Hottest Chicks

When we interviewed Porcelain Black for the new Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue, we talked about a range of topics, from her description of herself as the love child of Britney Spears and Marilyn Manson to her adventures in strip clubs with Lil Wayne. Unfortunately, due to space constraints in the issue, we weren't able to include most of our chat–but that's what the Internet is for! Read what she has to say below, and check out our gallery of photos of her right here.

REVOLVER When did you first get into rock music?
PORCELAIN BLACK I've listened to it ever since I was little. My Dad was super into rock music and he played guitar and was in bands and owned a hair salon. So, I mean, I was always at a hair salon and, you know, he was always blasting Nirvana and Hendrix and Zeppelin, and he'd take me backstage at a fashion show and then I was at crazy photo shoots all the time, so, it was, like, rock and roll and fashion all the time growing up.

Your dad took you to your first concert, right?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, AC/DC.

What was that like?
Amazing. I was just like, Wow! I was like, When I grow up, this is what I want to do. I was like, This is so tight! [Laughs]

Who were some of the rock and metal bands you first listened to?
Well, my first two CDs I ever bought were Oasis, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, and Hole, Live Through This. So I used to jam off that all the time. I love Led Zeppelin, like, love, love, love, you know, just like, I'm kind of like a classic-rock girl. Nirvana. Ozzy and all that stuff, but I never got really into, like, super hardcore metal.

Lil Wayne, who you've toured with, always comes across as a guy who's big into his rock and metal. Is that how he is?
Yeah, [laughs] he's super into it. He's, like, trying to be a skateboarder now, too, a pro skateboarder. It's funny: We went to this skate park together one night, 'til, like, 5 in the morning, and he's, like, skateboarding around and I'm like, This is amazing. And, like, his favorite band's Nirvana, you know. He loves rock music.

If someone had never heard your music before and asked you to describe it, what would you say?
Well, I mean, I always say if Britney Spears and Marilyn Manson fucked and had a psycho kid that did music, that would be me. 'Cause it's like industrial Nine Inch Nails, but then it's pop at the same time and dance. It has that awesome pop-dance music that [producer] RedOne brings to the table, you know?

You recently recorded a song and did a cameo for the upcoming Rock of Ages film, right?
Yeah. The song's called "Rock Angel." And that whole experience was rad. Adam Shankman, the director, is the shit. He's, like, one of my favorite people ever—he's so funny. And it was just crazy, like, having my trailer and then, like, [comedian-actor] Russell Brand's trailer was right there, and then there's Tom Cruise's trailer and then there's, like, [Tom Cruise's daughter] Suri  running about, and Katie Holmes, and I was like, This is fucking nuts! [Laughs] Like, How did I end up here? [Laughs] Me and my friend Taylor were, like, chain smoking outside the trailer, like, Somebody please walk out, somebody please walk out. Where's Russell Brand at? [Laughs] We were, like, so excited. We were like, We want to see somebody! [Laughs]

Are you big into the whole '80s music and fashion?
Yeah, I love Mötely Crüe and Guns 'N Roses. I was obsessed with Axl [Rose] when I was little. I had this stuffed bunny, that I used to sleep with, and I named him Axl. I was like, [laughs] I fucking love you. That was definitely my crush.

Are you still into Axl now, given everything that's happened?
I mean he's crazy. He's, like, on some new shit, but I'll always love him and I think you've gotta respect him, you know? He's Axl Rose—he can do whatever the fuck he wants to do. He's like, I'm gonna braid my hair into cornrows and wear a jersey and you can't fucking say shit, 'cause I'm Axl Rose. [Laughs] He's like "What are you gonna do about it?" Everybody's, like, talking shit and he's probably just sitting there laughing, like, Haha. [Laughs] I'm Axl Rose, but what are you?

You performed on the Letterman show not too long ago. How was that whole experience?
Really fucking intense and freezing. It was, like, 45 degrees. I was like, Am I at the Letterman show or am I in a snowstorm right now. It was really cold, but it was amazing. Letterman was dope.

Did you get to meet him afterward?
No, I just met him like when we were all on the stage afterward and he came up and shook our hands and we chilled for a minute. But, I mean, that was my first live TV performance so it was really stressful, 'cause I had, like, kind of been waiting for a moment, like, that my entire life, you know? I was just like, I want to do a good job. But it was great, it was amazing. I loved it.

