The combination of heavy/doom metal next to some older rock hooks and melodies keeps Scottish band King Witch very much in the current conversation of newer bands well worth your time (and energy) investment to enjoy. Arriving at their third studio album with III, the longer break between records has allowed the group time to reflect and push the diverse prism of colors available under their repertoire – emotionally connective in a multitude of ways. We spoke to guitarist Jamie Gilchrist and vocalist Laura Connelly about the work behind the new record, different lyrical content, the video shoot for “Swarming Flies”, special covers from Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, and Metallica, the Scottish heavy scene, walking as stress relief, parenthood, and what’s in the pipeline for gigs.
Dead Rhetoric: III is the latest album for King Witch, described as the most accomplished record for the band to date. What qualities do you believe make this so – and did the extra downtime because of the pandemic allow you to drill deeper into the finer details as far as songwriting, production, and performances?
Jamie Gilchrist: Well, with the pandemic thing I wrote a lot of the barebones aspects of the songs during the pandemic. In a way I guess, it was unusual because these songs were written in a different form by me to start with that was different than in the past. We usually develop the material from there later on in the practice room. We had a long period between writing the songs and recording, just because after the pandemic we had an album that came out in Body of Light that we needed to tour and promote that, so we put the new record on hold for a little while. We split with our drummer, and that put us on hiatus with the band because Laura and I had a baby boy that was born two years ago.
We actually just started recording the album just before our son was born. This album was two years in the making. We didn’t come to do the final recording even though the songs had been in gestation for years. The way we recorded this time helped us drill down a lot deeper because my own studio was finished, and we were able to spend a lot more time, and a lot more focus, on the recording than we would have been able to in the past.
Dead Rhetoric: How did your latest drummer Andrew Scott come into the picture, and where is he stylistically compared to your previous drummer Lyle Brown?
Gilchrist: Andy is our session drummer – but he’s a guy that we’ve known for a long, long time. We used to play in another band with him. He’s a rock drummer, a really heavy drummer. He was a natural choice. He has other tours and stuff like that, so he’s just a session drummer with us. Because so much was going on with us, it didn’t make any sense to start a drummer hunt. With family commitments, with work commitments, we knew Andy could do the job. Let’s get Andy to do the record, he’ll do these gigs, and it’s worked out easily. He’s a fantastic drummer.
Dead Rhetoric: Does that mean right now you are in the process of trying to secure a permanent drummer, now that the album is getting ready to be released?
Gilchrist: We are still playing with Andy, and Andy will be playing forthcoming gigs with us. This situation works fine for now. We are happy to stay in that situation for now.
Laura Connelly: Because he recorded these parts on the album, it makes sense for the moment when we start gigging for him to be with us.
Dead Rhetoric: While the previous record Body of Light had a lot of mythology/ historical topics, this record contains themes of the destructive nature within the current human race and the mental struggle to push through in a positive way. Do you consider your lyrics and storylines to be a cathartic means to channel topics that move you to hopefully impact others in a fresh angle – also acting as a mirror to the musical components present for the group?
Connelly: There was a lot going on when we were in hiatus personally for me. That came through in the lyrics. When we are usually done writing the music, for the lyrics I’ll pull from films and mythology. But this felt rawer, so I didn’t necessarily write (the lyrics) to be thought provoking for other people. It was me just pouring out of myself. If other people could relate to it, that would be great.
Dead Rhetoric: Were there any songs this time on the vocal front that were more challenging than others?
Connelly: No, you know what? This album, I felt happier with my vocals than any album I’ve ever created. I have been really, really critical when it comes to my singing. Jamie let me hear the first demos, and I was like, wow – that’s really cool. I was totally digging it. Things felt a bit more natural, maybe not quite as pushed as some of the other stuff I had done previously. I’m happy with how things turned out.
Dead Rhetoric: Blasted Heathen gives III a thoughtful cover art piece sure to bring about plenty of discussion. What was the concept and thought process behind this effort?
Connelly: A lot of the lyrics are based on the dark and light side of life. Polar opposites of each other. The yin and yang, things are fierce. I gave her these ideas, and she nailed it. She came back with four different designs, and they were all amazing. We decided we liked the one that was the yin / yang one. She’s a great artist; she encapsulates the essence of the lyrics and what the lyrics are all about.
Dead Rhetoric: Was “Swarming Flies” and obvious first single and video choice from III? And how do you feel about the video?
Gilchrist: We didn’t really have any songs singled out. We had some rough ideas, but once “Swarming Flies” was almost finished, we all agreed it was obviously a strong song, and it made sense to have this the first single. It wasn’t an obvious choice before we recorded it.
We were trying to speed things up and slow it down with the camera work in the video.
Connelly: I guess to make it have an angsty, frantic feel. To make it feel slightly uncomfortable.
Gilchrist: So it is that interesting way to slow things down and speed them up. I don’t know how well that worked – I guess it’s up to the public to decide! (laughs). I always have mixed feelings about videos anyways – they are a necessary evil.
Dead Rhetoric: Tell us about the special cover choice of “Jesus Christ Pose” from Soundgarden – and what this band has meant to you over the years?
Gilchrist: For Soundgarden, they are always one of my favorite bands. I probably have been listening more to them more than anything else over the last few years. They’ve always been an important band to me – and I love all the songs on Badmotorfinger in particular. They are some of the strongest, most interesting rock songs ever. “Jesus Christ Pose” seemed like a song that would sort of fit us. There wasn’t a lot of planning to it – we had some time left in the recording sessions, we tried recording it and that was that.
