First of all, let’s talk about Huntress. Some of our reader may not know you yet so can you tell us what you guys are all about?
Sure! We are a quintet from Los Angeles, California. We are actually based out of a small section of LA called Highland Park which is poverty stricken and is known for their tacos.

We come from various backgrounds: I come from an operatic background and the boys come from a very true underground metal background. So, together we created a really interesting project that we weren’t quite certain the way it would turn out. But, the more we work together the heavier and the darker it gets.

We are kind of pegged as melodic death thrash. But, all that aside, it is true heavy metal. We stay true to the roots of heavy metal and for us being authentic it’s essential to the existence of Huntress.

You are originally from New York. So, how did you guys meet?
I was raised on a “white tail deer farm” in the Catskill Mountains of New York, which is about 4 hours north of New York City.

I moved to New York [City] to go to a conservatory of music. Then, when I graduated, I started to DJ out of financial desperation to make money and that really took off. But, I was always a little “heart sick” because I wasn’t living for my purpose, which is to sing.

So, a few years later I moved to Los Angeles and I started promoting night life here: I started a club called “Rock Mondays”. I booked a band called “Professor”, I became a fan of theirs, we became friends, I played them some Huntress demos and we decided to join forces. And, that’s what happened: we just emerged and found that we could create something special.

So, when you moved here you actually didn’t know the guys?
No. I just met them. I believe in timing. I was searching for years for musicians in New York but, I feel that New York is more punk rock, LA is more metal. I just had a sense that if I came to LA I would find them and I did.

Huntress has signed with Napalm Records recently. This is your first label isn’t it? And also, why Napalm Records?
Yes it is. It’s an interesting story. What happened is: we were unsigned and we needed something to gain more attention. I asked the tarot card on a reading to reveal one card that would be an epic metal song and would bring Huntress success. Eight of swords chose us.

So, we wrote that song and decided it would be the best for us to gain visibility. I knew that it was going to be an epic metal video and I knew it would get us a lot of attention. I didn’t realize it was going to create a frenzy and it did.

We had about 9 labels pushing to sign us. And a month later, after the eight of swords debut we chose Napalm [Records] simply because they share our vision and that we really feel that they understand how special Huntress is and that we were not supposed to be handled like any other metal band. It’s an interesting merger between underground metal and classically trained singer so it needs to be handled a little

differently than just one of the female fronted bands.

When hearing your material, I thought your vocals were different… original.
Thank you. You know, I strive to be unique and I strive to be “sexless” in my vocal approach. I have a very strong vision for Huntress and the boys and I share this vision. For me, vocally speaking, I don’t really need to associate myself with female musicians. I feel that there is a stigma that many of them have placed upon the music industry and for me, I much rather be associated with male singers.

There are a few women that I do admire, that I feel inspired by. One of them is [the singer from] Dreaming Dead [which is] a female fronted band here in Los Angeles. Elizabeth Shall writes all the songs, she sings and she plays the guitar. I really love for them to get more noticed. I feel that she has a lot of integrity with what she does. For me, that’s the most important.

You have just released your first full length album. How different was it to work on this album compared to the EP and singles you released in the past?
It was a world end. When we were signed and we started recording, we had been playing the songs on the record (Spell Eater) for about a year. We started massive re-writes…we re-wrote probably half of the record and the rest of the remaining part of the record is all new material, which was done in quite a magical way.

For example, I have visions. The name Spell Eater came to me when I was walking my dog…everything went silent and I just opened my mouth and words Spell Eater came out. I called Blake, the lead guitarist, and I said: The name of the record is going to be Spell Eater, now write me the song.

When we started recording: the video was out, we were gaining a lot of attention, a lot of momentum, and we just got signed so there was a lot of pressure. And luckily, we thrive under pressure. So, for us, being given such a short deadline, get it done, to handle it to Napalm, to start the promotions up… that really made the album really great. As an artist, sometimes you won’t think that would benefit but for us it worked really well.

About your lyrics: who writes them?
I write all the lyrics and I write all the vocal melodies. Blake Meahl, who is the lead guitarist and Ian Alden, who plays rhythm guitars, are the main composers for the music. So, sometimes they will bring in some riffs and we will build off of those, as a band. Other times I will give them a name of a song and a theme, and I will say: “I want to write a song called Snow Witch, here what it’s about. Go get icy in the night and write it for me”.

So, sometimes they will work off themes, other times they will just bring in riffs but whatever it is, generally speaking, we are a band, we all equally share in the song writing credit. And for me, I want people to know that is not the “Jill show”, it is an active band and without these 4 men Huntress would not exist.

You said that you were raised in a small town in NY. How did you get to know met

al?
Luckily I was raised by a very eccentric family, who always encouraged my pagan ways and always encouraged my dreams. I started to study opera at the age of 10 but I was always a little bit too rebellious and got in a lot of fights with directors.

So, by the time I was 14, I was touring Europe, doing shows and also had a German penpal. I’ve had this penpal since I was 12 years old and we still see each other whenever I’m in Germany. He is really responsible for introducing me to metal. He would make me mixed tapes with various strange German heavy metal bands. I really owe him for introducing me to that.

And also, the kids I was hanging out with when I was growing up (skaters). So, thrash was a very big influence for me at first and it always will be.

How was it to play in Pagan Fest?
Pagan fest was the best possible first national tour for Huntress. We’ve learned so much and we’ve really bonded with all the other bands: Turisas, Alestorm and Arkona. We’re going to miss them a lot, we’ve become good friends. So, for us it’s a bitter sweet ending. Today is our last show, here at the Key Club, before we have to leave to play in Massachusetts at the New England MetalFest.

So, I think that Pagan Fest was a good first start and now we know a little bit more about the road and what’s to be expected.

After touring with Dragonforce: What’s coming up next for Huntress?
After Dragonforce we will come back to LA for a few days and then we’ll take off for Europe. We are playing the MetalFest Open Air festivals with Megadeath and Kreator. So, we’ve got 10 days of head banging coming up in Europe. And then, we’re back in the States to play in San Francisco. We are headlining the Tidal Wave Festival. We are really excited about that, especially since we are such a young band and getting a headlining slot. This show is a lot of faith from the booking agents and the promoters and I know we will deliver a killer show for them.

Are there any new videos that will be released this year?
Yes. Our album, The Spell Eater drops on April 27th in Europe and UK and on May 8th here in the States.

Spell Eater, the title track of our debut album, we just shot that video right before leaving for Pagan Fest and we shot it at the Mojave Desert. It was the most difficult project I’ve ever done in my life: it was bitter cold; it was 2 days of shooting in the desert, vicious winds, below 0 temperatures, snowing in the desert which is really rare. It will make an amazing video but for me it was the most painful time…. It was bad.

Any messages to the SOM readers?
Sure. First of all I want to say thank you to all of our fans and our friends, for having so much faith in huntress after hearing only one song (“Eight of Swords”). We won’t ever let you down, we will always stay true to heavy metal and we are always going to be authentic.

And the one last thing that I want to say is: that I’m coming to claim my crown and there will be blood.