The Wytches: The ANTENNA Q+A

When you first listen to a song by British trio The Wytches, they draw you in with a lull of spooky surf-rock, but that '50s noir illusion is usually pulverized at the chorus with a righteous storm of hair-raising shrieks, dissonant guitar squalls, and low-buzzing bass. Those bilious and blood-curdling moments, taken along with their name and song titles like "Grave Dweller" and "Burn Out the Bruise," make it easy to assume the fast-rising band comprises three death-obsessed brooders wearing all-black with eyeliner and goth platforms.

Well, we met The Wytches in Brooklyn recently, and that is most definitely not the case! They were wearing all black, yes, but frontman Kristian Bell, bassist Dan Rumsey, and drummer Gianni Honey were unassuming and quite upbeat, even though they were in the middle of a slog of U.S. shows. So to find out what gentle creatures were lurking beneath all that sludge, we subjected The Wytches to the not-quite-famous, not-quite-standard ANTENNA Q+A.

Read on to get to know the band, and keep an eye out for their debut album Annabel Dream Reader on August 26.

1. When is the last time you Googled yourselves, and why?

Gianni: I did it the other day, I don’t know why though.

Dan: I'll do it normally after something big we do, to see if someone’s got something to say about it.

G: I wanted to look at our Instagram and I couldn’t find the link so I just Googled it. Nothing vain. I don’t really like reading shit about us, it’s just the same stuff over and over again. We’re not that interesting, I think that’s the conclusion!

2. Being a new band you may not have this experience yet, but what’s your stance on groupies?

D: I’m married, so I don’t get involved in that.

G: Kris has got a long term girlfriend, so I'm the only single one. I don’t mind!

Kristian: If they’re fans, we’ll talk to them.

3. What do you think happens when you die?

K: I have many theories. I think... I’ll get too far into it.

G: I think that — there’s a like a law in physics that says energy doesn’t just die. All consciousness is is like a 25-watt fuckin' charge in your brain. When you die, the energy of that doesn’t disappear. I think it goes into another reality maybe, or something like that. I don’t think death is the end, personally. And I believe in God as well, which is strange.

Dan and Kristian: Do you?

G: I do believe in God, yeah! I don’t believe in “God,” religion per se, but I believe there has to have been a creator. The Big Bang is a load of shit — well it happened, but there had to have been something in the beginning.

4. What’s something you must have on tour with you?

K: We’re buying lots of pickles. There’s always a big jar of pickles in the van.

D: I never though I’d wear one, but you know those neck pillows? I got one at the airport and I can’t put it down. Whenever I sit down I have to have it on.

G: Stripey socks.

5. How are U.S. crowds different from British crowds?

K: There's more moving around in the U.K.

D: Crowd surfers and things. But it could just be because we’re new, people are just checking us out now in America.

6. Cramps or Stooges?

D: I’d go with Cramps, I know more of their stuff.

G: I’d go for The Stooges.

K: I can't make a decision on that. It’s a tie.

7. The Birthday Party or Bauhaus?

All: Birthday Party

8. White Stripes or Yeah Yeah Yeahs?

K: The White Stripes’ early stuff is the best.

D: I’d go White Stripes.

G: I'd go Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Fever to Tell!

9. Favorite Nirvana album?

D: Bleach.

G: Bleach.

K: In Utero.

10. When was the last time you cried?

K: Ages ago.

G: I cried when we watched the Anna Nicole Smith film in the van. Really sad.

D: I cried at a really lame film... I don’t wanna say it. Have you seen Nativity!? The bit where he reads the letters. It’s a Christmas film, starring Martin Freeman, and there’s a scene where these kids have written letters to Santa. That’s probably the last time.

K: I nearly cried at The Book Thief.

D: I cry at a lot of films. At the happy things.

G: I'm just so emotional at the moment, because I’m so exhausted, anything could put me over. I saw a little mum reading to her little daughter on the subway and that nearly fuckin' brought me to tears.