Blackwitch Pudding – Self Proclaimed Wizards of the riff. And who am I to complain when their brilliant début album – Taste The Pudding – is kicking up a mighty storm within the Doom/Stoner Metal scene. It's winning praise all over the place.
This is what I had to say about the album recently:
"Taste The Pudding is fucking immense. There might be a lot of great humour within the song titles and lyrics but these guys take things very seriously in what they do.
If you want finely tuned and down-tempo Stoner Metal riffs then Taste The Pudding is the album for you. The album gets right down to business with excellent Montre'D. A superb hard-hitting almost 8 minute epic that shows you what Blackwitch Pudding are all about.
Blazing riffs and grizzled vocals all made by the magical power of the weed or should that be riff. Maybe it's both"
These guys maybe winning praise for their diabolical sense of humor and awesome stage show dressed as wizards. But to Blackwitch Pudding these guys are seriously real. So when I was asked to interview these guys and to asked Wizard based questions I had no idea what I am letting myself in for.
But lets see what these riff-loving wizards have to say to us here at Sludgelord.
1. Hi there – Oh Powerful Magical Wizards, How are you all today? Thanks for talking to us here at Sludgelord.
All Powerful Lord of Sludge, we appreciate your interest. We are most excellent!
2. Can you tell our readers how you all met and how the band came about? I take it you met either at Hogwarts or at the Fire of Mount Doom with Gandalf and Saruman. Or possibly you hung out with Merlin in your youth?
600 years ago the Blackwitch summoned Satan through a wicked broom grinding session. We are the result of this encounter. We are the bastards of Satan. So, yeah I guess we kinda grew up together.
3. So where did the name Blackwitch Pudding comes from? Did you use a magic spell to come up with the title or good old-fashioned human thinking?
Well it’s where we come from if you think about it. Some serious cosmic juices were flowing back then.
4. Your début album – Taste The Pudding – is excellent. Full of superb magical stoner metal riffs. Was it an easy or hard album to record? Are you happy with the results?
After a few wand wavings of a wand, a few spell-castings and hefty loads of herbal enhancements, the music was recorded in three days. Then it was in the hands of our honorary wizard friend Billy Anderson. The results kickass just like everything he does.
5. It’s weaving its own magical spell over the Sludge/Doom/Stoner Metal community. Are you happy with the reception the album has received so far? Or did you conjure up some devilish spell for everyone to like it.
Of course we conjured up a spell and it’s working. You are all doing our bidding right now and you probably don’t even know it. We made you take a dump this morning. We are going to make you take a dump tomorrow morning too. See...proof!
6. Now many people are praising the humour of the album. And it had me laughing out loud. Especially with some of the song titles. What influenced you when naming these tracks?
It’s all about real life…It’s a chronicling of our adventures, parties, conquests and hallucinations.
7. How would you describe your music? Doom, Stoner Metal or something else.
Its thick, sticky, evil, cosmic, and it is indicative of the name Blackwitch Pudding. We will let others decide what they want to call it. Roll your own conclusions.
8. What is the song-writing process in the band? Sorry I will re-phrase that. Who creates the magical musical spells you have on your record? Is it down to one individual grand wizard or do all of you equally contribute on this magical musical odyssey?
It’s a triple-wizard assault. We all write riffs, we all sing songs. It’s a party. You can’t be a wizard if you don’t pull your weight.
9. What is the live music scene like in Portland? Anything that compares to the magical realms you have performed in the past such as Hogwarts or the Fires Of Mount Doom?
Portland has a band of ninjas, a band of Klingons and now a band of wizards. This is the breeding ground for tripped-out heavy music. There are tons of bands singing about magic and demons and shit. That’s our kind of party.
10. Do you perform many local gigs or do you have to rely on further magical kingdoms to perform your musical based witchcraft elsewhere?
We play near and we play far. We love playing in Portland being that our broom-grinding buddies are all here. Basically when we are not out on kick-ass wizard quests we are telling the tales of our adventures. January holds a mighty travel line up of new and far away magical realms.
11. What is your current musical equipment setup? I know you would rely on your supernatural powers to slay audiences with your epic riffs if you could. But what human-based creations do you use to get that Blackwitch Pudding Sound?
Space Wizard harnesses the power of a 200 megawatt Orange amplified solar flare, routed through the monstrous green Hovercraft 6x12. Lizard Wizard constructed his bass amp from leftover Sunn amps and dinosaur remains. He also jacked a Rickenbacker from Satan’s basement. He probably won’t mind. Wizard Wizard forged his gigantic cymbals from a molten asteroid that he lassoed with magic. The drums were carved from a living thunder tree.
12. Which magicians influenced you when growing up? Was it David Copperfield, Gandalf or Siegfried and Roy? Sorry wrong type of magician. Which riff-laying geniuses and musicians influenced you on a musical level?
Uriah Heep, Rainbow, Candlemass, Witch, and Spinal Tap probably get the most plays on the phonograph. You know, the usual.
13. In five words or less describe the live Blackwitch Pudding experience?
It’s a “hazy psychedelic wizard party”.
14. I hear you guys play in full wizard gear live on stage. Does that intimidate people or do they make fun of you when you’re on stage. How do you cope with the audience’s reaction?
We have been drawn on, rubbed on, yelled at, laughed at and complimented by the elderly. It all comes down to whether you like badass shit or you don’t. We just play to the cosmos and rip it.
15. What is your verdict of other bands that perform in wonderful weird outfits on stage? Bands such as Ghost BC, Huata etc. Or do you just focus on your own brilliant band?
We are all in it together ya know, the more the better. We just hope they aren’t falsely advertising themselves as wizards because that would give us a bad name.
16. What have been your musical career highlights so far?
It’s pretty sweet that people will pay us for a download of the album even though they don’t have to.
17. How do you relax when you’re not performing wizard-based rituals and musical riffs?
We cruise around in our magic van and get high. We climb to the highest mountain peaks and get high. We explore the deepest darkest caverns of the earth…and get high.
The wizards have dressed up like regular dildo musicians! - Their own words folks. Not mine.
18. How big of a help is BandCamp in getting your music noticed. Could you not create a big wonderful spell for people to check you out. Or can you not use your mysterious powers for things like that?
BandCamp has been a huge part in our introducing the music to the world. The real spell was summoning Cat Jones at Southern Cross PR for the next step. We are excited to see where this leads.
19. Which bands and albums have rocked your world in 2013. Any personal faves?
Ancient Warlocks released their self titled which had a song about a “Super Wizard” which we think is cool as fuck. The band Lilacs and Champagne have a song called Hamburgers and Tangerines, which we also like. Our buddies in White Orange just released Onawa -- also fucking rad.
20. What helpful advice would you give someone if they wanted to become a wizard or be apart of a musical troupe like yourselves?
Don’t half-ass any part of anything.
21. What does 2014 have in store for Blackwitch Pudding?
Well, world conquest starting with 19+ dates on the west coast in January and a video featuring the story of one of our sonic adventures are in our immediate future. Later in the year we are planning to continue touring this time heading east across the flat lands into uncharted territories. On top of that we are balls deep in conjuring our future sonic terrors. A large majority of the next record of spells is stewing as we speak.
22. Finally, Do you have anything to say to our readers before this inquisition ends?
We are all…Children of the Broom Grinder.
Thanks to the awesome Wizards of Blackwitch Pudding for giving us such a great interivew. Thanks to Cat Jones at Southern Cross PR for arranging this weird and wonderful event.
Check The Band From Links Below
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