I saw on your Facebook page you list whiskey as one of your interests. What's your favorite?
Jameson's.

How do your drink it? On the rocks? Straight up?
Out of the bottle. [Laughs] 'Cause if you drink it out of the bottle, like, if you drink it out of the cup, like, you can smell it and it's kind of like a little bit of torture. But if you drink it out of the bottle you can't smell it, so it goes down quicker. [Laughs]

Given that you've hung out with both rockers and rappers, who parties harder?
Damn, I don't know. It's, like, different kind of crazy, you know. They're both equally as crazy, but, like, the rappers, it's more like strip-club, blunts, and hoes crazy. And with rockers, it's more like whiskey, breaking-shit crazy. I don't know. [Laughs] They're both equally as crazy, but just in different ways. It's definitely a different experience.

Which kind of crazy do you prefer?
Both. [Laughs]

Have you accompanied some of the rappers to strip clubs before?
Yeah, like, many times. But the craziest time was when we were all at King of Diamonds in Miami. I've never seen so much fucking money in my entire life. It was literally, like, our own little section or whatever with the strip pole, and it was, like, seriously walking through a foot of snow of dollars. I was like, This is amazing!

I'm like, Damn that's like you can buy a fucking car with that, a new place, and I'm, like, just staring at it all, like, How much shit I could buy with this? [Laughs] And, like, I want it. And I was, like, trying to scoop some of the dollars up or whatever and put it in a pile so I could, like, make it rain, too, and the stripper, like, ran over with her fucking stripper claws and they're like "Put the money down!" I just wanted to make it rain, like, the strippers are so fucking crazy, like trying to take a crack pipe away from a crack head—they get pretty crazy about it. [Laughs] Don't touch the stripper's dollars. Even if you plan on giving it back and throwing it up, don't do it. [Laughs]

That's an insane amount of money.
I know, right. I'm like, Fuck, if somebody was throwing that much money, too, I'd be on my hands and knees, like, "Don't fucking touch this shit! It's mine!" [Laughs]

What would you say is the sexiest hard-rock or metal song?
Nine Inch Nails, "Closer."

Why that one?
"I wanna fuck you like an animal." I mean, I'm like, Oh yeah, fuck yeah, I can do that. [Laughs]

When we interviewed Stitched Up Heart frontwoman Mixi for the new Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue, we talked about a range of topics, from the origins of her band to her fave non-hard-rock music to her creative influences. Unfortunately, due to space constraints in the issue, we weren't able to include most of our chat–but that's what the Internet is for! Read what she has to say below, and check out exclusive photo outtakes for her Hottest Chicks shoot right here.

REVOLVER How did Stitched Up Heart form?
MIXI Los Angeles is a big city but a small town. We all knew kinda already knew each other, and when the idea formed October of 2010, all the members just fell into place. What started as some kids making some music ended up going further than what we had initially thought.

How would you describe your music?
It's an explosive mix of Beetlejuice-infused rock trapped in a a screaming metal coffin.

What is your goal with the band?
To "Escape the Nightmare." The nightmare being a 9-to-5 day job that we hate. Mainly, we just want to do what we love for a living.

Tell us about the band's latest release.
We just released the EP Escape the Nightmare. The video for "Is This the Way You Get to Hell?" is out now, too!

Where did the name Mixi come from?
Everyone is born a blank canvas. You can paint your canvas with clothes, makeup, hair, tattoos. Just like a painting, I created who I am to this day, and it's just a big "mix" of stuff!

Who are your biggest musical heroes and why?
I feel like maybe I lived another life because I seem to know all the words to songs from a different generation like Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, and Ella Fitzgerald. I'll catch myself singing words to songs I've never heard before.

What are your favorite hard-rock and metal albums and why?
I really liked Fever from Bullet for my Valentine, Sing the Sorrow, AFI, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, My Chemical Romance. These are just some of those albums that I couldn't seem to stop listening to.

What is the sexiest hard-rock or metal song and why?
Not to get too graphic but that Toadies song "Possum Kingdom" has always gotten me hot!

If you have the new Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue, then you know who Mixi is. The lead singer of Stitched Up Heart, who recently released their new EP, Escape the Nightmare, Mixi kicks ass–and looks good doing it. You can read our full interview with her right here, and you can scope previously unreleased outtakes from her Hottest Chicks photo shoot, with photographer Tri Tri Rudolf, as well as some bonus shots by Michelle X Star, below.

