Manchester's Witch Fever share new single ‘Bully Boy’ with a Witch Trials but for drag queens and CBeebies style video.
Releasing their debut EP Reincarnate at the end of October via Music For Nations, Witch Fever share the official video for single ‘Bully Boy’, which is a steel toe-capped boot to abuse of male power, and considers the concept of God within a patriarchal system.
On the new single, singer Amy says,
“We wrote Bully Boy after we played a gig where the guitarist from one of the support bands shouted at us on stage to take our tops off. For us Bully Boy is our combined rage about these experiences funnelled into one track.
The alternative music scene is still very much a ‘boys club’ leaving female and non-binary people vulnerable to misogynistic and sexist behaviour, and we are always challenging this. Bully Boy is cathartic, and empowering in its anger.”
The concept for the video was The Witch Trials meets drag queens and CBeebies. Violent, but in a cartoonish, over the top, completely unrealistic way, with watermelons and balloons being stabbed. It ends with the band being burnt at the stake with paper flames.
She continues,
“The video is different to anything we’ve done before! The lyrics are quite brutal so we thought it’d be fun to turn it on it’s head and create something that on the surface is colourful and fun but
has a dark undercurrent.
Sam O’Leary, the director and editor, did a sweet job and never fails to capture exactly what the song needs! Sam and Roma Allenby created the concept together and hit the nail on the head!”
Witch Fever’s name is inspired by the hysteria which accompanied the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, and Europe, which the band have long considered were a means to belittle, suppress and diminish women.
William Morris, owner of the UK's largest mining plant, DGC, and originator of the British Arts and Crafts movement and arguably the finest wallpaper designer of his generation, coined the term Witch Fever, which was a phrase to dismiss arsenic and- wallpaper-related public health concerns in 1885.
In Germany, in 1814, Wilhelm Sattler created an extremely toxic arsenic and verdigris compound pigment, Schweinfurt green, known also as Paris, Vienna, or emerald green, which became an instant favorite amongst designers and manufacturers the world over, thanks to its versatility in creating enduring yellows, vivid greens, and brilliant blues.
Most insidiously, the arsenic-laced pigment made its way into intricately patterned, brightly colored wallpapers and from there, as they became increasingly in vogue, into the Victorian home. As its use became widespread, commercial arsenic mines increased production to meet the near-insatiable demand. Not least of which was whose owner was William Morris.
Concocting a potent sonic assault that recalls the foreboding darkness of Black Sabbath, Savages’ monochrome post-punk, and the dirty breathlessness of Bleach-era Nirvana, Manchester’s Witch Fever create a confrontational racket that takes no prisoners.
Being named as ones to watch by NME, CLASH, Metro, and more, as well as championed by Fred Perry, Vans and even Orange Amps, Witch Fever are a band you’ll want to keep a close eye on.
Including singles ‘In The Resurrect’, ‘In Birth’, and title track ‘Reincarnate’, the vinyl will be released on Friday 3rd December, with a very special in-store performance at Rough Trade East this Saturday 4th December as well as signing. Pre-order HERE or tickets HERE which come with the vinyl.
Reincarnate EP
Tour Dates:
*Supporting IDLES
^Supporting Bambara
4th Dec 2021 - Rough Trade East, London UK
17th Jan 2022 - O2 Academy Brixton, London UK* SOLD OUT
2nd Mar 2022 - Le Transbordeur, Lyon FR* SOLD OUT
3rd Mar 2022 - Fabrique Milano, Milan IT*
4th Mar 2022 - CAP10100, Turn IT^
5th Mar 2022 - La Paloma, Nimes FR^
6th Mar 2022 - Le Bikini, Toulouse FR* SOLD OUT
7th Mar 2022 - Santana 27, Bilbao SP*
9th Mar 2022 - Sala Razzmatazz, Barcelona SP*
10th Mar 2022 - La Riviera, Madrid SP*
11th Mar 2022 - Lisbon Coliseum, Lisbon PT*
15th Apr 2022 - Manchester Punk Fest, Manchester UK
7th Jul 2022 - 2000 Trees, Cheltenham UK
Photo by: Debbie Ellis