Zoë Marie Federoff on Censorship, Self-Acceptance, and Cradle of Filth’s Latest Album

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From the chaos of extreme metal to the depths of symphonic grandeur, Zoë Marie Federoff’s webs of transfixing melodies both enchant and destroy.

A Tucson native, Federoff cofounded Catalyst Crime with Xandria drummer, Gerit Lamm, in 2017, seamlessly blending soundscapes of symphonic metal, death metal, and free-spirited progressive metal.

In 2022, legendary metal outfit Cradle of Filth enlisted Federoff to join them as their new keyboardist and female vocalist, a move that was quickly lauded by devoted listeners across the world.

Effortlessly blending ethereal presence and relentless power, Federoff’s bewitching storms continue to capture fans, adeptly breathing new life into Cradle’s emblematic legacy.

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KP: Cradle of Filth first approached you to join them in 2022 as their keyboardist and female vocalist. It must have been incredible for such an iconic band to want to enlist you. For those who don’t already know, what was your personal history like before Cradle?

ZMF: So I've worked in metal for the better part of a decade now. I also front a symphonic death metal progressive metal band called Catalyst Crime with ex-Xandria drummer Gerit Lamm on drums. I've worked with Atrocity, which is German death metal, Vivaldi Metal Project… So I've worked in metal for a while, but certainly nothing on the scale of Cradle of Filth.

KP: It’s incredible! How did that come to be?

ZMF: I am very grateful that good people spoke my name in rooms where it mattered – the position opened up very last minute before a U.S. tour. A good friend of mine is partners with their previous tour manager, so when the position opened up last minute and they needed an American because of visa issues, they pitched my name and the band went for it. So I’m very grateful for that.

KP: That’s so awesome.

You’ve spoken openly about religious criticism that Cradle has received in the past, mentioning that you were raised Catholic – and I as well. But you drew a stark line in the sand between the “real” Jesus and “mainstream, republican” Jesus, two very, very, very different Jesuses, if we are all being incredibly honest. You backed Cradle’s provocative art as freedom of expression, which it most certainly is.

You’re originally from Arizona, and I’m originally from New York, so as Americans, I’m sure we’re both shaken by the unfounded revisionism that is currently going on in this country.

I can imagine what your answer to this question will be, because I know what my answer would be, but how important do you feel it is now for bands like Cradle to take a stand, to question authority, and to call out the wayward hatred in this world?

ZMF: I think music in this case serves two purposes. One is escapism, which everyone loves. Everyone loves that aspect of art, which lets them just focus on something that they enjoy and the dopamine rush that comes with it.

But I would also say that art needs defending. And in this case, when we talk about art standing up to current events in the U.S., we're standing up for the authenticity of art. Censorship, I would say, is at an all-time high at this point, with history being rewritten right in front of our eyes. Bands that express contrary views to the current administration are being denied entry to the U.S. or having visa issues. So I would say that regardless of whether or not you approve of the current administration, if you're a fan of art, if you're a fan of freedom of expression and of heavy metal, then you should be standing up to this. People should be allowed to tour and make their art regardless of their personal views.

KP: Absolutely. You know, I've known people in the past from countries that are very oppressed. I would always listen to them, and I couldn't relate to a lot of what they were saying in terms of how battered they were as citizens of their own country. It's wild to now almost understand exactly what they were talking about. I think about that all the time. It's just not the way that it should be.

ZMF: It's insane. And I think the weirder part is that so many of our fellow citizens are going to say that we're overreacting. I think that we're just suffering from some sort of a mass delusion that this is actually happening. But it very much is happening.

I'm married to someone who grew up in a Soviet satellite country, so I learned a lot about the parallels going on, too, from his perspective. And this is very much so real. We're in a time of unprecedented censorship. We're in a time of authoritarianism. And we're in a time when one source, one viewpoint, wants to control the entire narrative. People need to recognize that at some point.

KP: Absolutely. It’s time to wake up.

I read that you were tutored by Floor Jansen of Nightwish, which must have been a thrill. What was that experience like? I’m sure you took so much away from it.

ZMF: The most valuable thing that I got from Floor – who is an incredible human being as well as an incredible artist – I think unparalleled in terms of technical precision as a female singer, any singer, actually, in this genre. But the biggest takeaway that I got from working with her was to not be ashamed of my height. I'm a tall girl – I'm generally as tall or taller than most of the guys on stage with me. That used to really make me really self-conscious because I felt like I had to shrink in musical and professional situations. I had to kind of slouch, hunch my shoulders, wear flat shoes, and do whatever I could to not appear bigger than the men around me. I recognized that it bothered them or intimidated them, or at least some of them. But what I learned from Floor is to embrace your size, to embrace my height – you tower, you loom, you push back the storm with the size that you are.

She always talked about singing against the storm and the power and the grace that you needed to embrace within yourself in order to do that. So above all else, I'm grateful to Floor for helping me be comfortable with my body as a singer and as a woman.

