We’re ecstatic to unveil a no-holds-barred interview with the radiant Lucia Cifarelli, the voice that powers the legendary industrial rock leviathan, KMFDM. Since her fortuitous induction in 2002, Lucia has enveloped KMFDM with a whirlwind of creative energy, igniting their sound with her distinctive fiery spirit. Lucia Cifarelli’s potent vocals and lyrical prowess have not only left an indelible imprint on the band but also sculpted its genre-defying sound—a fusion of raw industrial rock, electronica’s pulse, and heavy metal’s intensity.
As we converse with Lucia, she generously unravels the rich tapestry of her journey with KMFDM, from her early days with the band to their most recent musical exploits. We dive headfirst into her background, the narratives behind their most celebrated anthems, and the unmasking of Lucia’s creative dynamism and inspiration that fuels their current sonic adventures.
How did you get your start in music?
Well, I grew up listening to the radio. I had brother and sisters and there was music playing in everyone’s room. And as a result of that repeated and unrelenting exposure, I just fell in love with music in general. I still remember singing along in the bathroom with my hairbrush. I studied violin for a while and played in band in elementary school and I decided, I guess, when I was about 12 or 13 that I was going to be a rock star. I saw MTV and all these bigger than life iconic folks standing out there, and I said, “That’s the life for me.” And that point, I started taking voice lessons and then writing and collaborating with other songwriters in New York City while I was still in high school.
Can you recall the first time you performed on stage?
Yes, and it was terrifying. I’ll never forget it because I had been writing songs with lots of different songwriters in New York and I reached a point where I had to get out on stage. So my first real performance was with a band that I joined called Mercy Sky, and I was petrified. I was shaking so hard. I felt like I had a golf ball in my throat, and I’m pretty surprised that nobody laughed because I was God-awful. And I remained that way for a long time before I got the confidence that I’d like to believe I have now. But honestly, every show is a crapshoot. I’m good at what I do and I’m confident in what I do, but any number of things can go wrong during the course of a show which might throw your equilibrium off and thus throw you off your game. So that was the worst. But, yeah, losing my voice in front of thousands of people sucked pretty bad too.
Growing up, who were your musical inspirations?
I can tell you that I don’t feel as if I sound like any of the artists that influenced me, but I gravitated towards artists like Sinead O’Connor and PJ Harvey. I loved Sisters of Mercy. The first concert I ever saw that changed the whole trajectory of my style was when I was taken to see Diamanda Galás in New York—my sister was very ill at the time—dying of ARC, AIDS-related complex. Somebody invited me to see Diamanda Galás perform Plague Mass. She had written that piece for her brother who had died of AIDS. So it made quite an impact on me.
What did you learn from that experience?
What I got from that was the fact that I needed to really experience my pain and use everything that ever happened to my life through my body as my instrument. And so that attracted me to artists like PJ Harvey. Not so much the really big singers that they can do all sorts of vocal acrobatics, but voices that are steeped in something painful. You know what I mean? Deep experience or darkness or just plain emotion. So Diamanda was the first, but I love Depeche Mode. I love Johnny Cash. I love Patsy Cline. I love Tina Turner, Chaka Khan, Joy Division, The Smiths, New Order, Peter Gabriel, Brian Ferry, my tastes are all over the map.
Can you share with us some details on how you became a member of the reformed KMFDM back in 2002?
I got a call from Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM, and he and a guy named Tim Sköld were doing a side project called MDFMK. They had gotten signed to Republic Records and they were looking for a female singer, and he remembered me because he remixed a song for my band Drill for a movie. You may remember the movie with Liv Tyler, it was called Empire Records.
After working on MDFMK, I then got a solo deal and I ended up moving to London to make my first solo record with Ian Stanley from Tears for Fears. That didn’t really work out too well for me. Sascha was in the process of relaunching KMFDM and he again reached out and asked me if I wanted to participate. And that in a nutshell is how it started more than 20 years ago.
How did your unique musical style contribute to the KMFDM’s iconic sound?
