Weekend + news

It's been the busiest weekend to date for all us Witches. On Saturday Jennie from The Rock of Travolta came into the studio to record cellos on our new album tracks, and they now sound amazing. Not that they weren't before, mind ;)

Then on Sunday Ms Edge brought in the double bass, and much low rumbling was heard from the depths of Kidlington, as we added the finishing touches to B.O.K. The tracks are now ready for mixing, and with any luck everything will be finished in time for our launch on 31st October.

On top of that we squeezed in two dates in London (supporting Stornoway) and Oxford (supporting The Spinto Band), and it was good to see so many familiar faces amongst the crowd. Thanks to everyone who came along! Busy venues = happy Witches.

We'll be returning to London on 11th October for Sixxx Records at Project Orange in Clapham (details on the website) where we'll be supporting Namaste (it took us far too long to finalise this gig but we got there in the end).

In Oxford we'll be launching our EP at the Cellar on Fri 31st October - we'll be handing out free promo copies of the first few tracks from our new album, so make sure you come down and pick up a copy. We'll also be playing at Fat Lil's in Witney on Saturday 18th October - if you're out that way come along, but make sure you order tickets in advance since it's selling out fast.

That's it for now, see you all soon.

Superspeed studio video

So far we've spent six days in the studio working on the second album. Madness levels are still at nominal. Five all-new Witches songs will be finding their way to your ears in the next month or so. We've got cellos, double basses, flutes and backing vocals still to record and with any luck we'll get it all finished this weekend. Oh, and there might be bagpipes. Is that wrong? Quite possibly, but we can't talk Rich out of it.

Anyway, Dave B recorded the first two days of studio on a webcam and sped it up to superspeed, condensing it all down into a bite-sized chunk of mayhem - all four minutes of it. Needless to say it took quite a bit longer in reality. And there were more fart jokes. You can see it all here. Ben goes particularly mental towards then end, bless him.

Listen to the full Heart of Stone LP on Last.fm

For your listening pleasure, we have made the full Heart of Stone LP available on Last.fm. Whilst you're there you can have fun figuring out just how many bands there are called Witches across the globe. Some time soon we should do a gig with Korean ska Witches. Is it me or do they look completely crazytown in that picture? Not that that's a bad thing. But I digress. Go listen to our stuff. On Last.fm. Now.

Gigs this weekend - Stornoway and The Spinto Band

It's a crazy busy time to be a witch. We've been spending all our weekends either recording our new album or trecking around Poland listening to Radio Gdansk. We thought it would be fun to play a few gigs as well.

This weekend we're supporting Stornoway for Club Fandango at the Willmington Arms in London, which as always will be a lot of fun - expect inventive orchestrations and feel-good songs about fish and other such things from a band who's name always appears whenever there's a weather forecast on the telly.

Then on Sunday we're playing as last minute support for The Spinto Band at the Bullingdon Arms for TCT Music here in Oxford. They're a US band, midway through their UK tour, and their Myspace page shows a band full of promise, with 'twisted melodies and drowsy, sun-dappled mini-dramas'. If you feel like a relaxing end to the weekend then come along!

Witches interviewed on BBC Oxford Introducing

We were recently interviewed by Joby Mullens from The Fly for the BBC Oxford Introducing Show. We talked about the new album, our new lineup and recent/upcoming gigs. If you missed the show you can listen back online. Make sure you tune into Tim and Dave's show every Saturday to hear the latest sounds from the Oxford music scene. Also check out Joby's blog - lots of great reviews and articles updated regularly.