Interview: Crucified Barbara’s Mia Karlsson is back
Crucified Barbara frontwoman Mia “Coldheart” Karlsson is back after a break from the music scene. Roppongi Rocks talked with Mia about the Crucified Barbara reunion, her experience playing bass with The Gems and her solo career.
Mia Karlsson co-founded the Swedish heavy metal band Crucified Barbara in 1998. They released four studio albums and toured the world with Mia as lead singer and guitarist until the band split in 2016. After a much-needed break from the music scene, Mia has returned better than ever. In 2024 she played session bass for The Gems on their European tours. She has also been active as a solo artist and announced that Crucified Barbara will reunite and return to the live stage in 2025.
You have recently announced that after some eight years of inactivity, Crucified Barbara will reunite with a gig at the Sweden Rock Festival in June 2025. What brought about this reunion and why now? “After not seeing each other in many years we felt it would be fun to meet and play some songs again together, and it was like coming home. I never expected a second chance to play with Crucified since my main goal for many years was just to recover from my exhaustion syndrome and depression and get back on my feet in one way or another. Now when I got the passion back to play music it felt natural to just pick up the guitar again. Since the other girls want to play as well it was a natural step to decide to get back together again! And the fact that it’s 20 years since ’In Distortion We Trust’ was released next year is just great. That gives us something extra to celebrate.”
Will the reunion gig at the Sweden Rock Festival be a one-off or is it the start of a new chapter for Crucified Barbara? ”Sweden Rock will be the first show for Crucified Barbara. We will soon announce some more festivals for the summer of 2025. Then we’ll see where and what the future brings us. The most important thing now for us is that we have fun playing together and as long as we enjoy it we will keep playing! We are booking shows now so if you want us to play at your favourite festival it is the time now to let them know!”
In Crucified Barbara you used the stage name Mia Coldheart. It sounds very melancholic. How did you end up choosing that name? ”I see it as a mark of the times. I think it was something about being determined to not let anything or anyone get in the way for me and the music since it was my highest priority back then, for good and bad. We took our stage names already sometime back in 2001… When Crucified Barbara broke up I was quick to try to separate myself from that and to do music in my own name, to be free to do whatever music I wanted. Everything that was connected to the band triggered so much anxiety at the time. But now when we are back together again with Crucified Barbara, I am more than happy to take my old name back – when we are on stage!”
You have said that burnout was the reason for your absence from the music industry in recent years. How did you manage to recover and find the love for music again? ”I stepped back from basically everything, I rested and barely saw anyone except colleagues at my day job and the closest family members for the first years. I went to different therapy sessions and worked a lot on myself. I became a healer and as I kept feeling better I studied social work at university for the past few years since I wanted to take a new path in life. During all these years I played like 2-3 shows a year as a guest singer with a rock cover project just to not stop completely. I think it was the beginning of my recovery to come back to the rock scene because with them, Swedish Rock Tour & Partypatrullen, I learned that it can be fun and stress free to play rock! That took me a few years. In the beginning, I was a nervous wreck and felt so awkward being on stage, which is hard to imagine now when I feel so much better and really enjoy everything again. When the band Donna Cannone asked me to stand in for Björn Strid on guitar at some live gigs some years ago I did it because they are my friends and I love their incredible self-titled album, but I still didn’t love playing the guitar or being on stage again… But I thought it could be a good way to figure out if I could learn to love it again. I still felt uncomfortable being back on stage and being around people but I needed all those steps, surrounded by friends. After that I was asked to play the bass live with The Gems and with that, I fell in love with a new instrument. Being on rock stages in different roles really made playing music fun again. During this time I had begun to write songs on my acoustic guitar as well which really kicked off my creativity and love for music again. So I think that time, rest, a lot of self-development, new perspectives and surrounding myself with amazing loving people and family has been important. Crucial things are that I have learned to set boundaries, stand up for myself, listen to my body and trust my intuition. Now I hope to be able to help and support others who feel stuck and drained like I did because I know it’s common, and there are ways out of it.”
