It seems there has been a larger acceptance of women in metal. Was there any hesitation in the band about having you fronting such a heavy band?
MZ: Yes, there has been a lot more involvement of women in metal these days. It's really great to see. The guys were never hesitant about having a woman front the band. I think they just wanted a person who could sing well and get the job done. They are great people and it's never been an issue at all.

The nice thing about your vocals is it gives such nice contrast to the riffs. When writing, does the band think about the voice as an instrument or an orator of a message?
MZ: Thanks for the nice words about the vocals! Brian, one of our guitarists, is the principal song writer and from what I have observed over the years, he really treats the vocal lines as an additional instrument, and works hard to have the melodic lines work in tandem with the instruments. And then the good thing about the voice is you get to use words while you make melodies so the voice also gets to be the orator of a message as well.

Ohio is much like Wisconsin and metal heads are not always the most approved. What was it like trying to make it in a rural, farm community?
MZ: It's funny you ask that, because Wisconsin is a lot like Ohio. Cory, one of our guitarists actually lives out on his parents' dairy farm. We all come from small towns surrounding Madison, where metal isn't the most popular thing, but to be honest I don't feel like anyone notices too much. We don't play shows in the small towns and all of our families have supported us and think it's pretty cool that we are in this band. As far as making it goes, it was much easier I think, than living in Los Angeles or New York where we would have had to compete with a lot of other really great metal bands. We were able to stand out here more than if we lived somewhere else. We also are lucky because Madison isn't too far from a lot of major Midwest cities. We've been able to play in Des Moines, Cleveland, Chicago, The Twin Cities, and a lot of other places in the Midwest. So, that's been a big advantage as well as far as getting the name out goes. We've got a great Midwest fan base.

Was it more exciting to get a record deal or endorsements where you don’t have to spend so much on equipment?
MZ: I think the record deal definitely. The endorsements help us out a ton, but without the record deal, we wouldn't have those, so definitely the support of a great label like Century Media has been tremendous.

The Absence was just released on Feb. 10. What did the band do to celebrate that night?
MZ: We actually didn't celebrate at all on the 10th, since it was a Tuesday, but we had a HUGE CD release party in Madison and all of our friends and supporters came out to party with us and we did it up Wisconsin-style and had way too much to drink. But we had a terrific time with everyone.

After putting so much into a record as I am sure the band did, was there almost an emotional letdown once the record was released?
MZ: Not so much an emotional letdown, we are very happy actually. We were just excited to finally get out a good product that we could finally share with people, get behind and promote the hell out of. It was time to get our real work done!

It always seems harder for a metal band to make it in the states versus overseas. After all, the band was getting probably more accolades from across the pond early on in your career. What do you think of American music fans?
MZ: It is definitely true that our independent releases under our prior band name, “The Ottoman Empire,” we got a following overseas and we still continue to ship a lot of orders to Europe and Japan. We get a lot of support from overseas for our back catalogue and our newest album has not been released outside the US yet, but it will soon be out in other territories and reach those fans. The American fans have been incredible. They are every bit as supportive as fans from overseas, they are what has made us thus far and they are what will continue to make us for our entire career. America is our home, and those fans are behind us 100%. It's great seeing them out at shows and meeting them and sharing our music with them.

I see you are in the Girls of Century calendar. I remember asking Lacuna Coil this question. Are you ever afraid the "novelty" of a female vocalist will outweigh the talent of the band?
MZ: Well, you know some bands use their female members (whether they are singers or whatever) as gimmicks, but we really try to avoid that. I don't think that will become too big of a problem for us. We try to keep things down to earth and pretty well balanced, but when you are a female and the front person a lot of the default attention falls on you whether you want it to or not. We try hard to focus on the music, focus on our abilities and to function as a band in a unit rather than relying on one or two of us to carry the band. We've all got a lot to offer and we try to spread the attention around pretty evenly if we can.

Back to The Absence. When it came to writing this record, was the band coming in with parts and riffs and writing around those, or were lyrics brought to the table and the music followed?
MZ: Actually, Brian writes almost all of the music entirely and most of the lyrics, so all the songs were put together before going into the studio. A couple of the songs had looser structures going in and I wrote vocals and lyrics on two songs and everything turned out great. Brian really puts a lot of time into his songwriting and everything is pretty cohesive already heading into the studio, so there's not too much work to do on the writing.

It won’t be too much longer before a tour with Edguy begins. But what will the band be doing between the end of the Warbinger tour and the beginning of the Edguy tour?
MZ: We have a few festival dates, actually one is Chicago Powerfest, and another announcement is coming soon. We've got all sorts of gigs in the works for spring and summer, so keep your eyes open for those!

Lastly, like it or not, many young ladies are looking at you as a role model and the rest of the band as non-confining. Were you ever surprised at the attention from young fans who look up to the band as not just good musicians, but an outlet for a gender to believe?
MZ: Yeah, it's really always a surprise when people look up to you. I think as kids we all spend a lot of time looking up to other people and musicians, that it is hard to believe that you are a person that people are looking at in the same way that you yourself have looked at your favorite musicians or whoever. It's pretty surprising when you get messages from people telling you that you've inspired them. But, when I get them on my page or on the band page, we always try to write back because it means so much to us when the fans tell us we've inspired them or touched their lives in some way. It's so amazing to hear that, and we thank them for that support. I guess that's the point of being a musician to share that with other people in hopes that they might understand the music and be moved by it. If I can be a role model for women, than I will definitely try to be one. I think that there are a lot of positive female role models out there these days whether or not they are musicians or politicians, entertainers or teachers. If women find me inspiring then, I'm humbled and I hope it causes some women to pick up that instrument and make a musical career for themselves.