Witness – Interview

Who in the hell is Witness, or Witness UK if you’re American? I found out when I got a chance to chat with Gerard Starkie (vocals) and Dylan Keeton (bass/guitar).

And as melancholy as their album sounds, you couldn’t tell from talking to them that they were the same band who released Before The Calm. Here they speak with spirits high from days on the beach in LA.

gerard:

How are you enjoying LA?

It’s fantastic. We just spent the last six months in a basement in Bristol writing songs, so I haven’t seen daylight this year. I think my skin was turning gray, but it’s getting better now.

Are you getting a chance to enjoy it or has it been all business?

No, actually we’ve had a few days doing nothing at the beach. I’ve had more difficult jobs.

I’m curious how was it to put out your first album and have so many people just raving about it?

It was incredible. The kind of reviews we got in England are the kind you dream of. We got signed before we played any gigs or had a band name. It was all a bit too easy, really. (laughs) We’ve been waiting for everything to go wrong, but when we recorded the album, it turned out just exactly like we wanted it, so we were really happy with it before it went out. And then when the reviews came in, we had smiles glued to our faces.

Were you sending stuff out trying to get signed?

We sent one demo out.

That’s it?

Yeah. (laughs) We just recorded a demo on a four-track recorder. We gave one to our bloke, Seth, who became our manager, and he shopped it around to a couple companies and we were signed within six weeks. It was just easy.

Were any of the songs on the demo kept for the full length?

Yeah, actually “Hijacker” was one. We probably had two-thirds of the album done when we got signed.

When you got signed, did they have an A&R guy hanging over your shoulder looking for a hit?

No. I don’t think they knew quite what to make of us really, so they didn’t know how to push us, so they just let us get on with it.

I like the album and I was telling a friend about it, and they asked if there was a single on the radio. I told them the reason I liked the album is because it has to be admired as a whole.

That is exactly what I think. We’re certainly not a singles band. The songs definitely work better in the context of the album as a whole. Listening to each of the thirteen songs together works far better than one song at a time.

Did you have songs you had to leave off?

I think we had seventeen songs altogether. We literally recorded every song we had, every single one.

Where did you record it?

In South Wales in the middle of nowhere.

Had you been in the studio before this album?

We had been in a few studios doing demos and a single before that. It was the first proper recording session.

Were you really involved in the recording process?

Oh, yes, absolutely.

Listening to the album, it really has this somber sound. I was wondering if it is as dark as it sounds?

(laughs) Not at all. I think it’s quite uplifting. I know it sounds melancholy, but a lot of those songs were written before we got signed, and I was kind of doing nothing in this little industrial town, wigging in the gloom. And I think I wrote those songs just to transcend the gloom. So it sounds pretty dark, but when you listen to it there is something really positive about it.

Looking back now at your songwriting, do you hope people will get the message or are you happy if they just enjoy it for no particular reason at all?

I think if you enjoy the music and get into it enough, the message will seep in anyway. I think it just gets under your skin.

Do you write alone?

Most of the time I get the lyrics and the basic vocal melody down, usually on an acoustic song, and then we’ll play it in the practice room with the other guys and jam it out until the song takes shape.

Where do you think this ability comes from?

I’ve always written songs, ever since I was little, and it’s just a very natural process. I’ll just sit there and blindly strum away until things take shape, then I’ll get the vocal melody together. The lyrics just seem to come and fit the mood of the tune.

I wanted to toss out a few songs and get what first comes to mind.

Okay.

Dylan:

How are you?

I was falling asleep. (laughs)

Are you enjoying yourself?

Hell, yes. The place is full of so many beautiful people that make you not want to take your clothes off. (laughs)

So it must be nice to have some time off.

Yeah. We’ve been stuck in a bloody basement for what seems like years. It’s been like six months. It feels like a holiday.

It must be weird for you, because I know it is weird for me, to be talking about an album that has been out for a year and already you are working on the new one.

Yeah. It’s been out for a year in England and just came out in the US. And here we are focused on the next album. It’s great to have an American release. We couldn’t believe it.

I hate when I interview bands from England and they tell me about this great new band because I know I won’t get the album in America for ten more months.

(laughs) I know.

I just got yours like two weeks ago.

Which cover do you have? The one with Gerard on it?

Yeah. You know I was going to ask about that because on NME’s website you have a different album cover.

What happened was we were really late with the artwork in England so somebody came up with something that we didn’t really like really, but we were told that if we didn’t except it then the whole project was going back. So we quickly decided we loved it. (laughs) So when we got the American release we decided to fix it. So Gerard with his big ego and everything, he was on the cover, but we got revenge because we got it down to just half his face. (laughs)

Really? I figured MCA just didn’t dig the old cover.

That is really what happened. (laughs)

[Nice detective work on my part, thank you.] I know how those labels work with all their marketing, numbers, and placement.

It’s a much better cover though. It attracts you more. I think the one we had before was too cold.

Is it weird coming over, and then halfway across the ocean you become Witness UK?

(laughs) You know, I like Witness UK. I think the original Witness was a gospel band.

Really, I have no idea. As soon as I saw the UK tossed on the name, I figured there must be a band in the US somewhere.

We know there is one. We figured we should have a fight. [Gerard speaks up and tells us there are like thirty people in the group] Okay, forget that then. (laughs)

You are much too outnumbered.

Yeah, and we’re English so we aren’t good fighters. We’d have to hire people. (laughs)

+ charlie craine