KP: That's amazing. And it's something that I've never really thought of. I mean, I'm only 5'4", so I would never ever think about that. [Laughs]. But I never thought about size in terms of stage presence, particularly having to perform with men. That's very interesting.

ZMF: I mean, I think that women in general need to be more comfortable with their bodies. That was my big obstacle that I overcame within myself with Floor’s help. And I'm forever grateful to her for it because now I'm in a band where my frontman is physically smaller than me. Of course, he's a larger-than-life figure in all other ways, but it doesn't bother me, and it doesn't bother him, because we're both comfortable with who we are. That's a really nice place to be.

KP: Yeah, that’s amazing!

You’ve said that you knew that you wanted to be a metal singer since middle school, where you were first introduced to the genre by your father, who was a metalhead. It’s an incredibly powerful thing to grow up and become exactly who you wanted to be. What do you credit with giving you the confidence and the drive to go out and do so?

ZMF: I would say that the biggest thing that has inspired me to be who I want to be in life, first and foremost, is my daughter. A lot of people told me when I got pregnant at 19 that I would never accomplish anything for the rest of my life, and I did. I have my daughter. She is my biggest accomplishment, but I've also gotten to enjoy professional success, too. So, women out there, do not let people tell you what you can and cannot do. The biggest push forward for me has always been my daughter.

And then beyond that, I've always had an incredible family behind me, supporting me, encouraging me. I've had especially great women to look up to in my family, too. Not just my metalhead dad, but I've had amazing women to look up to who were like, “If you want to do this, go do it.” And that's been amazing.

KP: That is amazing. And so, what advice would you give to other women who are maybe apprehensive to follow their dreams, or just maybe don't have the confidence to do it?

ZMF: You've got to be who you say you are, and you've got to do what you say that you're going to do. To let other people dictate who you are and tell you what you're going to do is a disservice to yourself as well as the myriad of possibilities that you and every human being are. So, when someone comes up to you and says, “Hey, I know who you should be to be successful,” those are the people that you've got to push back against. You've got to be yourself, and you've got to be true to your vision of who you are as a human being.

So, that's my best advice – don't listen to people who are trying to control you, control your narrative, and control your image. Be who you're supposed to be.

KP: I think that's great advice.

You said that the biggest wake-up call for you was discovering women in metal who weren’t trying to be boys, citing Epica, Lacuna Coil, and Nightwish. Undoubtedly – because we’ve had such little representation over the decades – women are needed in metal now more than ever, and it’s incredible that so many are finally getting to leave their mark on the genre.

If you could leave a legacy for women behind you the same way that those women did for you – which I’m sure you will – what would you want that legacy or message to be?

ZMF: I think my biggest message would be that you don't have to be like me. You can do your own thing. You know, if I’m speaking to little girls, I think actually Ariel from Icon For Hire, a great rock band, also said this in her lyrics – what she wants to impart to young girls is that they can do their own thing, too. You don't have to be like me; you don't have to look a certain way to be a certain way. You can be yourself to be a woman in metal. And, most especially, you don't have to be like the boys. I mean, the big pressure that we're always under is to be more masculine, to fit in with the aggression by being more aggressive, instead of complementing it with other elements of ourselves. That always frustrates me to no end. So if there's something that I would leave behind for young women who want to be part of this, it's to do your own thing. Please don't be like me. Please don't be just like everyone else. Go out there and be someone that's totally you for this genre.

“A provocative woman is someone who holds a mirror up to culture and says, ‘Look at yourself.’”

KP: I love that.

I always ask women – but particularly women in rock – this question because I feel that there’s probably such a learning curve to assimilating in such a male-dominated genre. What is one thing now that you wish you knew then, starting out as a woman in metal?

ZMF: Like most businesses and industries, there's a lot more men than women at the top here that are calling the shots and making all the rules. Some of them are really good people, and some of them are really not good people. What I wish I knew is that there were going to be men that I encountered that would try to either possess me in some way or own me, or if they couldn't do either, then they would want to control me. That if they couldn't date me or be with me romantically or sexually, then they would try to command me and what I would do next with my career.

Looking back now, I had some really poisonous mentor figures that said that they were mentoring me, but in reality, they were really controlling me and controlling who I was going to become. So I would tell young women what I had to learn was to look out for predators, because they're not always just trying to get you in bed with them – sometimes they just want to own you. And that's just as dangerous, in my opinion.

KP: Absolutely. It definitely is.

Cradle’s new album, The Screaming of the Valkyries, released on March 21st, which marked your first full studio album with the band. What was the experience of recording it like?

ZMF: It was surprisingly easy because I went in with this high-pressure feeling of, “Oh my gosh, I have to live up to this immense legacy.” But the producer, Scott Atkins, he's such a chill, fun guy. He's so pleasant. Dani [Filth] was in the studio quite a bit with us, too, and Dani’s super encouraging and fun and quite a jokester, I would say. So it ended up being much easier and more relaxed than I anticipated.

