I had a long day ahead of me when I arrived to the venue to see the tour busses paraded across the parking lot. The line for the show was already winding around towards the alley with fans sitting anxiously and waiting intensely for doors to open. I heard the security in the background asking for ID’s while I made the call to drummer Ben Murray of Light This City. He apologized profusely about being up the street at the grocery store at the time of our sit down. Reassuring him that there was no harm done, we settled on vocalist Laura Nichol to chat with us instead. Squeezing into their van, we assumed comfortable positions and began our adventure. I say “adventure” because when Light This City is in the mix, that’s what you get!

Shout!: Like tour-mates Black Tide, your roster is quite young. Do you feel this affects the music industry’s perception of your talent?

Laura Nichol: I’m not sure. I know it makes for a bit more attention. I think once people hear our music they decide for themselves if they like us or not and they can see we’re just as serious as any older band. We have a lot of touring experience now too.

S!: You’ve toured with All That Remains before. What were you excited most about touring again with them in this new year?

Laura: They’re great friends of ours and the thing I like about them is they are a huge band but they are all very much down to Earth and fun to hang out with. They’re all really nice and respectful. Phil actually asked me to do guest vocals on their set and when he asked me, I was just like “Oh wow, that’d be a dream! That would be so awesome!” [Laughs] It’s so much fun every night too! Every night I get so pumped up because during our set it’s really fun but during their set, kids are ten thousand times more crazy! I get to stand up on the drum riser too!

S!: Your site features a recap of 2007. A lot of memorable moments went down throughout the year. What was your most memorable experience as a band and personally during that year?

Laura: Wow. That’s a really good question. As a band, I’d have to say… um. [Pauses] That’s a hard question and it’s making me really think about it. Usually in interviews we can just throw out some answer but this is hard. There are so many! I think overall touring-wise, I’ve never had so much fun in my life than on the HORSE The Band tour. All of those bands are like, lifelong friends of ours now. I look back now and I was so excited to wake up every day and play with them and hang out with all of them. They’re all such amazing bands. It was just a wonderful experience.

Also, we did our music video! I mean, we all saw the finished product but there was one particular moment when I saw it away from then. I was sitting in bed, flipping through channels and I switched to Headbangers Ball. I realized I heard my own voice and realized that was our video playing! It was an awesome feeling and I called everyone to tell them I had seen it. I kind of sat there for a minute trying to take it all in. That was pretty cool.

Personally, within the last year, I’ve had a lot of cool experiences in my private life. I just started dating my boyfriend a few months ago. He’s so sweet and just one of the best things to ever happen to me. He’s a band dude but it’s totally different. Even though we’re both on tour right now, we have a lot of cool experiences together.

S!: What do you feel has been the most defining moment in the band’s career to date?

Laura: I can’t pick just one because that is way too hard. We had this really great tour with HORSE The Band and The Number 12 Looks Like You. That tour really showed me how amazing touring can be. I met so many people that showed me what the road was like. Creating these lasting relationships and having these adventures is really what this is about. Those are some of the other reasons why you’re even in a band besides you know, playing the music that you love. [Laughs] I think that that really defined us as a band and me as a person. It was an eye-opening experience.

Other defining moments would be recording our album! Each recording has been unique and educational. Musically, teaching me a lot and helping the band evolve. Every tour with All That Remains has been phenomenal too and some of the best shows we’ve ever had.

S!:  You were included in Revolvers’ list of Hottest Chicks In Metal. Do you feel that you’re a role model for women who want to be included in metal?

Laura: As a female vocalist, I kind of feel the responsibility to be a role model for younger girls and women. I’ve had a lot of people come up to me recently and tell me that they want to start a band or something too. They also tell me they like me as a vocalist because a lot of women can’t do what I do. I feel that is kind of wrong because if a lot more girls tried to be in a band and weren’t so held back by stupid misconceptions of women in music they could be as good or even better than a lot of male vocalists. There is nothing about our anatomy that makes us incapable of doing what the guys do.

As for the Hottest Chicks In Metal thing, that was just sheer fun. I had a blast doing that. Being a girl and dressing up was really fun. I’m going to do it again on March 12th. I look forward to that.

S!: Do you feel there are the pros and cons of being a woman in the music industry?

Laura: Touring with boys is smelly. [Laughs] Being around so many men for such long periods of time really teaches you a lot about being a woman in general. There are always good and bad things though. I do think I’m more of a laid back person that doesn’t care about stupid dramas that being a girl can sometimes come with. There are even some uptight dudes though so it all evens out. Missing my family and boyfriend a lot is really hard though. Nothing will ever replace the feeling that I’ve had being on tour though. So, no regrets.

S!: A little birdie told me of a new album in the works. What can you tell us about that and when can fans look forward to the release?

Laura: We spent the last few months in the practice studio writing, writing, writing. Actually I should say the guys did because I wasn’t there the whole time. Why do I need to be there? I don’t have anything to do with the music. I prefer to write my lyrics when they come to me also. The guys have all the music written and we have about 12 songs. I have maybe 10 1/2 written though. I have to finish writing on this tour. I have all the song titles though! We have a lot of pre-production done too. We even have one or two actually recorded. We are going back 4 days after this tour ends too to finish up. It will be out in September!

S!: Anything else you’d like to add?

Laura: We have a lot happening in 2008, it will be a crazy year! So far we have a new album, music video, and more tours to come!

• Official Site: http://www.lightthiscity.com
• MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/lightthiscity