So when Sascha called me and asked me if I wanted to be a part of KMFDM, I wasn’t really thinking so much of “Do I want to do this?” but “How am I going to do this? How am I going to fit into this iconic outfit?” Yeah, I was thinking the same thing you’re thinking. “How do I fit in here?” So, I knew that what they were attracted to about me was that I had a unique vocal sound. It was pretty ferocious and I could do some different things. I don’t have a voice like a diva, but I definitely have a voice that can do some amazing damage within the genre that they’re working with.
So, I figured if I could latch onto the material that they wanted me to write to—because they were bringing me in as a writer—then I could really do something in this band. I’ve never sang other people’s material per se and have only performed songs that I’ve written. So they sent me a couple of tracks and… well, that was MDFMK. By the time I had gotten into KMFDM, I had already been working with Sascha, and I immediately felt much more comfortable. Obviously, the sound was different than MDFMK, but I had already been living in Seattle and Sascha already had a sense of who I was as a singer and was starting to give me music to work with that would complement what I could bring to the table. Some of the styles that I write are historically different than what KMFDM is known for, but I think that’s the beauty of what I can bring to this band. I’m not trying to emulate anybody else. I’m trying to bring forward more and more of myself.
KMFDM’s forthcoming album, Let Go, is slated to be released in February. Tell us a little bit about what we can expect from the band’s 23rd studio album.
It’s crazy. I’ve lost count. I think it might be more than that when you consider the remix albums and live albums and everything. Sascha and I were just talking about this the other day. It’s half my life I’ve been in this band, you know? With Hyena, there was just so much diversity musically on that record. There were so many different moods happening. So, in that respect, Let Go is similar. There’re so many different moods on this one as well. It really is like a roller coaster, and it’s so much fun. There are so many important messages on the album that are being delivered in unique ways, many that might make you laugh. It’s going to be a fun ride for sure, and I’m looking forward to playing it live.
How do you approach collaborating with other band members in KMFDM to create that unmistakable sound that has become a trademark over the past 40 years?
I’m not so much changing anything. I’m bringing different sides of myself forward, and Sascha is incorporating that into his iconic style of production, which is really exciting for him and for the other guys in the band, because everybody has their own identity in this band, right?
Sascha’s the best of all of us, and he produces these records. So, you have a monster guitar player in Andee Blacksugar. You have a monster drummer in Andy Selway. Then you have me who… gosh, I’m not going to compare myself to the musical abilities of my KMFDM family here at all, but I’m a pretty good songwriter and I have a very interesting voice. Sascha has all these fun toys, a great guitarist who runs with ideas, and I do the same. He gives me ideas. I hear tracks and I’m like, “Oh my God. We could do this and do that.” And then he’s like a mad scientist in the studio and he’s putting his iconic hands on it all, and that makes KMFDM special.
That’s why you say, when you hear a KMFDM track, you know who it is from the first note. It’s because he’s using us as the fantastic ingredients, but he is the chef and he is using them in ways that make it how he wants it to be. Ultimately we’re all standing right beside him and he’s asking us if we like it and what we could do to do A, B, C and D, and do we have any ideas for this, that, and the other thing. In the end though, it’s his hands that are creating all the magic.
Having seen you perform live last year, you seem to have an amazing on-stage presence and relationship with your fellow bandmates. How do you make it look so seamless?
Well, Sascha, Andy Selway, and I have been working together in the band for quite a while. I started in KMFDM the same time that Andy did. Andee Blacksugar joined us in 2017 and we’ve done loads of shows together and we’re good friends. As a whole, we’re all very close and writing these songs together. We live all over the place, but we spend a lot of time communicating while we’re making records and because we are close—we have a lot of love and respect for each other. This isn’t some put together thing. This is the real fucking deal. You’ve got to really like the people that you work with to be able to present a show like this. You wouldn’t feel what you feel from it if it wasn’t real. There’s a closeness there. There’s a trust, and we have so much fun because, don’t forget, some of these songs are just so over the top that they lend themselves to big expressions on stage, right?
Are there any particular songs or lyrics from KMFDM’s discography that resonate with you personally, and if so, why?
