The psychedelic blues and doom of the Italians Psychedelic Witchcraft will be in Spain on next week.
We have talked to Virginia Monti about it and many more…
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RnB: First of all we want to say Thank You from Rock and Blog for giving us this opportunity
Thanks to You for this interview! 🙂
RnB: We would like to know more about the band. How did you met?
The band started in 2015 as a solo project, created by Virginia Monti which recorded the first EP “Black Magic Man” with the help of a friend that never stood in the live line-up anyways (Lorenzo Bianchi). Virginia met Jacopo (which comes from Florence and recorded few singles after the EP) through mutual friends. Riccardo comes from Milan, funny how Riccardo and V were at few same concerts way before knowing each others. Through online connections Riccardo got to know Virginia and eventually moved to Florence to keep up with the band. The old drummer Daniele left shortly before the debut album was released, somehow looking for a drummer the band found Mirko, which is the perfect 4th member to complete the line-up, he’s a brilliant drummer and adds a lot of energy and power. This line-up is the one that creates and record the second album “Sound Of The Wind” which was released on November 3rd.
RnB: How do you define your music style?
We don’t really know, it’s something that comes only after being the band We are. There are situation where people decide what to play before even start playing together.
We play what We have fun playing, what We like to play, not many thoughts or anything. Going for a genre ? Heavy Rock We’d say.
RnB: How is your writing process?
The main ideas come from Virginia, the concept most of all. We all like to keep it like this because We think it keeps the mood and the sound characteristic and unique. We feel like one single entity moving to the same goal. Most of the times Virginia comes out with chords or riffs and lyrics ideas which are later developed with the band with arrangement, other riffs and even vocal melodies or whatsoever.
RnB: Your songs are about dark, magic and some mysterious things. Do you really believe in this kind of things?
V : My mother used to read tarots and practice rituals sometimes, she had books about witchcraft which were the first books I started reading. I learned a lot from them and that’s where something started. Thanks to my father I developed my passion for horror movies, I love the ones that mostly came out in the ’70s, from the great italian directors and all the others, such as the Hammer ones or you know, Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, those kind of movies. Also my father let me listen to “Led Zeppelin II” when I was 8 and that’s where the other something started. Join together all these things and You can see the imaginery of Psychedelic Witchcraft. I now see witchcraft more as a path to walk, more in a philosophic way. I think We’re in this world to learn a lesson and let our soul evolve, journey by journey.
RnB: Do you use all this theme as metaphors of life?
Our songs are mostly about personal experiences, especially in “Sound Of The Wind” there’s a deep look inside ourselves. They may sound like magic or occult stuff at times but a lof the themes are metaphores, deep looks into ourselves, into our desires and into our daily life, our experiences and our hearts. One should try to get the meaning out of the whole of voice and sounds rather than literally words.
RnB: Could you briefly describe the music-making process for your last album?
First demos were recorded shortly after “The Vision” was released. We had a lot of time to think about the sounds We wanted to achieve. Thanks to Listenable Records We’ve been able to reach a great studio in Italy, Elfo Studio. Alex and Alberto (Sound Engineer and Supervisor) did a great job. The album is recorded live (except overdubs of course) and We wanted it to be like that to capture the magic that ran between all of Us in that moment. Alex and Alberto have been amazing into understanding our songs and our sounds, We think they have an important part as well in the making of the album.
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RnB: What was the hardest thing you have had to overcome with the band?
Being taken seriously. There’s a sick environment with women and music, art and a lot of things generally. A lot of people used to stick on the outer aspect of things and it took a while for our music to be understood and taken seriously. It feels almost totally like a men-driven industry which leaves no equal space to both sex to express each other.
Luckily We’ve found in our way people who believe in Us and We want to thank all of them, because they’ve been (together with true fans) a huge help to overcome this. Thanks to our fans, management, label, press and whoever works with Us, really.
RnB: Is Italia a good place for Rock and Roll?
Let’s look at bands like Goblin, P.F.M., Circus 2000 or Calibro 35. Is it a good place for music ? In these terms We’d say yes. Is it a good place for rock and roll ? Not at all, partecipation at Italian bands’ shows are low, there are the aficionados that support the scenes and they’re the best humans, but rock and roll doesn’t get around THAT much. It’s not a fertile land for rock, in fact bands can’t wait to get their feet outside the border to reach other audiences and see how they react You know. We’ve been at Damnation Festival in Leeds, UK on November 4th and We got so much love from.
RnB: Which bands in your country would You reccomend today?
Simply speaking about stoner/doom bands there are a lot of good bands, dependings on which your tastes are. Modern ones ? Humulus or Sonic Wolves just to tell a few.
RnB: And what’s next?. Do you have some future plans? New album? Bigger tour? Festivals?
New songs are already being written haha, We never stop. Yes indeed about tours, We’re looking for a European tour and festival partecipations, We want to play every-fucking-where! We’re already confirmed for Children Of The Sun Fest in Copenaghen, May 25th – 26th 2018 and HRH Doom vs Stoner in Sheffield (UK), September 29th – 30th 2018, We hope this list gets WAY bigger!
RnB: Is this your first time in spain? ´
As musicians yes, almost all of us visited Spain already but never played it live haha.
We all love this country We must say!
RnB: What would You say to Spanish fans to encourage them to see You live
Bring yourselves to the venue and get tons of energy from the show! Rock ‘n’ Roll and magic are going to happen!
RnB: Leave the best for last…
We are almost finishing, so now it’s time for our most personal questions. We always ask these questions but don’t worry, this is not about relationships, the only lover we’re interested of is rock and roll :
RnB: What was the first concert You attended to as an audience?
Rolling Stones with my dad, 15 years old 🙂
RnB: What was the first record you bought?
If I remember well “Laughing On The Outside”, Aretha Franklin.
RnB: Did someone close coax you into loving rock and roll?
As I said before, my father made me listen to “Led Zeppelin II” when I was 8, that’s where it all started.
RnB Thank you very much and see you at the next shows!
By Oscar Ricoy
