated the matriarchal society, which had been
dominant historically, until that point. It’s only since Paleolithic
times that women have been crucified!

MM: Oh yes, and it’s a very passionate subject to
discuss!….Continuing on with “Resurrect My Soul”, you also refer to
’eschatology’. Therefore, if you did have a system of doctrines
regarding death and the afterlife, what would they read or be?

BD (Luana): éskatos (eschatology) is a Greek term that can be translated
as “dissertation on the final matters”. This is why it’s usually
referred to as death and the afterlife. But, I would personally opt for
another interpretation of the word “final”. I prefer to think of it in
terms of “weight”; in terms of “what matters most”: That which should
matter most is what keeps us alive. This is as opposed to what arrives
time-wise, or “last”; such as, death or the afterlife.

MM: Certainly that’s an interesting distinction to draw between these
multi-layered concepts…Let’s move on to another of your songs, “Mystical
Elysian Love”. How would you explain the differences between this kind
of love, and other kinds of love?

BD (Dani): Are there any other kinds? Love is - and must be - a total,
final, absolute surrendering of all our senses; a mystical, sacred,
sensual, and extremely human experience. Or it’s not love at all.

MM: Wow, that is a phenomenal definition; where do I sign up!…In yet
a different song, “Foreverland”, you clarify that you are talking about
an experience that is ‘beyond déjà vu’. How would you describe the
difference in feeling and meaning, between déjà vu and the reincarnation
of soulmates?

BD (Dani): “Foreverland” is a tale of love after death: you know that
weird and wonderful feeling of having met our soulmate somewhere in a
previous life? The song revolves around that one single moment of
sudden, shocking, fleeting realization. And it’s not a mere déjà vu,
it’s the real thing: the lovers in the song HAVE actually met before,
“roamin’ across the centuries”.

MM: Hmm, that’s an incredibly moving concept; very romantic….Now,
switching to the other end of the emotional spectrum, let’s discuss your
song, “Black Swan”. It mentions ‘homicide’ between lovers. How is it
possible for two apparent opposites such as, Love and Hate, to not only
co-exist but do so, with such a fine line between them?

BD (Dani): We’ve heard many interpretations of “Black Swan”; to us, it
has one very specific meaning. We are thrilled that people have defined
it in many other different ways. One magazine wrote it was a song about
Lucifer. You reckon it includes homicidal lovers in the equation. This
is the ambiguity we were talking about in our answer to your first
question: We love it! And yes, all these possible meanings are only
apparent opposites. And yes, they can co-exist, just like Love and Hate
actually do.

MM: Just when I thought I was getting It, you’ve once again redefined
the rules of understanding - wow!….As for the emotional experience of
songwriting, how is it possible that writing songs together can inspire
human bonding to surpass the intimacy of sex, and even, love?

BD (Luana): Putting this in an “holistic” sort of way, I would say that
creative processes can truly bring two minds to become one. At the same
time, two minds can be at-one with a different dimension. This “other”
dimension, is one that is way more complex than the sum of its parts.

MM: Hmm, this holistic perspective is also challenging in its
ambiguity…Now, on a final note: Out of 30,000 possible submissions for
each of the GRAMMY’s Rock music categories, how do you explain that as
an unsigned Italian band, your songs “Black Swan” and “Foreverland” BOTH
made it onto the 2008 ballot this year?

BD (Luana): Well! Even in Belladonna’s world of mystery, magic and
madness, this news was a surprise! To be included in the Grammy Awards
Ballot 2008 was judged absolutely extraordinary and still, it is totally
unexplained!! If we hadn’t read our songs’ titles on the Ballot, with
our own eyes, we would not have believed it! It’s a great honor for any
artist. The fact that we are just a new, unsigned, and self-produced
Italian band made it even more special for us….

Belladonna (Dani & Luana): Thank you so much for submitting to us such
thought-provoking and deep questions. It was a real pleasure to answer them!

MM: On behalf of METAL MONTHLY, Mary would like to thank the band,
Belladonna, for the pleasure and privilege of this unique interview
experience. As bona fide Artists, Belladonna are also very fleshy human
beings: They are as passionate, profound, and philosophical, as their
music would lead you to believe…and that is nothing less than impressive.

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