Kyle McGinn of Dead Rhetoric recently conducted an interview with LEAVES’ EYES frontman Alexander Krull and new frontwoman Elina Siirala. An excerpt from the chat follows below.
Dead Rhetoric: In terms of [original LEAVES’ EYES singer] Liv’s [Kristine] departure, was it unfortunate that it ended up in this big Internet mess?
Alexander: “That was not the plan at all. We made a statement together with the band, with Liv and Elina, presenting her as the new vocalist in the band. Then it turned out that suddenly rumors were spread — the statement was attacked by our former vocalist as well, which was very disappointing for us. It was not a decision made from one day to another, or planned behind anyone’s back. Not at all. It [the statement] was coming up as a process, as things happened. After our personal separation [between Krull and Kristine, who are married and have a son, Leon], everything was solved. The personal side was solved, and the band side was solved — actually in a peaceful way. But then, it happened that someone else popped up, in the personal life of Liv, and was affecting the band. Her therapist was affecting her side of life, and also the band. We were really surprised with what was said to us: no more tours, no more interviews. We were, like, ‘What’s going on now?” It was not very nice to see what was happening. Speaking for myself, and not for Tosso [LEAVES’ EYES guitarist Thorsten Bauer], we supported her ever since she started her career. I was there when the label signed her, I was always on her side — as manager, producer, and songwriter. Then you see this — I’m a little bit surprised at how fast it can go, as someone goes there and manipulates, and does stuff like that. On the other side, we were really, really lucky to find someone like Elina in that situation. We had the band meeting — Liv had told us that a tour like this would be her suicide, or whatever. There was no way that we could continue [with her]. We had to cancel everything or we had to find someone else, who could fill this huge role. Not just to fill in the big shoes of Liv Kristine, but someone who is their own character — charisma, strength, a great singer… also looking great [laughs] — the whole package. She had to be suited for the band. Because it is a band — not a solo project. It was never ‘a project of the ATROCITY guys with Liv Kristine.’