Talking To The Songbird …….WITCH FEVER

WITCH FEVER are a Manchester based Grunge/Punk girl band made up of members Amy, Alisha, Alex and Annabelle.

They describe their music as being “angry and honest, bringing grungey riffs, a heavy beat and an eclectic mix of clean and shrieking vocals”.

They’ve already made quite a name for themselves on the scene with noted quotes from some hefty music industry insiders such as :

“They are raw, in your face and making a glorious and beautiful racket, are full of explosive and kinetic energy and collapsing new riffs and are going to make a noise musically and culturally…” – John Robb for Louder Than War

“Imagine the Slits meet Black Sabbath partying with Pussy Riot in Kim Gordon’s angry neighbour’s basement. Drunk. Witch Fever are wonderful.” – Dave Haslam

“All girl grunge punk band from Manchester with unhinged feral vox and a ramshackle approach yes, but supercool sonics, this band display an undeniable rough-hewn charm.” – Bug Bear Promotions

The band are currently signed to Black Bleach Records.

We recently caught up with the band for a little chat.

Hello and welcome! Please tell us a little bit about yourselves. (Who are you, what’s your role within the band?)

Hello! We have Amy, the vocalist, Alisha the guitarist, Alex on bass & backing vocals and Annabelle on drums.

Who/What are your musical influences and where do you get your song writing inspiration from?

Amy: Our influences are pretty varied. Alisha’s big into bands like Nirvana and PJ Harvey but also hip-hop and rap. Alex loves Slow Dive, Iceage and Boy Harsher, and Annabelle draws a
lot of influence from Sonic Youth and Lou Reed, but then also experimental electronic stuff too. All of that comes together to create the sound that we make. At the moment I’m getting a lot of inspiration from Show Me The Body and Angel Olsen – I love to write emotionally charged and visceral lyrics over heavy music!

What’s your favourite song of your own and why?

Alisha: It changes as we write new ones but at the moment it’s our latest single Bezerk(h)er. It’s powerful and hard hitting, and is a lot of fun to play!

What message are your trying to get across with your music?

Alex: That musicians should be treated equally based on their talent, not on their gender/sexuality/race.
Amy: Every gig I’m out trying to prove people wrong that make assumptions about us or our music because we’re women.

What do you/ your band bring to the music scene that you think it is otherwise lacking?

Annabelle: I think us, along with other bands that aren’t wholly made up of white men bring different angles and opinions to the punk/grunge/metal/alt scene that is otherwise lacking because it’s so heavily dominated by men. We also make all our performances raw, angry and fun as fuck.

As a band in this modern digital world do you think times are harder now for new music to be heard and what’s your advice to other bands for getting themselves out there?

Amy: Yeah, of course it’s harder, everyone’s constantly being bombarded by information. I’d say just be totally honest and authentic cause people can see through the bullshit very easily. Be consistent and enjoy it.

What’s going on with you at the moment? Do you have any gigs planned or upcoming events?

Alisha: We’re about to release a video for Bezerk(h)er and have booked a date to record the next single… We do have gigs coming up like Manchester Punk Fest and a Show Me The Body support, but one gig has been cancelled already coz of Coronavirus so go to our facebook or Insta to keep updated! (direct links below).

What’s been the best gig you’ve played so far and what would be your dream gig to play?

Annabelle: Neighbourhood Festival 2019 at YES Pink Room has been one of my faves so far. I’d love to play Green Man or Glasto as well.
Amy: Dream dream DREAM gig would be supporting Rage Against The Machine on their arena tour, holy shit imagine

Who would you most like to share a stage with (past or present)?

Alex: Savages and The Cure!

What’s the best thing and worst thing about being in a band?

Amy: Best thing is being on stage and having that half hour/45 mins to perform and feel powerful. The worst thing is the men in the audience that feel the need to harass/grope/assault/up-skirt female performers and fellow audience members. That shit needs to END.

What three words best sum you up as a band?

Can we have one each???
Strong – Visceral – Fuming