And again, I'm just so grateful that they let me contribute as such a new member to the band – that they welcomed my ideas and they welcomed my participation the way that they did.

KP: Yeah, it's just amazing. What a story.

“To Live Deliciously” was the lead single off of the album, and it received roaring praise for continuing Cradle’s signature sound, with many charged enough to call it a “rebirth” or a “comeback.” Did you feel that way about the track itself?

Being a newer addition to the band, did you enter it seeking to bring your own style, or did you want to honor those that you admired beforehand?

ZMF: Me and the other new guy in Cradle, Donny Burbage, were both millennial Americans who grew up listening to an older era of Cradle. We were allowed to pay a lot of homage to our particular teenage era of Cradle, which was really nice. I listened to Midian when I was in high school, among others. So if you hear those throwback influences in there and pick up on the way that we're trying to rebirth them into this modernized version, then, of course, we're very gratified, because that's exactly what we wanted to do with that track and with this album.

KP: Yeah. lot of people were saying that they thought it was their best record in maybe over a decade – it’s so awesome that you could be a part of that.

ZMF: I want to pay tribute to Donny as well there, like I said, because we both came in as fans of an older era of the band, and it was nice to be able to bring our inspiration from that into this current era.

KP: Totally. That’s a gift.

You have a young daughter, who you say doesn’t really care that you’re in Cradle yet. [Laughs]. That’s so cute. I’m sure it’s challenging at times, if not all the time, to juggle motherhood and a full career in music. What has the experience taught you? Would you have any advice for new mothers who are struggling with the work/life balance?

ZMF: So this is not a criticism of you in particular, because I can tell that you're in my age range. You're another woman, and you may not realize this, but how many times do men who have kids get asked that question in this business?

KP: Never. But I think it's because I think we – I mean, this is my own personal bias, by the way – but I think of mothers as being the parental unit that possibly is more vital, I guess. I think that maybe children are often more bonded to their moms.

ZMF: That's a great thing to point out for sure.

KP: But I know for me, when I ask that question, it's coming from a collective viewpoint that there's just nothing better than a mom.

ZMF: I figured that coming from you!

KP: So I'm not asking it in a judgmental way. I'm asking it more because I think it's so empowering. So let me phrase it that way: I think that it's really empowering for a woman to be able to be a mom and also to tour and to be in a band, because we already expect that from men. But so many women think that it has to be one or the other, you know? And so I guess I'm asking this question in a way to say, how do you do that? Because I'm astounded. I don't have a kid – I'm already so overwhelmed by life in general. So for me, when I look at someone like you, I'm just blown away. I can't imagine being able to do both well, and I think it's awesome that you can.

ZMF: Well, I really appreciate that. And I'm going to answer the question now in two different ways, one from the perspective of, yeah, it's empowering. It's amazing to be able to watch a human being grow and develop and become all that she's meant to be, and at the same time, also find my own personal professional fulfillment, which I hope is an example to her as she grows, that she can do whatever she wants to do with her life.

But I would say that we need to challenge men who are parents to look at it the same way – you also have to do the emotional work of being a present parent. If you're a touring musician, that should be true for men. We should hold them to the same exact standards – if you've got a kid waiting on you back home, when you're home, invest in that kid. When you're on the road, invest in that kid. I know a lot of dads on the road who take it seriously, who are on those FaceTime calls every day with their kids. And I think that we need to say, no matter what, if you bring a human being into this world, they need to be your highest priority.

Finding that balance that still lets your kid have the best of you – even while you're living out your professional dreams. That's something that we can ask both mothers and fathers in this industry to pay attention to.

KP: Absolutely. It's not necessarily even just being in awe of the women, but it's also about asking the men to step up more, too.

ZMF: Not to say that some of them don't – absolutely, they do. But we have to ask them to step up more, because we have this preconceived notion of, well, the guy is on the road while the wife or girlfriend is home with the kids; it is what it is. We forgive him for not calling every day, I would say. We have this cultural perception of, well, he's a rock star, so of course he's going to be focused on life on the road. And the truth is, while that is definitely some guys, a lot of the guys I know who are on the road are also being great parents. They're taking that time to invest in the home life on the daily from the road.

KP: Absolutely. That should be the goal for every parent, male or female.

And for our last question, what do you feel makes a provocative woman?

ZMF: A provocative woman is someone who holds a mirror up to culture and says, “Look at yourself.” Look at yourself and decide if this is who you want to be. If this is who you want to be for yourselves, for your children, for your grandchildren. If we are doing a service to women and future generations of women by our current actions and the current trajectory of our culture. I would say at the moment that I am not overly pleased with the current projection of our culture in relation to how it views and treats women.

But like other women I know who are professional and asking big questions and creating big art – which includes you, by the way – we have to keep holding this mirror up over and over again because that's how we provoke the culture.

Look at yourself – do you like who you see?

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Photography: Jakub Alexandrowicz