For me, it’s “Paradise.” Because, historically, KMFDM is a band that tries to deliver messaging through its music in a way that isn’t divisive, makes people think about things in their own way, sometimes in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. But “Paradise” is really in your face and just delivering the message about how fucked up the world really is and how each of us know it in our own way. Things are not good, and they haven’t been good for a while. And yes, there is goodness in the world and we all know that. But let’s face it, this place is a complete mess right now. There’s a lot of stuff going on and that song, for me, embodies this moment where it’s just taking all of these elements and slamming it right in your face like a freight train. And I like that. When I stand up on stage and I perform that song with the band, I feel like we’re delivering something that is incredibly powerful and jarring, and sometimes that’s important amidst the fun for people to just be like, “Yeah.”
Music released on vinyl has had an incredible resurgence over the past decade. What are your thoughts on this and how has KMFDM engaged in this channels growth?
Well, vinyl is available for all of our albums. Unfortunately, with this one, I do believe that the vinyl will be delayed slightly. I might be wrong about that, but I think you of all people know better than I do that because so many people have gotten on board with vinyl, the manufacturing is taking longer and longer. That said, vinyl is very important to KMFDM. As much as we are always looking to push ourselves forward into the future, there are elements that we want to hold onto always and embrace. We want people to be able to spin vinyl. We have vinyl in our house, and personally, it sounds way better to our ears than what we hear through the computer. It’s just different. It’s a whole other aural experience. So, if you were to go on a KMFDM site where we sell our stuff, you would find vinyl. We also sell it through the label, and they sell it around the world too. It’s available everywhere, and we love it.
KMFDM’s ability to express messages through your cover art is incredible. How has that withstood the test of time?
Well, Sascha has been working with Aidan “Brute!” Hughes, since the beginning, and he’s legendary as well. Both Sascha and Aidan collaborate on these covers and It’s hard to imagine a KMFDM cover without their amazing synergies. Although there have been a few KMFDM albums that were not collaborations with Brute!, I think what you’re referring to are these bigger than life characters that come to life in this hard-boiled scene we thrive in. They are one of a kind, bringing to life the killer messaging of KMFDM.
Outside of music, what types of things are you engaged in that help you stay grounded and healthy in this wild world we all live in?
I have a pretty strict routine because it’s important for me to stay mentally and physically healthy and strong. I’m fortunate that I have a dog that gets me outside and therefore spend a lot of time outdoors. I work out at the gym a lot (which I love), and we’re making music all the time. Basically, I’m either in the studio recording, writing, at the gym, in the park, running, playing with my dog, or cooking. Obviously I’m staying informed by watching the news all around the world and seeing what’s going on, but I definitely need to spend a lot of time in nature to balance everything out.
Looking back on your personal musical journey, what legacy do you hope your contributions will leave behind for both the band as well as aspiring female vocalists who look up to you and your incredible career?
Well, I don’t think I could answer that without mentioning my solo record, I Am Eye that I put out in 2021. It shows a completely different side of me outside of KMFDM. Because in KMFDM, you have this really fierce, really strong individual. But I wanted to balance that out by making a record that was much more personal and vulnerable so people could see the balance between the two—because you can’t really have one without the other.
That said, I think the legacy that I hope that I would leave behind is that no matter what happens to you in your life, if you can mentally work your way out of that and keep pushing yourself forward, that you can be anybody you want to be. And that I believe that I’m a representation of that. I have struggled, personally and professionally, and have been told over and over I would never make it. To hear that I wasn’t good enough, that I was dumb and useless, left me struggling and beaten. However, I never gave up and always believed that I was worth fighting for.
And that’s the woman that I want them to see when they see me out on stage being really fierce and strong. I want them to know that it came from deep pain and deep hurt, and I’m still fighting, just like them. And so, if they can have enough courage and faith in themselves and not give up, they’ll be okay. And maybe someday they’ll be up on stage too or wherever they ultimately want to be if they just don’t give up.
KMFDM’s Let Go arrives in stores on February 2, 2024. On vinyl.
PHOTOS: MATTHEW BELTER
