1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
We're a three piece blackened doom band from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
2.So far you have released 2 demo's, musically how do they both differ from each other?
'Witch Tree' shows more of the black metal and funeral doom inspiration, complete with synth and lo-fi production. 'To Be Bathed In Red Light' shows more of our stoner/sludge influence, with some noise and hardcore as well. The sound isn't as lo-fi, more caustic and heavy. We tracked everything live in the same room, not to a click. We wanted it to have that organic feeling, and to be rough around the edges like a good demo should be.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?
'Witch Tree' is more fantasy oriented, about a coven of witches who live under a giant tree that lures in predatory men and kills them. There's a tree where I grew up that's really gnarled and huge, this song is named after that. Growing up, a couple of us called it 'the witch tree' because it looked like the type of place where a witch would live. We knew we wanted to incorporate the witch tree into the band somehow. 'To Be Bathed In Red Light' was written by our frontman, Micah, when he was going through the end of a long term relationship. I have lyrics written for a number of songs we're working on, ranging from religion to depression to fantasy.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Wives Tale'?
There isn't really a deep meaning behind it, to be honest. The three of us were friends and coworkers before we started the band, and we keep a running list of imaginary band names--most of them dumb and goofy, but every once in a while we get one we genuinely like. I'm big into herbal remedies and natural treatments, which I was trying to explain to the other guys. I described them as old wives tales that have genuine merit. We thought 'Wives Tale' would make a cool funeral doom band.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the current demo cover?
The artwork is all done by myself and shot by my father, who's a photographer. He's been great to work with. I wanted each track to have a distinct visual identity, however both somewhat unintentionally deal with obscurity. I love digging through record stores, and I wanted 'Witch Tree' to be the kind of obscure black metal tape that would catch my eye--a grainy photo of a big harvest moon seen through clouds and trees ties (which nicely with the lyrics for the track). The cover for 'To Be Bathed In Red Light' also works with obscurity, but in a completely different way. I was drawing inspiration from xeroxed images that come out really grainy and unidentifiable. It's eerie because you can't quite make out what you're looking at. The window is kind of an anchor, but you can't really tell what is looking in or out. Each track having that distinct feel helps reinforce that it's more of a compilation rather than an EP or album. The tapes actually have a reversible j-card, so you get both covers. For the rest of the j-card, I was going for the look of a DIY poster or zine, where stuff has been cut or torn out and pasted together.
6.Has the band done any live shows or open to the idea?
We've done a few live shows, and have several booked for 2024. Our original drummer moved out to the west coast in late summer of 2023 and it's just taken some time to find a new drummer and get going live again. We love playing live, and have gotten really good reception so far, which came as a big surprise (and relief) to me. I've spent a lot of time trying to craft an engaging and unique live show, with heavy focus on atmosphere. The live setting is really where the entire vision comes together. I'd like to find a way to translate it better to our online presence in the future so it doesn't get entirely lost in translation--incense, candles, altars, creepy intro track, and exclusively red light, of course.
7.So far very little is known about the band, do you prefer to keep a lower profile?
Somewhat. We're still working some of that stuff out. I'm really drawn toward the dark and mysterious vibe, but overall we haven't had a lot of traction with that. We've had more success embracing humor on social media. I think people generally relate more to that. It's really just a matter of finding what works but still feels authentic to us.
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, sludge and funeral doom metal?
Not a lot of reach worldwide yet, though we'd love for that to change! We get a few random streams from places like India every once in a while. For now, we're just grateful for the incredible reception we've had here in Sioux Falls. We only played three shows before our drummer moved, but from those shows we felt a lot of hype and support from our community, which I hope continues. I hope to focus more outside of our hometown, too. We're really appreciative of the chance to put the demos out on Fiadh Productions. It's one of my favorite labels, and I couldn't be happier to have the opportunity to work with Bariann.
9.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We have a number of tracks in the works right now. Our next release will be a single, actually a cover song that we're really stoked about. We have a full length nearing completion as well--a concept album about a priest who starts exploring the occult. I'm really excited to finish that and release it.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Bell Witch is the main band that made us want to start this band. Turns out making music like them is really hard, haha. Of course, other funeral doom bands like Atramentus, Thergothon, Mournful Congregation, Nortt, etc. We're also heavily influenced by depressive suicidal black metal, bands like None and Begotten. I listen to a lot of dungeon synth and epic black metal so I'm always trying to bring synths into whatever I can. The other guys in the band really like noise and experimental stuff, so they bring that element. Our first drummer, Charlie, was a classically trained percussionist--he went to college for it and played in the symphony here in Sioux Falls--so that brought a really interesting element to those songs. On a completely different note I've been listening to a bunch of hair metal lately, which I don't think will influence any of our stuff moving forward. At least I hope it won't.
11.Does Occultism play any role in your music?
It does. I've been into the occult for a couple of years now. Before that, I was raised Christian and actually have a degree in theology, as does our singer. I've been into metal for a long time, and despite liking a lot of satanic or anti-religious stuff, I thought a lot of it was fairly elementary. It's fun in a rebellious kind of way, but not particularly thought provoking, especially for someone with a thorough understanding of religion. I remember thinking that a theologian could probably make the best anti-Christian music, so here I am. You might not get much yet with the songs we've released, but we have a number of tracks coming up that deal with my deconversion and religious trauma. It's been cathartic to write about it, and my feelings definitely inspired the story behind the concept album I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately, there isn't really any community around here for people into occultism; however, this has allowed me the freedom to really make my practice my own. I've found a lot of excitement and healing in piecing things together and trying to forge my own way with the limited resources I have. Lately I've been very drawn toward serpent deities (for lack of a better term)--Agathos Daimon, Nehusthan, even Jesus' portrayal in the gospel of John, and groups like the Ophites and Naassenes. On stage I wear a serpent rosary wrapped around my hand. I'm also very drawn to feminine deities. I have a lot of love for Inanna, Lilith, Hecate, and dark goddess/dark mother work. This is reflected most clearly by the altar we set up on stage. We actually use a lot of Christian inspiration on stage, and it might seem like we're trying to be blasphemous. While there is a bit of that, it's far from my main interest. I'm drawing heavily on Christian ritual and imagery but using them for my own purposes. Less like a mockery and more like a repurposing. Oh and lastly, even though it's very basic for a metal guy, Baphomet is huge for me. I love the focus on balance and harmony.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you so much for the interest and opportunity! Thank you to anybody who took the time to read this. I love that anybody would be interested in my thoughts on any of this. Thank you to Bariann at Fiadh Productions, I can't say enough how excited I am to get to work with such a cool label. I'm excited for everything that we're working on, and really look forward to playing more shows, making more music, doing more merch. It's all going to be great.
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