Water Witches

One of the bands that caught my eye online was a group of fellas named Water Witches. They looked like fun, so I looked them up at Nelsonville Music Fest, and caught them mid-warmup for their first performance of the weekend. In between finger stretches and yogic chanting, I also asked them a few questions, and Charlie (Touvell) and Ethan (Christian) gave me some fun responses. Their answers fascinated me, and I’m happy we’ve met. If you love psych-rock and fun times, and have a bit of an open mind, I think you’ll enjoy this talented bunch.

Find them on IG: @water_witches and on the webs.

Here’s what we talked about:

Michelle/Clutch: I always like to ask – out of all the interviews you’ve done, is there anything you wish someone would ask you, that they just haven’t?

Charlie: Do you acknowledge the power of magic?

M: Are you asking me?

C: No (he said, smiling), that’s the question I want somebody to ask me. That’s our theme.

Ethan:Yeah, that would make it a lot easier-you’d (Charlie) just say yes, and we’d be done.

M: So that’s the end of the interview then. (laughter) No, I’ve checked out your music, and I’ve been wondering.

E: How much bs are we throwing out there?

M: …what are your goals in performing?

E: It’s all genuine in that it’s real.

C: :There’s a lot of playfulness in it.

M: Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I liked you guys.

E: It’s all silly.

C: Yeah, we have a quasi-fake church. Like, pseudo-real…our main tenant is to not take anything too seriously.

M: Kinda Spaghetti Monster-ish?

C: Yeah! Well it’s more like Discordianism…Anton Wilson…it’s all about doing what you want, and respecting other people. Those are the main tenants.

M: So…was that your purpose when you got together, to have fun and encourage other people to have fun?

C: Yeah, we started a couple of bands. Actually, our first show was me and Anthony over at the NoFi cabin (at Nelsonville, in 2014). I was playing backup drums for his solo set. After that, we started a band.

E: It really was two things, a psych-rock band and a freaky folk band…it’s like, psychedelic /folk-y…and that got way too confusing, so it was becoming “who’s playing tonight?” and we just went “listen, let’s call it Water Witches.”

Yeah, we needed a name.

E: Or let’s just call it something, we didn’t come up with Water Witches on our own.

C: Yeah, we had a seance, and the spirits chose Waters Witches for us.

M: So the question you wanted to be asked…can you ask me that again?

C: Do you acknowledge the power of magic?

M: Do you acknowledge the power of magic?

C: Yes we do… That was great.

E: You always have to (acknowledge it). Let’s end this in the chant of the mantra OM…

You fascinate me, fellas. Looking forward to seeing what you continue to be up to.