This year, you have joined The Gems as a live bassist for many of their tour dates in Sweden and Europe. The gig I saw, at the Skogsröjet festival in August, was fabulous. How did you end up as a touring member of The Gems? ”That gig was so much fun. I love playing at Skogsröjet! I was asked to play a few songs with The Gems when they got a gig at the 100th anniversary of STIM one year ago. I have actually always wanted to play the bass but wasn’t sure if I could do it since I always think the worst of myself. But I decided to give it a try and I absolutely loved it. I love playing the instrument and I love to be on stage without being a front person, and being a part of the foundation of the music. Most important of all, The Gems girls are amazing people that I love to work with and hang out with. They are inspiring, extremely professional, kind and so much fun so it’s always a blast! I’m so grateful for all the shows I’ve done with them in the past year and I’m looking forward to more shows next year as well!”
You pulled double duty in October and November on the European The Gems tour as you, as a solo artist, were the opening act. Obviously, it was a great opportunity to promote your solo career, but did you at some stage feel it was too much performing twice every night? ”The double duty was in fact what sealed the deal for me to join the ’Phoenix’ tour since I’ve toured so much over the years already and I knew five weeks would be quite tough to stay on the road in late fall through Europe. It was also in the middle of my own scheduled single release dates so it was not a good timing. But when The Gems offered me a spot as their opening act with my acoustic music, it turned into a fantastic opportunity for me to introduce my new music in Europe to a new audience. Before going on the tour I thought it would be quite stressful to play two shows every evening, but it ended up being the best thing. I love contrasts and I got that for sure on this tour with my two ’hats’. As an introverted person, it was good for me that it was natural to keep to myself a bit before every show since I had to focus on my own set. I also got to know the stage and the audience with a personal acoustic performance in a more relaxed and fun way than I’m used to when going on stage in high-energy rock’n’roll mode. It was a luxury to play so many shows alone since I feel so much more comfortable now in that situation than before. The only ’problem’ was when the band that was supposed to be the second support act on the other half of the tour cancelled and I had to go on stage with The Gems just 15 minutes after my own set for 2-3 weeks. That was a bit tricky sometimes to make it on time, find all my things, change clothes and sometimes even remember to go back on stage so soon again…”
As a solo artist, you have chosen to be a kind of melancholic singer-songwriter. Was that a path you decided to take or did it just turn out that way when you started creating your music? ”I have been writing songs on my acoustic guitar since I was a young teenager. I used to write, sing and play for myself to process feelings and thoughts all through my life. To make singer/songwriter albums and play this music live has always been a dream and goal for me even during my time in Crucified Barbara but it was out of reach for me back then. I love all kinds of music and I am a creative soul who needs contrasts in my life to feel good. I never liked doing just one thing. Not being able to find time or energy to do anything else than playing rock/metal with Crucified Barbara became very draining for me eventually and one of the things that made me feel stuck. The melancholic singer/songwriter kind of music is my favourite genre to listen to for many years as well so it feels amazing to finally record, play and sing the kind of music that I love and that makes me inspired.”
Your solo album will be released in 2025. Will you back that up with more touring as a solo artist? ”Definitely! For me, this is the next step and just the beginning for the music that I’ve carried within me all my life. It’s time to let it out now! I am booking shows for 2025 and will release my debut album in April next year. I love that I can do whatever I want with these songs – they can be played with a band, as a duo or just myself and a guitar. It makes every gig special and creative for me to both plan and perform, and hopefully special for the audience as well! I am so happy for the amazing response to the singles that I have released this fall! I would say that writing and playing this acoustic music is crucial for me now to have a sustainable return to the rock scene. Even though I love so much about the rock’n’roll life, heavy riffs, making noise and especially being back with Crucified Barbara, I just as much have a desire to create acoustic and melancholic music, calm and emotional atmospheres, and to use my voice and musicianship in a more dynamic way.”
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