Scott Jeslis at Metal Express Radio recently caught up with Dani Nolden, vocalist for Brazil's SHADOWSIDE. The following is an excerpt from the interview.

MER: Your vocals aren’t a carbon copy of a lot of the female-led bands out there today (e.g., Nightwish, Evenscence, After Forever, etc.). Who were some of your musical influences?

Dani Nolden: "Sebastian Bach, Rob Halford, Steven Tyler, Paul Stanley … basically all of those singers that had/have a lot of power, passion, and attitude in the way they sing. When I started singing, female-fronted bands like those weren’t common or didn’t exist. I’m not really sure because I was just listening to stuff like SKID ROW and GUNS N' ROSES -- I didn’t know much about female singers apart from L7 or HEART, so they were never a reference point for me. Maybe that’s why I sound nothing like them. They’re great in what they do, don’t get me wrong, it’s just not me at all."

MER: How did you get interested in singing Metal music?

Dani Nolden: "My cousin got me interested, I guess. At that time I was into pop music, basically because that’s what my parents would show me (laughs). I was about 10 when this cousin introduced Guns N’ Roses to me and I fell absolutely in love with them. He showed me a video of 'Welcome To The Jungle' and I thought that was so COOL! It had such raw energy. It was everything I had in my personality but could never find in music until that moment. Since then I became very interested in having a band, but I never took it seriously until I actually got to a point that I had to choose between music and a career as a professional soccer player. There was no time for both, because we had team practices every single day and I wouldn’t be able to rehearse with the band. I’d have to completely leave it behind me, but I just couldn’t -- I love music way too much, so at that moment I decided that I wanted to be a professional musician and that I’d work my ass off to become one."

MER: How does the Brazilian music scene compare to other countries?

Dani Nolden: "The scene here is quite unique because CD sales are completely dead, but live shows draw more and more people every year. We have many national and international acts touring here every month and all the venues are packed, so I have no idea why CDs don’t sell here. The audience here is extremely passionate -- they scream their lungs out when their favorite bands come to their hometown, which is awesome for an artist. It’s impossible to describe how we feel when we see someone singing our art, our creation -- it’s amazing. Of course, that happens in other countries too, but it’s quite funny to see that every underground show here in Brazil has an audience of 300-400 people and big bands are packing stadiums, when lots of bands with a huge fan base aren’t selling more than 5,000 copies in the whole country. Some sell more, but the large majority doesn’t. There’s also a lot of talent here, but usually bands don’t know it’s possible to actually make it happen. If bands here start believing in themselves more, it’s just a matter of time until we have more Brazilian metal touring the world."

Go to this location for the complete interview.