Sometimes a band catches you by surprise to never let go. Their music, their songs, their attitude, their looks.... Yes, everything seems to be perfect about the Swedish all-female band HYSTERICA. These five ladies from Stockholm, called Bitchie (lead guitar), Hell'n (drums), RockZilla (lead guitar), Satanica (bass) and Anni De Vil (vocals) bring you the perfect heavy metal sound and their great songs and the good looks of five heavy metal vixens could only exist in your wildest dreams. It took awhile, before we were able to finish this interview, but today we proudly present you the story of HYSTERICA so far. We deeply bow in respect for this all-female heavy metal band. HYSTERICA rocks big time and this is what leadguitarist Bitchie had to tell us.....

When did you form HYSTERICA?
Bitchie: “HYSERICA started 2005 and there are only two members left from those days. Bitchie (guitar) and Hell´n (drums). Today we know the band is complete and that this is the real HYSTERICA! We are never going to scratch each others eyes out in this band. Haha!”

Was it planned from the start to form an all-female heavy metal band, or did this just happen?
Bitchie: “The name HYSTERICA came first. And there was no discussion about it: a hysterical band has got to be all-female!”

Could you please introduce the band members of HYSTERICA to our readers? (and tell your real names maybe???
Bitchie: “There’s Anni De Vil on vocals, Bitchie on lead guitar, Hell´n on drums, RockZilla on lead guitar and Satanica on bass.”

Did any of the band members play in other bands, before HYSTERICA?
“Yes, some of the bitches did.”

How did you actually meet up with each other?
Bitchie: “We met up through friends and contacts.”

Who set out the musical direction of HYSTERICA?
Bitchie: “It was clear from the start, the band would be an all-female metal kick-ass band. We write a lot of music and lyrics together.”

How would you describe your music?
Bitchie: “Melodic femetal with heavy guitars.”

By which bands are you influenced in general, and maybe you can also mention the main influences of each band member individually?
Bitchie: “We all love JUDAS PRIEST. We have different taste in the metal genre, but we are targeted to develop our own style.”

Where do you have your rehearsal space?
Bitchie: “We have a great rehearsal studio in Stockholm. It’s 140 square metres with a stage to work on our show.”

How does the band get to work, when writing a new song? Do you create new ideas through jamming together? And what comes first: the lyrics or the music?
Bitchie: “Mostly it starts with a guitar-riff or a title. The title is important. When you have a great title, it’s easy to work out the rest.”

Who writes the lyrics for the band and what are they about?
Bitchie: “It depends. RockZilla and me have done a lot of songs and lyrics together. Since ten months back, we have two new members and we no longer have a keyboardplayer in the band. The new members are getting into it and we really want everybody to work with the songs. We love to write about the symbolism in metal. There's a lot of clichés and we try doing it our own way with humour and distance.”

Maybe we can have a look at your live gigs now. With which other bands did you share the stage already?
Bitchie: “Let’s see… we have played with GIMINI FIVE (Swe), SOLITY (Swe), CRAZY LIZZ and a lot more.”

Do you use any show elements on stage or are your live shows like a steaming performance without any gimmicks?
Bitchie: “We love to use different elements in our shows. We use whips and swords, smoke and lights. But it has to refer to the lyrics and have a meaning. In the near future, we will even use fire, bombs, pyrotechnic and whatever you can think of.”

What has been your biggest gig so far?
Bitchie: “It must have been at the Sweden Rock Festival this summer.”

What are the most important ingredients of a HYSTERICA live show? And what’s your goal, when you go on stage?
Bitchie: “To make sure, that the people never forget a show with HYSTERICA. The music, the show, the headbanging, sweat and hell of a good time.”

Maybe you can share some funny stories with us about things that happened during your shows. I can imagine that five ladies on stage and on the road must lead to some hilarious situations at times?
Bitchie: “The guys taking off their t-shirts and banging their heads. They also sing along to "Damn, I want a heavy metal man". That’s funny!”

Have you ever played outside of Sweden, and if yes, where was that?
Bitchie: “Yes, this summer we played at Åland, which is a neighbour island of Sweden. And we have an agent in Holland now, so hopefully you will see us on the road in January 2009 in Europe. We can’t wait!”

