In recent Black Satellite music videos, singer Larissa Vale of the New York industrial metal band handles a tarantula (“Kill For You”), gets turned into a zombie (“Downfall”) and is bound and gagged (“Broken.”)

With all those extremes in mind, however, there are a few ideas she would nix for future videos.

“Probably something illegal. We’ve trespassed, but that’s behind me. I don’t want to do that again. That’s a different story,” she said with a laugh. “But probably anything that can actually put me in serious danger, I think that’s a little reckless, maybe not a smart thing to do. But other than that, I can’t wait to see what I’m going to dream up next. It’ll probably be something ridiculous. My director is always looking forward to every time I call him, and he’s like, ‘All right, what craziness are we getting into this time?’”

The videos come in promotion of Black Satellite’s newest album, “Aftermath,” which came out on Sept. 5. The band is on the road as the opener for Mushroomhead, with the tour hitting Preserving in New Kensington on Oct. 21.

“I love being on tour. It’s seriously the best,” said Vale, a Penn State graduate. “It’s one of my favorite things to do. I just can’t wait to play these new songs live and just crush it every night.”

In a Sept. 30 call from New York City, Vale spoke with TribLive about her tarantula experience, what she gets out of music, her cinematography degree and more. Find a transcript of the conversation, edited for clarity and length, below.

What are some of the favorite things about touring for you?

First of all, just playing the shows and connecting with fans and being on that stage, just laying it all out there and seeing people sing along to the words. I remember the first time I ever experienced that, it brought tears to my eyes. I was just like God, what could possibly be cooler? Because obviously I give a (crap) and to see other people give a (crap) too, it’s just the most amazing thing. And spending time with my band and living on a bus, it’s like an adult slumber party every night. We’re watching Netflix in our pajamas and doing the drives. It’s just really fun.

You had some pretty big tours earlier this year with Marilyn Manson and Cradle of Filth, so what can you take away from those tours?

Those are just the biggest experiences. It’s like all of the hard work and effort put into this coming to fruition, and the band keeps growing and expounding upon all the things we’ve done in the past. It’s rewarding because it’s a bit of an unforgiving industry, and so to get to cross milestones like that, it’s like, OK, I’m not delusional. I’m doing something right here and to renew that passion and drive and just keep going no matter what, never quit.

You have the new album “Aftermath” that came out earlier this month, so is it a relief for it to finally be out?

Oh my God, yeah. We’ve been dropping singles along the way, but I’m just so happy that it’s finally in everyone’s hands. And like I said, we’re gonna be playing some new songs live that are gonna hit so hard. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.

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It had been eight years since the last album, and this was originally slated for a 2020 release, right?

And we all remember what else happened in 2020… (laughs)

Well, hopefully the next album won’t take another eight years.

No. (laughs)

It’ll be a lot quicker?

Unless like a comet hits the earth, which I guess could happen. Who knows? I’m just kidding.

Do you feel like there is a big step forward musically and lyrically between the first album and the second album?

Absolutely. I’m constantly growing as an artist and as a person and evolving. I think it’s important to have that translate in your art and you’re taking all of those new life experiences and things to write about and being vulnerable and authentic with it, because at the end of the day, those kinds of experiences make it so relatable, because whatever I go through, I’m not unique at all. There’s like a million people that have gone through something similar, and they can attach their own meaning to the songs. I think that’s just the coolest thing because it becomes larger than you at some point, and it’s not just my song. Now it’s their song; it can be anybody’s song. That’s just a really amazing thing when it comes to music.

Do you feel like this is a huge album cycle for the band? Where would you like to see the band going in the next months or years?

I don’t think there’s a limit to the capacity that we as artists have to dream. And I feel like you should never lose sight of that dream. This is just the only thing I ever want to do with my life. So it’s that drive and that passion. And someone asked me once, if you weren’t a musician, what else would you do? And I don’t even have an answer for that because this is my life. This is my everything. There is no other plan for me. So, I mean, it’s just onward and upward.