Dead Rhetoric: During the downtime in 2021, the band released a two song covers EP called Worship the Riffs that features your takes on “Children of the Sea” by Black Sabbath and “The Thing That Should Not Be” from Metallica. What is it like tackling material from these iconic artists – have you heard any feedback from the musicians who originally did these songs themselves and what they think of your versions?
Gilchrist: No, we haven’t had any feedback from the members of Sabbath or Metallica – but that would be killer. Both of those songs are so well known to us that playing them doesn’t seem… “Children of the Sea” may be more natural to us, because it’s sort of in our wheelhouse stylistically. Whereas…
Connelly: Metallica was sort of a challenge for me. Just because of James Hetfield, his phrasing and his voice, that’s completely the opposite of how I sing. But I think it turned out very well.
Gilchrist: Old Metallica is quite a specific style, the vocals, the guitars, the drums. That was a totally enjoyable project. We were really happy with how things turned out, and both songs to us came out very well.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your thoughts on the development of the heavy music scene – do you see a major difference between the veteran acts and a lot of the newcomers these days?
Gilchrist: Trends come and go – but modern metal if you want to call it that, it’s not something that I keep up with a lot. You hear some stuff that’s quite cool, I’m more interested in stuff that veers towards doom or heavy rock. There are some older acts still that are putting out some really good stuff – bands like Sepultura, I felt like right up until the last album are producing amazing music. I felt like they have been underrated in terms of modern metal, because I only feel like there are a few bands that are producing albums that are still interesting.
There’s always amazing stuff that’s coming out. Opeth’s latest album is fantastic. Cave In, their latest album is much heavier with some grungy, alternative aspects. There are a lot of bands releasing amazing stuff, but it’s slightly outside of the sort of mainstream metal arena for my taste. I probably still listen to more old stuff than new stuff, overall.
Dead Rhetoric: You mentioned in our last talk that the Scottish music scene is harder to break through than in other parts of the UK or Europe. How do you feel you’ve been trying to differentiate yourselves to stand out – or is it just a case of working harder, working smarter to achieve a stronger following?
Gilchrist: In Scotland, it’s like – it’s not because of the bands or the nature of the scene, it’s because not being located centrally in the UK like London, traditionally it was harder to make more of an impact.
Connelly: There’s a lot more Scottish bands now though coming out. It is about getting yourself out there, you need to travel if you want people to see you because Scotland’s population, how many times can you fit that in London? You need to get out to more ears, and you need to get out there and move.
Gilchrist: It’s the same for any band. Scotland is not remote by world standards, but it’s not central in terms of locality. When you hear interviews with the Seattle bands, Alice in Chains talked about being more remote and slightly off the tour circuit helped them because they developed in this microcosm. In those ways I think the Scotland scene is quite good like that, we have some heavy bands, but they are all slightly different. All the bands support each other so I think that’s a positive sign as well.
Dead Rhetoric: Do you believe the fan base in Scotland is more open-minded due to the diversity of bands and styles?
Gilchrist: Yes, that’s definitely the case. For instance, we’ll be playing a gig in August, our album launch with a flood of brilliant bands playing. From straight up hard rock to full on death metal – all of a high quality and the place will be packed from start to finish.
Dead Rhetoric: When you feel the need to decompress and relieve stress from your daily lives, what are some of the activities, hobbies, or passions that you pursue away from music that give you that mental or physical boost?
Connelly: Walking. When we get the chance – as it’s getting a little more difficult now taking care of our little boy. Just getting out and going for a walk up this massive hill. Spending the day outside – it makes you feel better. Sometimes you can get bogged down in your own head, and you feel like nothing that you are worrying about matters as much anymore. Just being out in nature makes you feel much better.
Gilchrist: I also enjoy mountain biking. When we were on band hiatus, I broke my leg and shattered my knee. I can’t mountain bike anymore, but just now I’m getting back to jamming with the band. Exercise in general is a big help. I stopped drinking two years ago as well, try to find ways to decompress that don’t involve that. Walking helps.
Dead Rhetoric: Being parents of an almost two-year old son, how has he changed your outlook on life – and what do you fear or worry most about the life that he will be leading growing through childhood into adulthood?
Gilchrist: I’m like anybody now – the world is a really scary place. People are pitted against each other because of the way social media works. It’s a negative influence on the world, everyone is polarized. People are pushing other people to be enemies of other groups of people, it’s sad. I worry about that a lot. By the time he grows up, I hope things will be a bit better. It’s tricky.
Dead Rhetoric: Is he aware of the fact that both his parents are musicians and taking an interest in what you are doing?
Gilchrist: Oh yeah. He has his guitar, but he loves drums mostly. In fact, I had a band in the studio this week, and he’s obsessed with the drums – he played the drum kit. He thinks every singer is Dio! (laughs). Once a song comes on, he says, Dio? Oh no, no it’s not Dio. Half the time it is Dio.
Connelly: He also thinks Tony Iommi lives in the back garden (laughs).
Gilchrist: In the studio we have a full-size cutout of Tony Iommi, so he thinks he lives out there. He’s definitely aware.
Dead Rhetoric: What’s on the agenda for the next twelve months for King Witch? Are there any bucket list items or goals you’d like to check off by the end of this album promotion/touring cycle?
Connelly: It would be really cool to do a few more European festivals. I don’t have a bucket list. Just playing again will be great – it’s been three years. We’ve got some gigs booked, and we will probably have a few more.
Gilchrist: We have the album finished, we are doing the promotion for it, we have a few gigs. It would be cool to do a couple of festivals. We will take things as it comes. I am excited for the album to get out, I’m proud of how things turned out.