In the mix

The new tracks are coming.. we heard the first mixes last night. We're really pleased because we've pretty much finished the first half of our second album - no mean feat given how hectic this year has been so far. BOK is a big evil rock monster from hell, whereas There's a Darkness is kind of sinister, with lots of cellos, flutes and backing vocals. Martin set up the pedal steel for this one and we had lots of fun figuring out how to tune it/play it/lift it without killing ourselves.

With the last album there were lots of violins, but there's been a real change of tone this time around, thanks to Jennie from The Rock of Travolta bringing in lots of warm cello sounds. Generally, it sounds darker and more broody. Oh, and I should also mention Katherine from My Friend Rachel who did an excellent job of recreating the flute sounds we used in Glowing Sky.

Stammer is going down really well live, and I think we've captured it well in the recording. Ben seems to be shaking and hitting more things than he used to. Read into that what you will. We've employed a few T.Rex production techniques (no Dave, surely not) like doubling up guitar solos with cellos. Yes indeed, Martin does get his rock god on at various points (then puts it away tidely in a cupboard with a name tag on it).

My favourite so far is Now You Have To Leave. I didn't think we'd nailed this one, but it suddenly really came together, again with help from Jennie and some fine tuning on the guitars to get some really beefy sounds. It's got this great kind of cut-up sound that sounds all edited-to-hell, but really it isn't. I'm really looking forward to playing it to people.

Finally, Church Beds, which is the one with the harpsichord, with lots of musical saw to give it that Sigur Ros meets Mercury Rev sound. Sara did a superb job - apparently her saw was designed specifically for musical purposes, so would be no good for cutting timber or threatening people in the street.

So now it's just a matter of waiting for Martin to figure out whether the saw should be slightly higher than the church organ, and whether the flutes should be lower than the harpsichord, and we're ready for mastering. I'm trying very hard not to be impatient.

-Dave G

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.

More Club Fandango confirmed!

Thanks to everyone who came to our debut Club Fandango gig on 13th August. We'll be playing again on Fri 26th September, this time at The Wilmington Arms alongside Stornoway, Alto Alite and The Cavaliers. If you're coming along don't forget to print off fliers and save yourself a quid on the door. We'll be playing a healthy mix of old and new, with much of the new stuff soon to be released on our forthcoming EP (more on that later). See you there!