If you have the new Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue or the 2012 Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar, then you know who Ash Costello is. The lead singer of New Years Day, who recently released their new album, The Mechanical Heart, Costello kicks ass—and looks good doing it. You can read our full interview with her right here, and you can scope previously unreleased outtakes from her Hottest Chicks photo shoot, with photographer Michelle X Star, below.

If you have the new Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue, then you know who Porcelain Black is. Gearing up for the release of her debut album early next year, the industrial-pop singer kicks ass–and looks good doing it. You can read our full interview with her right here, and you can scope some photos of her below.

When we interviewed New Years Day frontwoman Ash Costello for the new Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue—she's also featured in the 2012 Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar—we talked about a range of topics, from the origins of her band to her fave horror movies to her favorite hard-rock and metal albums. Unfortunately, due to space constraints in the issue, we weren't able to include most of our chat—but that's what the Internet is for! Read what she has to say below, and check out exclusive photo outtakes for her Hottest Chicks shoot right here.

REVOLVER How did New Years Day form?
ASH COSTELLO New Years Day formed out of bad breakups. It was like this twist in fate in mine and my band members' lives. We have all been friends since before we formed this band and, for some reason, all of us were going through a breakup with our boyfriends and girlfriends at the time. We were all crashing at our guitar player's house, drowning our sorrows in junk food, wine, and TV when we all sat up and wrote a song called "Ready Aim Misfire." The song was so good, we wrote another and another, and finally decided to just start a band with each other—which rocks 'cause it's just an extra fun additive to us hanging out anyway.

How would you describe your music?
This is always a tough question to answer, but I'd say if My Chemical Romance and Paramore had a baby from hell on Halloween and made Rob Zombie the Godfather and Elvira the Godmother, then that would sound like us. We are upbeat rock but it's still very dark sounding. It's dark rock yet it's catchy and fun. I learned that from the greats: I'm very inspired by Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Marilyn Manson. I always say it sounds like you just rode the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland that ended in a rock concert.

What is your goal with the band?
My goal is to have the ability to play music for a living for the rest of my life. I don't need a ton of money, cars, jewelry or a huge house and other crazy expensive things to feel like I reached my goal. I just want to know that for the rest of my life, I don't have to wake up hating my day, everyday, because I work a terrible job that I have no passion for. That's my selfish reason! My other reason is to touch someone's life. When a fan writes to me saying we saved them from suicide or helped them through a bad breakup or helped them be proud of who they are or helped them chase their dreams, then I've really achieved something of value. Oh yeah! My last goal: revenge!

Tell us about the band's new album, The Mechanical Heart.
I am so proud of it. It's our second official album out, and we only have two, but it's my favorite. So much heart went into it for me, personally. It's the most honest lyrics I've ever written and the most fun I've had recording. It's much darker and heavier than our first record, My Dear, and I could not be happier with it. From start to finish, it's about a girl and a guy falling in love, and the love being so strong and powerful that it destroys them both, and in order to not feel the pain, they replace their human hearts with mechanical ones. We filmed the first music video for the album for the song "Two in the Chest, One in the Head" and I actually get to rip a guys heart out of his chest—it was so bloody!

You're known as a "horror-movie queen"? How come? What are some of your favorite horror movies?
I think the biggest reason is because I actually get paid to scare people. Besides the band, I work as a "monster" at a horror-themed park every year. It's a big, big event in Southern California and Im a vampire that gets to run around making people scream all night for the entire month of October! So it's just my repuation, I guess. It wasn't something I tried to do really. You know, I have fans that follow me on Facebook and Twitter and I'm always posting gory horror-movie stuff. The content of my songs and my lyrics, I'm sure have a lot to do with it, and the way I act and look onstage, I tend to be covered in fake blood half the time. My hair is raven black and pumpkin orange! I'm always some sort of death victim or zombie in friend's music videos—I was just a zombie in a new Winds of Plague video. I am a huge horror-movie fan. My all time favorite is Texas Chainsaw Massacre! The fact that it's based on a true story and is horrifying to watch because it was filmed in the '70s and is so gritty and unprofessional you feel like youre there. Another fave is by one of my heroes, Rob Zombie, which is House of 1000 Corpses. It's such a messed-up movie but it's so funny and so colorful, I kind of feel like it's like my band in that way. And my new favorite is Hobo with a Shotgun—sooo beyond ridiculously bloody and so fun to watch!

