A Dirty Dozen with LISA MANN from WHITE CRONE – AUGUST 2024

According to a recent press release: “Heavy metal enchantress WHITE CRONE has released her latest single “Prognosticator.” The hard-rocking single conjures up the magic of another time both in its lyrics and in its feel. The music recalls metal classics such as DIO and JUDAS PRIEST, while the lyrics whisk the listener into a world full of darkness and corruption. Vocalist and composer Lisa Mann howls her condemned protagonist’s tale with elegant fury. Based out of Portland, Oregon, WHITE CRONE is the metal brainchild of award-winning blues artist and bassist/vocalist Lisa Mann. Growing up in the mosh pits of the 80s, she was inspired by bands such as IRON MAIDEN, MERCYFUL FATE, BLACK SABBATH, MANOWAR, DIO, and more. A mostly one-woman project, WHITE CRONE is a love letter to this grand era of metal, and a lyrical homage to mystical storytelling traditions of yore.” We get Lisa to discuss new music, influences, and more.

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Well, the first thing the listener WILL notice is how much Prognosticator sounds like old school metal straight from the 80’s but with a modern production. What they might NOT grab at first is the story, which has a beginning, middle and end.  It’s a fable about a self-fulfilling prophecy, and an admonishment that when you’re being told disaster might strike, you might want to listen.  Also there’s a wee little bass solo in there that I hope people will rewind and take a listen to.  Very inspired by Steve Harris.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

My mom played guitar and sang folk and pop songs, and my parents had a killer collection of what you might call “proto-metal” these days. Steppenwolf, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Black Sabbath, and Deep Purple.  I was always attracted to the sound of the bass, and started learning bass lines from Deep Purple’s Machine Head on my mom’s guitar. Soon I realized, I better go buy a real bass! So I walked home from school every day and saved my lunch money to buy my first bass guitar at a pawn shop. I knew when I was a little kid that I wanted to be a musician.  I thought I was going to be a big rock star!  But I am a full-time working musician and I’m pretty happy about that.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

I was a KISS fan when I was a little kid, I even dressed up like Gene Simmons on Halloween.  While all the other little girls were in princess or nurse costumes, I was spitting fake blood all over the school gymnasium and pissing all the teachers off.  But musically, KISS were very pop, and oddly they influenced my blues music more than my metal. When I was 12 years old, a friend gave me Iron Maiden Killers, and that was it. I was off to the races, I learned to play and sing the first five Maiden albums over the course of the next few years, so I have to say that album changed my life.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I can already say that I have collaborated in part with Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath and Dio fame on a few songs.  But I wrote those songs and hired him to play the parts. One of these days I would love to work with him in a more collaborative way. He took Dio’s songs to a whole new level with his arranging skills, for instance.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

I love to take walks in the woods to unwind, but I also love science fiction and fantasy.  I am a Star Trek and Tolkien nerd, and a fan of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon as well.  I love to talk about episodes with friends when they’ve aired and speculate as to what might happen next.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I would describe my metal music as being faithful to the old school ways, but without being a parody of them.  I wanted to make music that my 16 year old self would want to hear.  The one review that really made me cringe was when someone reviewed a single and said that my promo descriptions were way off base. There were plenty of songs on my debut album, The Poisoner, that sound like Maiden or Sabbath, so that’s what my promotional material said.  But I simply can’t stick to one style or one formula. If you pluck one song out, you might not get the right idea.  You have to take the collection of songs as a whole.  There is an almost lost art to making actual albums.  Everything is single oriented now.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Well in the case of White Crone, I am pretty much the band.  I played guitar and bass and sang and wrote the songs. So basically it’s a recording project. But the drummer Larry London and I had some good hangs with the studio engineer Kevin Hahn! Great guys and super talented, I could not have done The Poisoner or this new single, or the upcoming album for that matter, without them. But I also sing in a Power/ Thrash band called Splintered Throne, we put out an album called The Greater Good of Man in 2022 that got pretty popular in Germany.  They were an existing band, and I was a fan before I joined.  We are all busy people but we get together for rehearsals and gigs and hang a bit.  Not a lot of drinking or cooking but definitely a lot of cracking jokes.  One time the bass player Bailey, who is about my size, walked into a dark rehearsal room wearing a blonde wig and tinted glasses.  At first the rest of the guys thought it was me!

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

I FINALLY got the see the CroMags after all these damn years, and Harley Flanagan is just everything I expected and more.  I simply could not keep my eyes off him, and I was whirring with an internal squee-ing inside!  He delivered as hard and heavy a performance as he would have 40 years ago, but with a lot more wisdom and musical maturity.  Truly an experience I will never forget.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

The best part of being a musician, in blues or in metal, is when someone comes up to you after a show or sends a message saying how grateful they are for your songs and performances, and how you bring a little joy into their often difficult lies.  I have a huge cabinet full of gifts people have given me over the years, from artistic renderings, to handmade jewelr, to mugs with my picture on it, to even big things like a guitar shaped lamp someone personalized for me,  It really is a blessing and a testimony to the healing power of music.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I am always happy when I get nerdy music related questions that relate to the process of making music.  It doesn’t happen too often, and who knows if anyone wants to hear those questions answered anyway!  The answers are long, nerdy and convoluted.  What question am I tired of answering?  “What’s it like to be a women in the music industry.” I don’t fucking know – I get my own room more often? I pee sitting down? What else do you wanna know, seriously??

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I wish I had quit drinking and using much earlier than I did, and I wish I spent more time playing music than fooling around with unhealthy relationships when I was younger.  I could have had a lot bigger discography.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Ooh good question… I would love to go back in time to the recording of Judas Priest’s Sad Wings of Destiny.  That was the first album the legendary Chris Tsangarides worked on. My friend and blues colleague Dudley Ross got me to spend an afternoon with him not long before he died.  It would have been a joy to see him in action in his formative years.  I love that record so much, despite it’s flaws. I’ve listened to it and sang along so many times, and it just never gets old.

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Category: Interviews