MY RUIN vocalist Tairrie B. Murphy is featured in a new interview with Femme Metal. She discusses her career and the band's new album, Ghosts And Good Stories. An excerpt is available below.

Q: Thinking back to 1993, when you first formed MANHOLE, I for one can’t think of any women who did scream vocals.

Tairrie: "There weren’t really any back then, except for maybe Karen Crisis whom I was not familiar with at the time but found out about after we had released our first album."

Q: Why did that particular style of singing appeal to you? And also, how did you go about teaching yourself to do those throat-shredding screams?

Tairrie: "Well, here’s the thing… I’m not a singer; It’s not what I do. or as I like to call it – I’m a lead screamer, a violent scream vocalist. Back in the day, when I decided to put a band together, I was really sort of a babe in the woods. It’s just like when I walked into the rap world, being a white-girl rapper. I walked into this world going, 'I’m not really a singer, and I’m not really sure what I’m going to do here.' People like Henry Rollins (ROLLINS BAND, BLACK FLAG) and Phil Anselmo (PANTERA) were inspirations.

Phil Anselmo really inspired me as a vocalist. I always like to tell this little story…. I went to see Pantera one time and I remember all these women were standing on the side of the stage in their little hooker outfits. Everybody was talking about who they were going to 'be with' in the band. I listened to these girls talk and they all wanted to be with Phil and I didn’t want to be with him, I wanted to be him. That was the difference for me. I wanted to be on stage doing what he was doing because I admired it and I remember thinking there were really no women doing it.

You know, it was another strange place for me. I didn’t really have anyone as a role model to look at. Of course, I loved Joan Jett and Chrissie Hynde (THE PRETENDERS) and there were many women I really adored vocally but I didn’t do what they did, so they couldn’t really be role models or inspirations in that way for me. I had to find my own way. People like Robb Flynn of MACHINE HEAD, Phil Anselmo and Henry Rollins played that role. I just loved the ferocity of their vocals and the brutality. It really excited me and it was something that I wanted to make my own.

People have asked me, 'How have you kept your voice like this after so many years on tour?' It’s weird because it just sort of comes to me naturally. It’s never been a forced thing -- I’ve never taken vocal lessons or listened to that lady who put out that tape 'Learn To Scream' (or whatever it’s called). I think it has to come naturally. It has to come from your heart and can’t be forced. It’s got to be something that comes from within.

Over the years, I just kind of taught myself. Just like when you teach yourself how to write. You become a better lyricist and a better writer as time goes on … as you rehearse, perform and record. You just develop into your own. You can find inspiration, but you need to find yourself also instead of looking at a lot of other people and trying to completely emulate them. It’s very important to be original, to be yourself and to find your own voice."

Go to this location for the complete interview. More on My Ruin here.