With a new single (featuring guest vocals from Ingested’s Jason Evans) out now, and plans to destroy a stage near you soon, what better time to find out a bit more about Virgin Witch…
All of us are collectively from South Essex but the band was formed in Basildon, Essex
How did you meet?
I met Kendal (guitar) and Keiran (bass) years ago when they were at college and I was still at school, we bonded over our intrest for music and our shared taste of humour. We slowly started shaping what would later be Virgin Witch during the pandemic. We met Caleb (vocals) after playing our Second show as Virgin Witch and he joined us a month after. – Adam (drums)
How long have you been playing as a band?
Virgin Witch has been an idea since 2018. Between then and 2021 we has wrote songs and spent time finding our sound and what we wanted to do with the band, our lineup was finally solidified in 2021. We tell people that Virgin Witch formed in 2021 and although the lineup had been completed in 2021, the idea was there since 2018.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
Kendal (Guitars) was watching the horror channel one night and the 1972 film Virgin Witch came on and he thought it was a good idea for a band name.
What are your influences?
Our influences as a band are Knocked Loose, Loathe, Slipknot and Loathe.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
Each of us especially Adam (drums) and Caleb (vocals) like to listen to all types of music and because of that we like to incorporate every sort of sound into what we create. Our music has this certain intensity that is hard to find, we blend simplicity and technicality and 90s influences into this one sound.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
We don’t really have a specific theme that we write about. For the new record (expected to release in 2023) it’s mostly conceptual lyrics about stories that we as a band have been writing. There are some songs we have written that are personal but we try not to do too much because we feel that it is better to challenge our creativity and go for a different approach hence the reason why we write stories instead and write music to go with it.
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What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
When we play live we like to give people something to remember us by, that includes all of us (yes even the drummer) moving around the stage and causing absolute havok. We have been playing live since 2021 and have seen lots of energetic crowds, as a band we like to feed off energy to create a performance that everyone can be involved in.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We were playing Chinnerys in Southend last February and we were playing the buildup to an unreleased track, Keiran (bass) was standing on the barricades and the room had opened up for a pit so things were gonna get out of hand. Once the breakdown had kicked off Keiran fell off the barricades onto hit pedal board, what was insane is that it had timed perfectly to the song almost as if it was done intentionally.
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Well as you know we are promoting “Deny The Lie” as much as possible right now, we will be gigging across 2023 playing to some new places. So far we have London on the 21st of January with Bitterwood, Southampton on the 27th of January with Under The Sky and Westcliff on the 4th of March with our mates in Existentialist.
What are your plans for the next 6 months or so?
Gigging as much as possible and heading into the studio to record our next release.
If you were second on a three-band bill, which band would you love to be supporting and which band would you choose to open for you?
A chance to plug someone you’ve toured with, or a mate’s band we’ve not heard of before! We’d love to have the homies in Distant headlining the show because they’ve killed it every time we’ve seen them and it would be amazing to have the opportunity to share the stage with them.
Adam (drums) – if I could choose someone to open for us, even though it’s kinda happening in London next month but Sonnet Of The Damned. They are a Brighton based hardcore band and they go so hard and right now they deserve the attention.
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