“Look Out For…” is a place where I will be showcasing independent and/or underground bands that I feel are worth checking out. For the first installment of “Look Out For…” I’ll be talking to Jason Myers of Icarus Witch, an awesome NWOTHM band from Pittsburgh, PA. Jason took the time out of his busy schedule to do a great Q&A with me and I hope you’ll all dig it!
Jason. Thanks for taking the time out to do this interview. In three sentences, tell us about Icarus Witch is! Challenging I know!
Hey Brainfart, my pleasure man. Wait, does that count as sentence? Shit, there goes my second of three, so I better just say Icarus Witch is a classic, hard rocking melodic metal band who believe in creating exciting, new, original music that proudly pays homage to the masters like Black Sabbath, Dio, Whitesnake, Queensryche & Yngwie Malmsteen.
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Like many others, the first time I had ever heard of Icarus Witch was from being not only the opening act but the backing band for former Iron Maiden vocalist Paul DiAnno? How did a metal band from Pittsburgh end up getting this sweet gig?
The original talks began a few years back when former Fastway singer and long time DiAnno manager, Lea Hart asked me if Icarus Witch would be up for the challenge to back Paul on his first tour of North America in 18 years. Paul’s agency, Artists Worldwide, filled me in on the details. It sounded like a really weird, difficult and unique thing to try, and I couldn’t think of anyone else I’d rather see doing this tour. So I agreed, and we made it happen earlier this year. Now we’re going out for a second round in December.
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What is it like working with a legend like DiAnno?
It’s a bit surreal, because your brain is mixing those images you had as a kid of your idol belting out “Running Free” on Maiden Japan with the image you have of The Beast sitting across from you at Dennys in some random town the morning after your 20th show in a row.
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Do you guys have any say as to what goes into the set lists for the DiAnno shows?
Somewhat. The first time, we pretty much did what he asked but convinced him to play the song Iron Maiden, which he didn’t want to. Of course it went over (ahem) killer every night. This time we’ve been on him to add more Maiden tunes because, well, that’s what people want to hear the most. Now we’re doing every song off of the first Maiden plus several from Killers. I have to go on record as saying we do not have a say in the tempo. The dude’s a speed freak with that. Friggin’ punk rocker wants everything played uber fast. Ever try to play the bass lines for Phantom of the Opera at “normal” speed!? Oi!
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I really dug your set in Raleigh when you guys played with DiAnno. Has this opportunity opened some pretty big doors for you Icarus Witch?
Sure, it allowed us to jump right from that tour onto a summer support slot with Y&T and got us some more attention from various promoters, labels, managers, and press (like yourself) who came out to see Paul and/or hear what his opening band was about.
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This new movement that has been coined as the New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal is being fronted by bands like Icarus Witch, White Wizzard and Holy Grail. Do you feel that this movement will continue to grow as more young people get exposed to this classic sound?
Possibly, like any trend, the longevity of buzz remains to be seen. Unlike most trends, however, this one is based on tried and true, heartfelt dedication, not bandwagons. It’s nice to see some attention being paid to newer bands who are not playing swoopy hair screamo. If younger kids get into it now because the style is some sort of anti-fashion fashion, then hopefully some of them will stick to it later in life when the trends change to something else.
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It seems like these NWOTHM (New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal) bands are doing really well over seas yet they are still working hard to break ground here in the US. Why do you think Americans are so slow to grasp onto this movement?
I can’t speak for the other bands, but Icarus Witch still sells more CDs, downloads, merch and concert tickets here in the U.S. If anything, I think Europe has better print magazines overall, so that helps. They’ve got Classic Rock and Metal Hammer, U.K.–We get Slipknot, tough guy-core and mall metal on every cover.
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Icarus Witch has had some impressive guests featured on it’s albums. 2005’s “Capture The Magic” features some guitar work from Dokken’s George Lynch and on your 2007 album “Songs For The Lost” Rainbow’s Joe Lynne Turner made an appearance. How did you guys get hooked up with these two awesome guests?
I did A&R for Deadline Music in the early 2000s and got to work with George on a Lynch Mob album, DVD & tour. He said if there was ever anything I needed, to let him know. I did and he kept his word. As for Joe, he was friends with our manager at the time, Dianna DeVille of Niji Entertainment (Dio, Ripper Owens).
Our label asked if we wanted to have another guest star, since it helped the first album. We are all such huge Rainbow/Purple/Malmsteen freaks, so we said, we want Joe! Di made it happen. The results were pretty unique and I’m quite proud of the way that track, a vintage Def Leppard cover of “Mirror Mirror,” turned out.
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Icarus Witch was picked once again by DiAnno to tour once again and this time I’ve heard that it’s going to be a really special tour. What are we to expect from this run?
As I mentioned before, more Maiden! Which is great for the fans. Doesn’t make my job any easier though. Just means more fucking insane Steve Harris bass parts to learn! haha. A nice “problem” to have though, right?
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Any chance you’ll bring this show to Atlanta! (Hey, I had to ask!)
Doubtful. If you look at the itinerary, the dates are almost non-stop this time. But you never know. Unfortunately, we had to pull out of the Pathfinder Festival with Crimson Glory at the last minute due to mechanical transportation problems, but I told the promoter that we’d be happy to make it up to him if he wanted to book the Witch on our way back from Vegas to Pittsburgh in January. Tell Hoyt Parris or better yet, bug those guys at Prog Power, we’re always willing to play Atlanta.
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You have a new album that came out this year called “Draw Down The Moon” that is once again a really great album. Will you guys be out supporting this album outside of the DiAnno shows you have lined up?
Thanks man, I’m proud of that. We’ve been touring on that one all year, going into our 3rd tour of the year. There have been a few one off dates and regional festivals between tours, but honestly, we really want to just get back in the studio and record a new album with the current lineup.
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Icarus Witch also has a new singer in Christopher Shaner since the last time I saw you with Matthew Bizilia on vocals. Why the change in vocalists if I may ask?
Difference of opinions on artistic direction. We’re still cool. Matt & I went out to catch Don Jamieson’s (That Metal Show) stand up act last Saturday. We still hang out and talk, it was just time for both of us to make a career change. He’s working on a solo project called Habitual Sins.
Christopher is doing a fabulous job playing the older material, but again, the real focus is getting new original Icarus Witch material written and recorded asap to show what he will bring to the future of the band as well as our new second guitarist Ed Skero who has been great to write with. This will also be our drummer Steve’s first recordings with us as well, so it’s going to be a great chance to show the world where this band is headed in the future.
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Where is the best place for people to listen to some Icarus Witch and pick up some merch?
Honestly? At our shows! Haha. Otherwise, www.icaruswitch.com is being reworked for the new album, but you can also go to myspace.com/icaruswitch, facebook.com/icaruswitch, reverbnation.com/icaruswitch, purevolume.com/icaruswitch, Itunes, Amazon, Twitter.com/icaruwitch…ahh, there are so many to keep track of these days, but we do our best to make sure we’re represented everywhere.
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Jason, thanks so much for taking the time out to do this interview. Best of luck on the tour and if you do get to Atlanta sometime, we’ll have a brew or two!
Thanks brother, you bet. We’ll be back to Atlanta and brews will be consumed. Witches brew, that is!
Be sure to check out Icarus Witch online and find out when you can see them in your neck of the woods:
http://www.icaruswitch.com
http://www.myspace.com/icaruswitch
http://www.facebook.com/icaruswitch
http://www.reverbnation.com/icaruswitch
http://www.purevolume.com/icaruswitch
http://www.twitter.com/icaruwitch
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