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Interview : Witching Hour U.K.

Witching Hour UK is one of my favourite bands, and I was fortunate enough to have Trevor Barnes agree to an interview.

With their tenebrous sound they set the mood for a picture-perfect picnic in your favourite cemetery.
    Lili's Lair: When did you decide to form Witching Hour U.K. ?

    Witching Hour U.K.: We formed back in 1991, with myself on vocals and guitar, Alys on bass and a chap called DB on keyboards. It's just Alys and me now.

    Lili's Lair: Did you start the band knowing straight away it was going to be a goth band?

    Witching Hour U.K.: Absolutely. I had tried previously (several times) to get a goth band started, but Witching Hour was the first serious and successful effort.

    Lili's Lair: When did you both begin playing instruments?

    Witching Hour U.K.: I started playing guitar when I was 12 years old and Alys started bass just after she moved here in 1989. She had played Violin as a kid, so the bass was a natural progression. I only seriously started writing songs and singing just before we started Witching Hour

    Lili's Lair: Who does what in the band, and do you produce your own music?

    Witching Hour U.K.: I write all the lyrics and most of the music, but we both contribute ideas. In terms of production, this is something I take care of and I do the engineering on all our recordings as I used to be a sound engineer and I'm very good with recording technology, computers and software etc.

    Lili's Lair: Who have been the most influential people in your life with regards to your music?

    Witching Hour U.K.: Musically, I would say people like Robert Smith, Wayne Hussey and Siouxsie have been a big influence but Alys and I are both influenced by many many things. We are both science fiction, fantasy and horror fans and we watch film, T.V and read lots of stuff that falls into this genre. I'm also heavily influenced by the old Hammer movies, Vincent Price and of course the work of Tim Burton.

    Lili's Lair: Why goth?

    Witching Hour U.K.: Why not goth? Seriously though, I don't think it's something that we think too much about, we are what we are and we are proud of what we are!

    Lili's Lair: Where do you draw your inspirations from when creating your music?

    Witching Hour U.K.: All sorts of stuff really, old horror movies, literature, everyday life, other peoples music etc.

    Lili's Lair: What aspects of creating music do you find the most enjoyable?

    Witching Hour U.K.: I really enjoy both the lyric writing and the music composition. I enjoy the recording too, but this can be a bit tedious and I know that Alys really dreads recording!

    Lili's Lair: Is it difficult having a working relationship with someone you are married to?

    Witching Hour U.K.: No, not really. In fact it works really well and solves all the usual problems of being away from each other when gigging etc,

    Lili's Lair: What is the technical process you use when creating a new CD?

    Witching Hour U.K.: We do all the recording ourselves using Cubase on a P.C. When the final thing is mixed, this is mastered for C.D and for digital download via iTunes and Napster etc. The CD master is sent off for duplication. We distribute for iTunes and Napster via Tunecore, so it's just a case of uploading to their servers and they take care of the rest. Simples :)

    Lili's Lair: What is the biggest hope you have for the future of Witching Hour U.K.?

    Witching Hour U.K.: Well, we are working on a brand new album called Raven, so I think at this point, I will be glad to get it finished, but it should be out on Halloween if all goes to plan. I think we want to do more gigging, certainly here in the U.K, but I hope we will gig more overseas. We would also very much like to play at Whitby and Leipzig at some point also.
You can visit them online:

http://www.myspace.com/witchinghouruk


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Comments

  1. Great to see The Return of the Lair! And you're kicking things off with a solid interview. WH U.K. has a sound that appears to belong to the same school as a few of my favorite acts. And the reach of the influences they've shared is evident in their compositions.

    This is a good start to the week!

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  2. Thanx King Unicorn. Yeah, once I heard them I was hooked.Cheers

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