Interview with Witch Fever
Manchester's Witch Fever are a modern punk band who are not afraid to make music exactly how they want. For fans of Bikini Kill, IDLES, Dream Wife, Savages, and Show Me The Body, Witch Fever are pushing for social change in 2021 with their music. I caught up with lead vocalist Amy Walpole about their new song 'Reincarnate', working with Jaime Gomez Arellano and their touring plans for the rest of the year.
Hi, how are you?
Hello!! We’re very well thank you, hope you aren’t too shabby yourself!
How would you describe your sound to the readers?
Heavy, energetic, cathartic, doomy, punk.
Who are your biggest musical influences?
Ahhh, we all have such varied music tastes so it’s a bit of a mash up! From Nirvana and PJ Harvey, to Show Me The Body and Pussy Riot, to Angel Olsen, Warpaint and Lou Reed, it’s all so different! We also love Scissor Sisters, obviously.
Can you give us a bit of a history of the band?
We started 5 years ago now, with a slightly different line up. Alex joined us 4 years ago and we’ve been the four of us ever since. We met through mutual friends in Manchester having all moved here from different places to come to uni.
Your new single ‘Reincarnate’ is out now! How was the process of making this song for you? Was it a song that came naturally to you?
We wrote it about 2 years ago, it came together really nicely but we definitely spent more time on it than we have other songs because of all the different parts to it. We actually wrote the breakdown at the end with live shows in mind as well because we wanted a new song to finish a set on with a crazy energetic ending! A lot of the time Alisha just plays something really cool by accident in a jam, we work on it for a while, and this one in particular ended up being exactly what we wanted!
What was it like to work with Jaime Gomez Arellano on these songs?
It was so much fun, his studio is absolutely beautiful and in the middle of nowhere. The weather was lovely and we basically just did a 9-5 day in the studio for 5 days and went back for dinner where he lived. He was a lot of fun to record with and we managed to get 2 more songs done than we’d planned to it was great.
To me the lyrics seem to be about taking ownership of yourself back, could you talk about more of the inspiration behind the lyrics for this song?
You’re totally right! The lyrics came about after a break up I (Amy) had. Sounds cliché but it wasn’t really just about the break up, I was 23 and figuring myself out after being single for the first time in years. It isn’t just about the break up from a relationship, it was about new beginnings completely, finding new ways to empower myself and be the baddest bitch, you know?
What are you hoping listeners will take away from listening to Witch Fever?
We hope they feel excited and empowered! We just want people to enjoy the music we’re making and it makes us super happy that people get joy and catharsis out of hearing it!
Do you have any plans to release any more music any time soon?
Yes! I can’t divulge much more, but yes, this single is just the start.
You’ve got a lot of festival dates lined up this summer, what are you most looking forward to about being on tour and playing live shows?
Obviously we’re all just super excited to be playing on stage to audiences again, and the atmosphere that creates. We’re also honestly just so excited to be touring together again and spending time with each other meeting new people.
And lastly, what music have you been listening to recently? Anything you can recommend to us?
All sorts! We’d recommend Bob Vylan, Just Mustard, Arlo Parks, Phoebe Green, Crows, Warpaint, Nina Simone, Talk Show, Strange Bones, Calva Louise, King Woman, Little Simz.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions for us!
You can listen to 'Reincarnate' by Witch Fever wherever you listen to music now! You can also catch them performing at festivals this summer or on tour supporting IDLES in London, or across Europe.
Listen to 'Reincarnate' on Spotify here.
Follow Witch Fever on Spotify here.
Follow Witch Fever on Instagram here.
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