Doomed Confessionary: Mikie, Nic, Mitchell & Jacob (Season Of The Witch)
Season Of The Witch is a four-piece psychedelic stoner/doom metal band from Norton, Virginia based in the Appalachian mountains. They just released their second full-length album »Vol. 2« on July 22nd, 2024, available now on all major streaming platforms!
Season Of The Witch are Mikie Burke (guitar, vocals), Nic Cook (bass), Mitchell Griffith (drums) and Jacob Bledsoe (keyboards).
Can you say a few words about your band?
We’re a four piece stoner/psych rock band from the Appalachian mountains that started during the pandemic when we got together in a basement for a jam and really enjoyed what we were doing so we decided to take it to the road. Mikie Burke is on vocals/guitar, Jacob Bledsoe is on synth, Mitchell Griffith is on drums, and Nic Cook is on bass. The biggest influences we think you can see in the band will be Pentagram, Roky Erickson, Kiss, and Black Sabbath.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
We’re pretty isolated here in the heart of Appalachia and this area is widely known for it’s old time and blue grass music. So apart from having to travel hours to even hit up a dive bar it was pretty difficult to catch traction without completely moving from our home. We also aint got no money but that’s a different type of challenge.
What can you be most proud of so far?
We’re most proud of just being able to do this for three years so far and watching it grow. We just dropped our second album »Vol. 2« and the support has been amazing.
What was your biggest regret?
We waste a lot of time. Whether it be that we had our album ready to launch eight months before we released it or responding to messages, emails, calls, etc. We honestly have most of another album ready to record right now but we keep sleeping on it. We’re doing better about our time though.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
We played a festival in Marydell, KY called “Mountains of Metal” with our good friends in Dice Jail. We combined the bands on stage and formed “Dice Witch”. This would be the first time our synth player, Jacob, played music with us and it really changed the shape of the band going forward.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
How much money it really takes to make this happen. Ya know when you’re on the road initially we weren’t thinking of how many times we would have to stop for gas or how these $60 hotels were going to be adding up or how much stuff we were gonna break.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
Honestly we listen to so much stuff and this music really doesn’t sound anything like us and isn’t heavy by any means but we definitely draw inspiration from it all and it came directly from our Spotify “On Repeat” playlists.
Nic: Dan Spencer and Chappel Roan.
Mikie: Songs Ohio and Modest Mouse.
Mitchell: Iwrestledabearonce and Knocked Loose.
Jacob: Benjamin Todd and Chappel Roan.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Jacob: Don’t expect to make money.
Nic: Whatever you do, make it your own.
Mitchell: Knowing how to be a great artist is knowing how to cover up your mistakes.
Mikie: Two tears in a bucket, fuck-it, take it to the stage.
Photo by Christian Holbrook
What are your guilty pleasures?
We love collecting vintage toys (Street Sharks and TMNT), playing magic the gathering, and World of Warcraft.
Can you say something more about the music scene in Norton / Virginia?
It’s really growing here and is full of all sorts of bands now. It used to be pretty strictly old time, bluegrass, and radio country but it’s really changing. Our friend Kas (their band is EEK!) works at a coffee shop in downtown Norton and has started booking shows and pulling in anyone they can. There has been everything from harsh noise, hip-hop, spoken word poetry, punk, hardcore, pysch rock, sludge, country, etc. It’s just been really amazing they took up and started booking these shows and giving an outlet to our community that we desperately needed.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
The most notable and likely accessible festival we’re playing will be Mountains of Metal in Marydell, KY on Oct.4th but check out our instagram, spotify, and facebook if you wanna catch us out and about. Also hit us up to play where you’d like us to be – we love doing show trades.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
We just wanna be the Foo Fighters of shitty halloween music and hopefully tour overseas at some point.
How can people best support your band?
Share our stuff, buy something if you got the extra money, or just listen to our music. We’re on all major streaming platforms and probably some you need a vpn to access.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Sleep all day – party all night. If you don’t like us – we totally get it.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well