The Wytches are an English rock band formed in 2011 in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

. Following their formation, the band were based in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

. The band consists of singer-songwriter Kristian Bell, bassist Daniel Rumsey and keyboardist/guitarist Mark Breed. Drummer Gianni Honey left the band in 2019.

History

Kristian Bell and Gianni Honey had previously played together in the Crooked Canes in their hometown of Peterborough, whom the duo later dismissed as being "really adolescent and embarrassing". Honey was taught by former Morrissey drummer Spike T. Smith and played in local bands, Through Fire This Fall, the

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

influenced the Proles and

metalcore Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...

band Khalo. Following the split of the Crooked Canes, the duo moved to Brighton to attend university and advertised around campus for a bassist. Daniel Rumsey was the only person to respond and joined the band. Rumsey was a singer-songwriter originally from

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

who had fronted the "horror punk" band Fall Victim before moving to Brighton where he fronted Dan Rumsey & the Bitter End and the Voyage Andromeda. Initially called the Witches, the band changed the spelling to Wytches to make their band name more easily found on

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

. The band originally featured second guitarist Mark Breed, with whom Bell later started a side project with called the Mark and Kristian Band. The band released their debut single ''Beehive Queen'' in June 2013 via Hate Hate Hate Records and follow up single ''Robe For Juda'' in November 2013. In September 2013 the band released a low key limited edition cassette ''Thunder Lizard Revisited''. The band released their debut US single ''Crying Clown'' (originally the b-side to the band's debut UK single) via

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

in November 2013. On 4 February 2014, the band announced they had signed with

Heavenly Recordings Heavenly Recordings is a London-based independent record label founded by Jeff Barrett in 1990. Heavenly released the first albums from Saint Etienne (band), Saint Etienne, Beth Orton and Doves (band), Doves, and early singles by Manic Street P ...

and released ''Gravedweller'' as a free digital single. The band also signed to

Partisan Records Partisan Records is an independent record label with offices in London and Los Angeles, as well as in New York City, where the company was co-founded in 2007 by Tim Putnam and Ian Wheeler. The label, initially run out of Putnam’s South Brooklyn ...

in the US. The band released their debut album ''

Annabel Dream Reader ''Annabel Dream Reader'' is the debut studio album by English rock band The Wytches. It was released on 25 August 2014 through Heavenly Recordings. Recording sessions took place over two days at Toe Rag Studios in Hackney, London. Production was ...

'' in August 2014. The album was recorded over two days at

Toe Rag Studios Toe Rag Studios is an analogue recording studio located in Hackney, London, England. History The studio was founded in 1991 by Liam Watson and Josh Collins in the Shoreditch area of London. In 1997, the business relocated to Hackney due to ...

Hackney, London Hackney is a district in East London, England, forming around two-thirds of the area of the modern London Borough of Hackney, to which it gives its name. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross and includes part of the Queen E ...

and co-produced by Bell and former

Coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and sec ...

guitarist

Bill Ryder-Jones William Edward Ryder-Jones (born 10 August 1983) is an English singer-songwriter, musician, music producer and composer from West Kirby, Merseyside. He co-founded the band The Coral, together with James Skelly, Lee Southall, Paul Duffy, and Ian ...

. The album was recorded and mixed by Luke Oldfield on an 8-track

Studer Studer is a designer and manufacturer of professional audio equipment for recording studios and broadcasters. The company was founded in Zürich, Switzerland, in 1948 by Willi Studer. It initially became known in the 1950s for its professiona ...

A80. It reached number 50 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. In August 2016, Mark Breed re-joined the band as a permanent member. In September 2016 they released their second album ''All Your Happy Life''. In 2018, the band parted ways with their UK record label Heavenly Recordings and US record label Partisan, leaving them unsigned. In March 2019, the band pulled out of a planned UK support tour with Drenge plus several warm up dates, citing "unforeseen circumstances". In October 2019, the band played 3 gigs as a 3-piece, with Gianni Honey replaced by Demelza Mather. In May 2020 Daniel Rumsey released an EP called ''The Darkest Day'' from a new side project called Dan Rumsey & the Dark Days. On 10 June 2020, the band released new single ''Cowboy'' via their own label ''Cable Code Records''. The band confirmed that Gianni Honey had left the band, revealing that the band "were disheartened by the whole thing. All the work that goes into getting a band off its feet and into the public felt like something we’d have to try all over again". Session drummer Demelza Mather had toured with the band, but hasn't been announced as an official member of the band. In November 2021 Kristian released a solo album ''Backfire'' through Cable Code Records

Band members

;Current members * Kristian Bell –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

(2011–present) * Daniel Rumsey – bass, backing vocals (2011–present) * Mark Breed –

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

, guitar (2011-2012, 2016–present) ;Former members * Gianni Honey –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(2011–2019)

Discography

Studio albums EPs * ''The Witches'' (2012, self released) * ''Thunder Lizard Revisited'' (2013, Hate Hate Hate) * ''Gravedweller'' (2014, Heavenly) * ''Thunder Lizard's Reprieve'' (2015, Scion Audio/Visual) * ''Home Recordings'' (2016, self released) * ''Double World'' (2017, self released) Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wytches English indie rock groups Fat Possum Records artists Musical quartets Musical groups established in 2011 Heavenly Recordings artists 2011 establishments in England Partisan Records artists Dine Alone Records artists