You guys were on this summer's Warped Tour. What was the craziest thing that happened?
The craziest moment that comes to mind was in Florida. We were playing our acoustic set in one of the larger tents, and it was a cloudy day but nothing unusual. As we are hitting the bridge to one of our songs called "My Dear," I notice a huge cloud that looks as though it's touching the ground and very thick, like, dust rolling towards us from the distance. Twenty seconds later, the row of merch tents I'm looking down is starting to get picked up and thrown by the wind, one by one, and moving closer! Then the tent we were in started to get picked up. It was one of the heavier bigger ones so you could tell the wind was trying hard, picking it up about three feet, then slamming it down. I ran and hid with our merch girl under a semi-truck with some fans while the boys in the bands were literally dangling from the metal poles of this tent trying to keep it down! I've seen quite a few crazy storms and tornado warnings on Warped Tour! Never a dull moment.

Who are your biggest musical heroes and why?
My biggest heroes are the musicians that never gave up on their dreams even when people said they were too different to fit in anywhere, never took no for an answer, and kept believing in what they were doing no matter what. I look up to Marilyn Manson and Alice Cooper. Rob Zombie. Freddy Mercury. All eccentric artists that found their place in this world despite being so different and dark. I also look up to Gwen Stefani and Joan Jett—the two reasons I wanted to sing in bands when I was little.

What are your favorite hard-rock and metal albums and why?
Queen, A Night at the Opera, is one of the best records of all time. It changed my life. I brought it to Third Grade show-and-tell and, of course, no one else understood it. Avenged Sevenfold, City of Evil: The first time I heard it I didn't stop listening to it for months. Listening to it was like watching a movie full of plot twists. Rob Zombie, Past, Present and Future, because it has all the greats! Marilyn Manson, Eat Me, Drink Me, is my favorite by him, love every song on that record. Mutter by Rammstein because that record and band scare me and I love it! I love blasting the heavy guitars in my car stereo and I have a crush on Till Lindemann.

What is the sexiest hard-rock or metal song and why?
It's a tie. "If I was Your Vampire" by Marilyn Manson and "Too Afraid to Love You" by the Black Keys—both of these songs just makes me want to shut off the lights and make out with someone immediately.

Lacuna Coil have premiered their new single, "Trip the Darkness," on their Facebook page. The track is the first single off the band's new album, Dark Adrenaline, which will be released on January 24, 2012.

Lacuna Coil frontwoman Cristina Scabbia is featured in our Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue, on newsstands now and available online here.

Evanescence performed two songs on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night. First up, the band played "What You Want," taken from their recently released self-titled album, before rounding the show off by performing "Going Under," off their 2003 debut Fallen. You can watch videos of both songs below.

Evanescence frontwoman Amy Lee is also featured on the cover of Revolver's Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue, which is on newsstands now and also available online here. She is also included in the 2012 Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar, available here.

Valora—the band led by singer Syd Duran, one of the women spotlighted in Revolver's current Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock issue—are playing the 48 Hours Festival in Vegas this weekend. In anticipation of the big show, the group is debuting new song, "Live," right here right now. Check out the song below, read what Duran has to say about the track, and let us know what you think in the comments.

What's "Live" about?
"Live" is a passionate, musical expression of the underrated power that we hold in the words we speak.

Which part of it did you come up with first? What was the inspiration?
I cowrote this song with [production team] the Matrix. We came up with the hook, "Killers make me wanna live." It was inspired by the warm, fuzzy feeling I got from douchebags, bitches, and arrogant bastards—great beer!—in high school.

Was this an easy song to write or record?
We wrote this song in about two days. Lyrics and music came pretty easily, but the melody was a little more tricky. This song actually challenged some of the highest notes in my vocal range.

What sort of feedback have you gotten on this song so far?
The feedback that I have gotten from guys tends to sound something like, "Sick riff!" While a lot of girls have commented on the depth and transparency of the lyrics. Both reactions are equally satisfying!

The 2012 edition of Revolver's Hottest Chicks in Hard Rock calendar—featuring Halestorm's Lzzy Hale on its cover and exclusive pinups of 12 of the loveliest ladies in music, including an alternate shot of Hale, inside—is available online for pre-order . The calendar also packs plenty of hard-rock and metal trivia, including landmark album release dates, historic concerts, musician birthdays, and much more! Get yours now.