Alissa White-Gluz

The way I see it, I am lucky to be alive and well, and I only wish the same for others.

I do think image is important in a band, because when I go see a show, I want to see a show; I don't want to just listen to the music.

Women in general have to think about certain things that men don't - like being safe in the street at night or something.

I've seen a couple of singer switches happen right before my eyes, one being Roy Khan to Tommy Karevik in Kamelot, and the other was Anette Olzon to Floor Jansen in Nightwish. Those happened with me present, and I saw how well the fans took to these singers because they were presented in the proper way.

I do guest vocals all the time.

It's almost like a theater, where I can play a character in every song, 'cause Kamelot songs are very... There's always a narrative going on. There's a story within albums and in songs, so I get to play a character and sing it in a different way than people might recognize coming from me.

Touring, it's really difficult to actually make a band work, and I think that's why there's so few bands that do work, actually, 'cause there's so much that goes into it.

I'm really excited to be a part of the 'Fallen Heroes' EP.

'Wages Of Sin' was the first metal album I ever bought, and it was love at first listen.

If any female - or male - does something in order to get 'likes' on their video or to get fans, they're being exploited, and they're actually selling out to a certain extent.

Is it hard to be vegan? Absolutely not. It would be hard to not be vegan.

A lot of my musician friends have the same kind of anxiety and panic when faced with crowds of people, and I do, too.

I think one of the reasons that Arch Enemy gels so well as people and musically is because we all share very similar values when it comes to human rights, animal rights... even politics, religion.

I've been vegan longer than I've been a singer. And it's definitely something that I try to put across in my work, but that's just because I really care about it.

I never had this idea, 'I wanna be a solo artist.'

It's fun for me, and I love singing Arch Enemy stuff without clean singing, but I think it would be cool to introduce it. It's just a matter of if it feels right.

I love doing clean singing, which is one of the main things that drives me back to Kamelot all the time.

I have a lot of people I think are important to me, a lot of different causes I like to talk about also.

I agree that it's absurd to call a category of music 'female-fronted metal,' because if you look at Otep or Epica or Arch Enemy, we don't sound anything alike.

I like to write lyrics when I feel it, and because of that, I like to keep a log of lyrics all the time.

I have a hard time writing happy things. I really just don't find it that interesting for me personally to write about that.

The most common time I write lyrics is the middle of the night.

Fighting the ongoing war in your day-to-day life, everybody has their battle going on that nobody else knows about.

I didn't have any doubts about joining Arch Enemy.

I've worked as a singer in metal bands for over ten years now, so I've definitely kind of put in my time building that underground family, that underground, loyal fan base.

In general, people that we meet in person are pretty cool people - always very respectful, just happy to be there, happy to enjoy the music.

Just because the gender of the vocalist is the same, that doesn't actually tell you anything about the sound of the band.

I feel very fortunate to be in a position to where I can continue to make music and have people appreciate it.

I want to help everyone.

I don't want to die. I can't wrap my head around the concept of death because I'm totally atheist. There's nothing after life in my head, whether that's right or wrong.

That's one of the reasons I'm vegan. Death terrifies me. I don't want to impose death on anyone else.

I think 'War Eternal' - if I'm allowed to say it - for me, it's a masterpiece.

We never settle for 'This is good enough.' It always has to be amazing because that's the kind of music we'd want to listen to, and that's the kind of music we want to give to other people.

I think one of the things that makes Arch Enemy so unique is that we're five musicians who are all super self-critical but also super-driven.

Personally, I would never use sexuality or looks as a selling point.

There's this company called Vega that sponsors us, and basically, what it is is a vegan health optimizer. But really it's a protein shake that has all the vitamins, all the enzymes, all the minerals, all the carbs, all the proteins... everything that you need to set yourself for the day.

Some people are really surprised that I can sing different ways.

Lzzy Hale could sing me the dictionary, and I would swoon. She is so amazingly talented, and her voice is absolutely delicious.

It's pretty clear I am a diehard Chris Cornell fan, so his voice, musicianship, and lyrics have touched me across many different projects.

I have read and heard so many stories from people all around the world describing how they've found their own reason to believe through Arch Enemy, and that genuinely inspires me and keeps me going.

When I first started playing metal, lyrically, I sort of related a little bit more to the punk and hardcore scenes, where there was a lot more veganism and straight-edge people and people taking a stance for causes that they believe in.

Anywhere we go in the States, people know we're from out of town: like, we stick out like sore thumbs. People are like, 'Freaks! Go cut your hair!' and whatever. It's a little weird.

Adrenaline really numbs out all pain.

For me, my 'will to power,' I guess, is just to live a positive life and spread positivity as much as possible to other people and other living beings and hope that with whatever audience I have for my voice, I can actually do some good in the world.

Playing with my sister - we always had musical instruments lying around the house.

That's the thing: when I'm on stage, I don't care; there could be ten people there, there could be ten million people there. But if I'm offstage, I'm, like, counting the people. I know exactly where everyone's standing, how far they are from me.

I love 'hearing a person's face' in their music. I've been told by fans that they can tell when I'm smiling or feeling mischievous in my voice - that's a huge compliment.

We can do many different things as a band. But that doesn't mean we should do that. If we did all we're capable of, it doesn't necessarily mean we'd be writing better songs. None of us are huge fans of bands that seem to go, 'OK, I'm gonna sing for no reason and then scream for no reason just because I can.'

I think that metal has always been, in my opinion, the most passionate form of music, and it only makes sense to actually be passionate about what you're saying when you're delivering music to people, whether it's through an album or for a live show.

We should be pointing out people's accomplishments rather than their looks, but if it can promote our band, why not?