Black Moth: thundering riffs, widdly guitar solos and doom-laden lyrics and pacing combine with trash culture fixations and lead singer Harriet Bevan’s Doro Pesch-lite vocals for a sound that’s as unique as it is familiar.

But the band, borne of the Leeds underground scene, is about to embrace a new chapter in its rapidly expanding history with an October tour supporting The Sisters of Mercy – and the introduction of a new member.

Second guitarist Nico Carew has left the band for pastures new following their recent London gig with L7, and ace axe-wielder Federica Gialanze is stepping in.

The former Centurions Ghost guitarist joins a band on the rise. Since the arrival of their second album Condemned to Hope at the end of last year, Black Moth have played headline shows throughout the UK as well as a support tour with Amplifier and dates with the recently reunited L7.

Having played Leeds and Reading festivals in years gone by, as well as Temples Festival, Desert Fest and Download, they’ve also stamped their live authority on support slots with Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Red Fang and Turbowolf.

We spoke to Federica as the band prepared to announce her appointment, ahead of their tour of Europe and the UK with the iconic Sisters of Mercy, and she gave us an exclusive — and open — insight into her early days in a covers band, how she’s honed her talent and what the future holds for Black Moth.

How did you meet Black Moth?

Through mutual friends. I used to play in a Black Sabbath tribute band as Tony Iommi, and the guitarist who has now joined Angel Witch was a good friend of Harriet’s. He knew she was looking for a replacement for Nico and put my name forward, which was really nice. She got in touch and I really liked the band so we arranged to meet up. That was back in May but I met the band for the first time about six weeks ago. I didn’t really know the guys but we had a lot of mutual friends so Black Moth often popped up in conversation. I saw them play live and thought they were really good. I thought, ‘I could really do with being in a band like that!’ And for some reason it actually happened.

What is your musical background and how long have you been playing?

I started playing guitar when I was 17 so probably about 19 years now. It didn’t come naturally for me. I never thought I’d join a band; it was just something that I wanted to do for myself. There were so many bands I liked but I never thought I’d have the balls to be up there! I started playing punk rock because it was the only thing that I could play. I loved thrash metal but never thought I could be that good. I had no technique whatsoever so I joined a band with my school mates and we played songs by The Ramones and The Misfits. I always tried to play them like Metallica would, to make it more metal. But then I started ripping off Metallica. Basically, that’s how I learned. I’m not that disciplined so I wouldn’t sit down and practice loads of guitar exercises, I would just throw on my favourite songs and try to play along; I loved old-school thrash metal. Later on, I defined my own techniques and played exercises but I am completely self-taught I have no theory knowledge. Only in recent years have I started looking into it in more detail.

Are there any particular guitarists you are inspired by?

To be honest, for me it was all about the riffs. Thrash metal was my thing, so Kerry King and James Hetfield. My favourite guitarists at the moment are more hard rock guitarists like Michael Schenker (Scorpions, UFO), Warren Haynes (The Allman Brothers Band), Jake E. Lee (Ozzy Osbourne, Badlands), more classic rock guitarists. Schenker is a massive influence on me now, in fact I was writing the other day and I thought I found the perfect riff and then thought, ‘Shit! It sounds like a UFO song.’

What do you think of other women musicians?

Female drummers are fantastic. I always wanted to put together a female band when I first started but I could never find a female drummer. Now, in London, it’s easier but nobody was ever good enough. But in my other band Cougar I now have a female drummer who is pretty good.

What music gets you more excited, metal or punk?

Punk was only a phase really. I still listen to it — I love Black Flag, The Ramones, I like skate punk like NOFX, but metal was how I started. I listen to a lot of things, though. In the space of an hour, I can go from Black Flag to Slayer to Stevie Wonder. But recently I got more into hard rock and 70s rock like Grand Funk Railroad and UFO — so they are a big influence on me at the moment. Obviously, Tony Iommi means a lot to me, he’s probably my main inspiration.

Describe your sound, and do you use many effects?

My sound is pretty simple. I don’t mess around with a lot of effects or pre amps. For me the perfect guitar tone is JCM800. I don’t use many effects, I use a little bit of delay. It depends on what I do, as well — with my other band there isn’t much room for experimental stuff because it’s a thrash metal band. Maybe there’s more room for that kind of thing in Black Moth but I don’t have many pedals. I have a Wah pedal and a tube screamer. That’s it really!

When you see other guitarists live does it make you feel competitive?

That’s a good question. I’m not sure. Yes, I feel competitive in a healthy way. When I see guitar players that are extremely good it makes me feel like I should be so much better! It pushes me to develop my playing in a healthy way.

Are you quite prominent in the writing process or do you take a back seat?

I have had both scenarios in the past. Black Moth is a band that I’ve joined and it already existed before me so when we write I share my ideas and everybody joins in a group effort, which is great. I am quite pleased with the fact they listen to my ideas and wanted a guitarist who contributes to the writing. In the past, I put together the thrash metal band from scratch, and it all started with me writing riffs and recording them on Cubase… it took me a while to find other people and once they joined in, I wanted them to contribute more. They didn’t, though, except for my other guitarist who became a writing partner – we made a good team. I’m not going to be contributing any lyrics because that’s what I’m shit at! But guitar, definitely, that’s my main thing.

What has been your greatest challenge as a guitarist so far?

My greatest challenge has been balancing life and playing guitar. In previous bands it always gets to a point where we break up, not because we want to but because life happens. The biggest challenge is getting everybody on the same page at the same time. Sometimes there’s a timing issue of people wanting different things at different times. For instance, with my thrash metal band we were doing really well and had really good support from bigger bands. Because of financial struggle and job loss, my drummer and singer both became techs, and I was forced to move out of London so we weren’t as active as we were supposed to be. Things went from really good, to non-existent. We struggled to see each other and my drummer is also a doctor so he works a lot. The financial burden is the main struggle. London is tough for musicians. It can grind you down a lot. Black Moth have been going for a while and they’ve committed to the band so I know it’s going to work out. It has to work out.

Aside from guitar, how do you chill out?

There is something that I’d like to do more often given the time and that’s drawing. I’ve studied art when I was in Italy and it was a big part of my life there but since I moved to London it’s been a challenge to find the time.

Perhaps you could do sleeve artwork for Black Moth?

I should try, yes.

What are Black Moth going to do first; tour or record?

I think we’re going on tour first. I’m not sure, we could record before that but I can’t see that happening in the next couple of months. The tour is such a big thing and we are still in the writing process anyway. We are looking into studios as we speak and these things take time so I wouldn’t think it’s going to happen before the tour. The tour is going to be the next big thing that happens and then we’re going to work on the album. Once it gets released, we will go on tour again. At the live shows, hopefully we will have the chance to showcase some of the new songs. We are in a good place. I think we are ready to play some new songs live… but I don’t want to make any promises!

Catch Black Moth live across the UK and Europe on their support tour with The Sisters of Mercy on the following dates:

12 October — Glasgow, ABC

14 October — Leeds, Beckett University (formerly the Met)

15 October — Nottingham, Rock City

17 October — Manchester, Ritz

18 October — London, Roundhouse

19 October — Antwerp, Trix

21 October — Cologne, Music Hall

22 October — Berlin, Columbiahalle

Tickets are on sale now – http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/The-Sisters-of-Mercy-tickets/artist/1006740

Paula Frost