Irene Jericho - Vocals

What gear/settings/effects do you use?
A mic and a stand. Do weekly voice lessons count as gear?

What is your musical background?
I was raised in a very musical family. My father plays guitar and sings, my Mother sings and plays piano--even my extended family has musical leanings. I think it was inevitable that I end up performing.

As far as formal training goes, I joined a children's choir
independent of the school system when I was seven.  I was also in all the school choirs throughout my education as well as some of the special ones--Madrigals in high school, All County, All State, etc.

I've taken voice lessons once a week for many years now.  My current voice coach is the wonderful Jennifer Waters, a fantastic teacher and opera singer.

How long have you been singing?
Since I could speak. At a guess, they probably occurred simultaneously.

Where do the bulk of your musical ideas come from?
As the lyricist, the bulk of my material comes from intense emotional peaks of some sort.  The majority of our lyrics are socio-political--I can get very worked up over where our world is going.  Issues involving our environment, our government, our culture...these are all topics that inspire me to write.

When it comes to the actual music, it's more organic.  I write melody lines to complement the music the guys come up with.  We all cooperate when it comes to the bed of a song.

Is there a particular show or recording superstition that you follow?
Always warm up.  Always.

How many tattoos do you have and what are they?
Right now I have four.  The oldest is a faery carrying an M16 with the bayonet attachment.  I got it when I was fresh out of Marine Corps Boot Camp.  The second is a very large pentacle made of vines in the center of my back.  It's the work of Traci Hancock of Boomtown Tattoo.  She does a lot of the ink on the rest of Cassandra Syndrome.  My third tattoo is a copy of the footprint of my Goddess Daughter, Isadora, from the day she was born.  It's on my left ankle. Her mother, Ingrid, has the same tattoo in the same spot. The most recent one is another Hancock design--a tree of life on the back of my neck.