If you could go on a long tour with any band of your choice, which band would you pick?
Bitchie: “Well, it definitely must be JUDAS PRIEST or maybe even ALICE COOPER. We can use some of his show elements. Haha!”

What’s the metal scene like in your part of Sweden (Stockholm)? We know, that the Swedish metal scene is quite extensive. Are there many clubs, where you can play live?
Bitchie: “There's a lot of small metal clubs all over Sweden. The bigger festivals have also begun to book metal bands.”

Which other (well-known) band(s) come from your part of Sweden?
Bitchie: “We are located in Stockholm and there are a lot of famous bands living here. HAMMERFALL, OPETH, EUROPE and a lot more.”

Are there any other all-female Swedish bands, that we should know of and check out?
Bitchie: “There are some female bands, that are into classic rock. We are not very familiar with other metal bands with just females at the moment.”

Five sexy Swedish ladies on stage in a heavy metal band. Have you ever witnessed something like a male groupies scene? Like guys hanging out at your gigs trying to get a date with you, or something like that?
Bitchie: “Well, a lot of them want to marry us. That’s a good start.”

How are the first reactions towards HYSTERICA and your music (demo) so far?
Bitchie: “We have received great response for our demo from 2006 and MySpace is exploding of new fans.”

Weren’t you surprised at all to receive such a very positive reaction of Metal Maidens ‘zine?
Bitchie: “We are so glad and thank you so much to have discovered HYSTERICA.”

Did you also receive any negative response, and how do you deal with negative critics? Do you try to learn from it or do you rather forget about it as quickly as possible?
Bitchie: “Can't remember, that we ever got any negative responses. It doesn’t matter though. We love our band and work very hard to make great music.”

We only heard a couple of songs on your MySpace page so far. When will you be releasing an official new demo, or even better yet: a full-length album?
Bitchie: “We are going into Abyss studio the first week in September and hopefully we will be able to release a full-length album in November 2008. Tommy and Peter Tägtgren (PAIN) are going to record it and we know it will be great to work with these two professionals.”

What’s your favorite HYSTERICA song and why?
Bitchie: “It depends on who you ask. I love our new song “Got The Devil In Me”. It’s so various and has got a lot of different styles in music. Also love a great song, called “Bless The beast”. It is so simple, but you can't stand still and just have to bang your head. Every song is unique in its way and we love all of them.”

How important is the internet and MySpace for a band like HYSTERICA?
Bitchie: “We just love MySpace! We have come in contact with so many fans all over the world, that would never have found us. We also came in contact with agencies and got some gigs, too.”

Our ‘zine is completely focussed on female musicians in the (hard) rock and (heavy) metal scene. Do female musicians still need this way of attention that we like to give to them or do you think, that you already get all the recognition you earn so much?
Bitchie: “We think, you are doing a great job and that you really are needed. Still in 2008, there is too few females getting through with their music. However, I feel, that it is going to change soon. People love to see girls rock on stage!”

Our ‘zine is based in The Netherlands. What else do you know about our country, besides the fact that we have beautiful tulips and windmills?
Bitchie: “Heard a lot about your coffee houses and of course it’s the land of metal. We have a lot of fans from the Netherlands.”

Are there any important future gigs lined up on your agenda?
Bitchie: “We have some interesting gigs scheduled after the recordings of our ebut CD. We are planning a tour in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in January 2009. Keep an eye out!”

What are your future plans for HYSTERICA?
Bitchie: “Firstly, to finish the album. Then we want to rock the world.”

Do you have any other hobbies or interests besides playing in a band?
Bitchie: “To just have fun.”

What are some of your favorite bands?
Bitchie: “PANTERA, JUDAS PRIEST, IN FLAMES, DRAGONFORCE, DISTURBED, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY…..”

Do you have any personal messages for our readers?
Bitchie: “Check us out on http://www.myspace.com/hysterica and we'll be in touch. We are nothing without our fans!”

Do you have anything you would like to add to this interview? Maybe there is something we forgot to mention, which is essential for the story of HYSTERICA?
Bitchie: “We live our dream. We love our dream!”

The famous last words for this interview are for you, ladies....
Bitchie: “Be sure to visit Rita and Toine’s site Metal Maidens often. Thanks for reading and hope to see you soon!”