In a new conversation with Playboy, Courtney LaPlante answered critics of her ‘soft’ style in heavy music.
“I think there are so many tropes in our genre of how you need to be on stage,” the singer said. “It’s a bunch of straight men, so there’s certain societal expectations on how you’re supposed to perform heavy aggressive music…”
LaPlante added, “People get mad that I’m not scrunching my face up when I’m screaming. They say I have no emotion, but you don’t have to scrunch up your face! It actually hinders you—you want to relax your face.”
During the same interview, the vocalist also criticized the metal scene for its ‘fake’ support of artists. She explained, “Reddit forums are where fans are free from you, where they can say what they like and don’t like without your presence affecting them. It’s important to give them that space so they feel comfortable being honest…”
“What’s missing in the industry is real critique. We’re too protective of each other. Publicly, it’s rare to find negative reviews, but behind the scenes—everyone’s talking mad sh*t about each other. In contrast, the hip-hop world is more open about calling out when something doesn’t work. We need more of that honesty in our genre,” Courtney added.
“I think we’re protective of one another. We don’t want to add to the hatred,” LaPlante previously said about the same topic. “Personally, I just kind of want to worry about myself and not always be talking mad sh*t.”
She went on, “There’s just so much more horrible stuff within our music industry other than how sh*tty the band’s music is that I’m passionate about. And maybe metal’s always been a lot more conservative than we’ve let on.”
LaPlante has scheduled shows with Spiritbox in the coming days. The band will perform in Mexico on December 14. Then, they will be in London on February 13.