I assume you’ve had part-time jobs in the past, but this is the full focus now?

Yeah, 100%.

I guess you can’t see it any other way.

No, and maybe that makes me a little bit crazy. But you know, maybe artists are supposed to be crazy. (laughs)

Black Satellite A tarantula crawls on the face of Black Satellite singer Larissa Vale in the video for “Kill For You.”  

That leads into my next question. In the “Kill For You” video, you have a tarantula crawling all over your face, all over your body. Were you comfortable with that?

See, that’s an excellent example. So no, I’m terrified of spiders. But I was like, OK, I want to conquer my fear in this music video. Just put one on my face. Why not? There was this tarantula handler. And he was like, so this species of tarantula, they have these defense mechanisms where they kick up their back feet and they release these little hairs into your skin, which could be itchy. And I’m like, I’m sorry to be rude, but can you just not tell me about the defensive maneuvers of this species of spider? It was increasing my anxiety and just making me feel so much more stressed out about it. I already didn’t even want to be near this thing. So he was like, yeah, sure. And I was like, hey, sorry if I was really blunt, but it was kind of freaking me out a lot. And I just wanted to get this video done. So I’m just like, just put the thing on me and get it over with.

Did you start on the face or did you work your way up to it with the arms?

No, I worked my way up. They put it on my arm and my body and then it was on my face. And then I did the shots, and my director’s like, OK, hold it in your hand and sing while looking at it. And I’m like, oh my God, I had my eyes closed for all the other stuff. Now I have to look at this thing and sing at it? Are you joking? But yeah, I actually started to get a little more comfortable. I don’t know if it was the music or just me being like whatever for the art, like this is gonna look sick, just do it anyway. Because everything I do in my life, it’s I’m always out of my comfort zone. And that was just one more thing. So why not?

I’m sure the adrenaline kicked in after a little while to coat over any of the fears that you had.

Another thing on my mind was I was really mindful of not harming the spider because you just have a reaction. You’re like, I didn’t want to throw it or hurt it. So it was also a lot of control, just don’t react, don’t flinch, because it’s a living creature, too. So I had to be really careful.

You graduated from Penn State with a cinematography degree. Does that help you see the vision for these videos with your background?

I didn’t feel like I needed to study music to be a musician. I was like, I don’t know if I even want to go to college, honestly. But cinematography was also a little passion of mine. I’m also a very visual person. And in hindsight, maybe studying audio engineering would have been more useful because my experience in film school, it’s also those things along the lines of some people are just made to think more artistically. So in my cinematography classes, some kids would be really struggling with the composition and this and that. They would have to study more or read up on it. And for me, I would just do it guerilla style, just pick up the camera. I’m not going to storyboard stuff. Just go in there, I see it in the lens, capture it, and I did really well.

I was in the dean’s list, not that that (expletive) means anything. But what I’m saying is, I don’t think it was so much the schooling. I was just naturally inclined. I just like being creative and visual. The visual component is super important to me. So that was really fun for me to do that. I’m super hands on with the music videos. Even had I not had a degree in cinematography, it would have been the same way. I was the same before studying cinematography, and I love building the sets. My director and I work so well with each other. It’s almost this telepathic thing. I don’t even have to explain what I’m going for. He’ll show me some of the stuff he’s shooting on the set, and I’m like, absolutely. We kind of shoot the same way, so obviously I can’t film it myself. But if I were to approach something, I feel like he shoots the way that I would have, and that’s just a really cool relationship to have.

What do you get out of music? Do you view it as a refuge? Do you see it as a release for what’s inside of you?

Absolutely. I like to write about a lot of personal experiences. I think for a lot of people, it’s a form of catharsis, and for one reason or another, when everything’s great, I don’t feel like I want to go write a song. So all of them are darker. My parents are like, you OK? I’m like, yeah, I’m fine. This is why I’m OK because I’m writing music,. But yeah, I would absolutely say that.

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