Listening to the dead dog´s howl with Two Witches

Greetings and congratulations are in order, it´s been 20 years of gothrock, the pioneers in the Finnish scene, how are you?

- I'm fine, thank you. Busy as always. At the moment
we are touring heavily. We played in Austria the last weekend
and this week the tour continues in Russia for ten dates,
then we are going to UK with Pro-Jekt and so on.

At the same time I'm also finishing the second album
of my side-project, SinMasters. The album comes out this spring.
We are also composing new songs for the next Two Witches' album.

And, of course, Lumous Gothic Festival takes a lot of my time.

Could you tell our readers your current line-up?

- There two guitarists, Heidi and Marko, both lives in Berlin.
A guy called Jesse for the live show. And my vocals.
Unfortunately Anke left the band a few months ago
and we haven't found anyone to replace her yet.

Back to the fact that Two Witches has been around the block for 20 years, many ups and downs I assume, So far, what has been the absolute highlight of your career?

- Every tour and single concert is a highlight for us,
but maybe the biggest highlights have been the concerts
in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Russia.

To celebrate you 20th birthday, you´re organizing a European tour, tell us more about the dates and countries.

- Basicly we are touring the same places as always.
This year we are playing one concert in Finland as well.
That is pretty rare for us nowadays.

We are also going the second time to Russia.
This time for a real tour, ten gigs in ten days.
We are really waiting for it.

The other new countries for us would be
Czech Republic and Portugal.

Life itself is your biggest influence but what bands have inspired you?

- Huh, too many to mention them all. David Bowie, Christian Death,
Virgin Prunes, Bauhaus, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Japan,
The Mission, Fields of the Nephilim, Psychobilly, 70's punk rock,
Visage, Ultravox, The Stray Cats... It would take a day to
mention all of my favourite bands.

Let´s talk about the gothic scene in Finland, the state of it, what are your views about it? Any brother/sisters bands you relate to?

- The band scene in Finland is so small
and everyone knows each others. Of course
we, as well as any other act, are having some fellow bands.
Otherwise the scene is good in Finland, especially
in Helsinki and Tampere. Many clubs, some record labels,
magazines, etc. If I'm thinking of the last decades and nowadays,
I must say I like how it is at the moment.

For some reason, for long time Two Witches has been misunderstood and belittled by the Finnish music press, why do you think this is?

- I guess we have done something wrong?
To be a pioneer is not easy. But this is not just
a question of the Finnish music press but
quite often inside the scene as well.
Maybe the reason is simple, we are just crap.

So, next is the tour but after that, the future of Two Witches? Will Two Witches be immortal?

- I hope so. At least it feels like
we could survive the next years as well.

This is about it, fangs for the interview
and feel free to promote and say hi to the fans.

- I hope to see all of you in our concerts!

Bites,
Jyrki Witch

www.two-witches.com
www.myspace.com/twowitches

Pictures by www.exeria.de and www.tinacassati.de

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