"We could just basically do whatever we want and take chances and risks all the time."

Sweden's Witchery has been casting its magick on death metal fans of since 1997. The Haunted’s Patrik Jensen being the driving force behind the band, along with other Satanic Slaughter brethren Toxine, Richard Corpse, and Martin Axenrot had asked Sharlee D’Angelo to join their dark musical coven. Witchery is like an affair outside their other bands: these five men have the creative freedom to do whatever the hell they want to within this band, therefore keeping the excitement alive. Join in our last minute conversation with Sharlee right before he embarked on the Jägermeister Tour with Arch Enemy and prior to the US drop date of Witchery's new album, Don’t Fear The Reaper, Mr. D'Angelo found a hole in his schedule (12:00 am his time) as he opens the Book of Shadows allowing us to peek into the world of Witchery discussing the new album, the journey that led them to sign with Century Media and more… Before you leave, click here for Part II with Jensen as Erika Kristen delves further into his mind, picking up where Sharlee left off.

Karma: Tack så mycket för intervjun, herr D’Angelo!

Sharlee: [Laughs] Oh, varsågod!

Karma: Toxine has a very mysterious persona; is it a conscious effort or is it something that just manifested itself after a while? In retrospect, there's not a lot of info out there on him.

Sharlee: I think it’s in his personality as well. It’s nothing that was made up or anything; he’s very comfortable in that situation. Apart from being on stage and stuff like that, he’s not very…he’s a sociable person but I think he likes to keep to himself.

Karma: Not uncommon, that sort of dichotomy seems to exist quite a lot for many frontmen.

Sharlee: It does, yeah. I think it’s quite funny how he is in private and the way he is on stage it’s a bit of a transformation.

Karma: Speaking of mysteriousness/lack of circulating info, I was curious as to what is Richard's real last name is.

Sharlee: Rimfält.

Karma: Thanks! Considering the demise of the Necropolis, was that the biggest deterrent as to why it took you so long to come out with Don't Fear The Reaper? What were some of the other factors that were involved?

Sharlee: Many factors but I think that was one of the main ones. The demise of Necropolis in America then and also and then the same thing happening to Music For Nations in Europe. So like two out of the three labels that we were on for the last album doesn’t exist anymore and it makes it a whole hell of a lot more difficult to put an album out, let me tell you! [Laughs]

Karma: I’m sure it was.

Sharlee: [Laughs] I’m sure with that, I think you start to drag your feet little bit when it comes to actually starting the process of getting an album together, songs and everything. Because it’s like, “Okay, we have to find a label as well…what are we going to do?” It’s like everything just takes so much longer just because of that. Had we had a deal at that point, it would have been so much easier for us to have knocked something out. But then we just waited around for a bit until 2004 when we finally thought we waited long enough. So we started to get songs together and decided to go in and record the album ourselves and finance it ourselves. Rather than just recording a demo and shop that around, why not do the whole album?!

Karma: Even though Witchery is more obscure than your other bands, was it a natural progression to go with Century considering your existing ties [The Haunted & Arch Enemy] to the label already?

Sharlee: Umm, no well the thing is we had several labels that were interested in doing it but it just so happened that Century Media gave us the best deal. It all factors in because of me and Jensen already know all of these people at the Century Media offices around the world. Of course, you know who you’re dealing with and who you’re putting your career in the hands of.

Karma: So true.

Sharlee: It’s like you need to trust people…we’ve had experiences in the past where you think everything’s going to be fine ‘cos it seems fine in the beginning it turns out, not to be as great after a while. Now at least we know all the people, we know how they work and how they operate; and that of course adds something that plays into that a bit in signing with a label. In that sense, it felt quite safe to sign with Century Media.

Karma: What is the greatest challenge that you have been able to overcome in order to get you where you are at this point in your career? What lessons have you learned thereby not committing the same errors?

Sharlee: I think you’ve basically answered it in your question. [Laughs] It is all about that, learning from your mistakes. Knowing who to trust and how to do things; it’s a part of growing up as a band I think.

Karma: Understood. What does the term “Erotic Satanism” mean to you? It was on one of your bios.

Sharlee: [Pauses] Uhhh, okay! I haven’t read that!! [We both laugh] You probably need to ask the person that wrote that one. [Chuckles] Hehehe, it’s not a label I would ever put on our music.

Karma: Well congrats on the new album [Don't Fear the Reaper]…

Sharlee: …ouuhhh, well thank you.

Karma: Which song off the album is your favorite?

Sharlee: Ouuhh, at the moment, either…well there’s a choice between three either “Plague Rider”, “The Ritual” or “Crossfixation”.

Karma: Why?

Sharlee: Because “Plague Rider” is the classic fast metal song. “Crossfixation” is a really good monotonous, “do me” track with the token Middle Eastern influence. And then “The Ritual” is a very good dance track! [Laughs] [Note: and he claims he would never put the tag of “Erotic Satanism” on their music, huh?] 

Karma: Are you satisfied with it? Would you change anything?

Sharlee: Ahh, there are always bits and pieces and details that you’d want to change about things. But overall, I'm very happy with it, the way it came out production wise and everything. It was the first time we’ve actually sent the material away to somebody else to mix it, this time it was Tue [Madsen that mixed the likes of The Haunted, Himsa, Gorefest] so it turned out great. We didn’t even have to be there. We sent stuff to him and he sent it back; and with a few minor details altered, it was fine. It worked out very smoothly.

Karma: Would entertain retaining this method in the future as far as not being intimately involved in the mixing process giving your works to the likes of a Tue?

Sharlee: Umm, yeah, with the first draft he sent back to us was, “Okay, this is actually quite good! Just change that and change that and I think we’re fine”, and he did, and it was fine. It’s quite rare that you can do that with people.

Karma: Then again, Tue has one hell of an ear and can maximize the sound the artist is trying to achieve without much effort at all, as it seems.

Sharlee: Yes, he’s got an overall very good general feel for what it’s supposed to sound like. He’s good at cranking out a good solid guitar sound and drums and all of that as well. Finally the only thing I think is a bit over much on the album is that the bass is too loud…if you can believe that!

Karma: [Shock overtakes my intonation] I can’t! Really?

Sharlee: [Laughs] Yeah, I do.

Karma: Why do you feel that way?

Sharlee: But then again it’s fine, I’ve learned to deal with that or maybe I’m just not used to having it that loud.

Karma: That could be as well.

Sharlee: When I told Jensen, he was like, “If you listen back to some of your favorite albums and Heaven & Hell [Black Sabbath], listen to how loud the bass is compared to everything else…” and I’m like, “Yes, that’s fine… as long as it doesn’t get in the way of anything” …then good, I suppose I guess, I'm not used to it sounding that way. I know, but I’m quite liking it now.

Karma: having had this conversation before, the bass is never usually a prominent enough instrument in the genre for the musician following along with the guitar or for another reason or another. It’s nice to be able to hear the bass be able to break out of the pack and be such a driving force on the album.

Sharlee: Umm, hmm, absolutely! It does add the things it’s suppose to add in certain places. It’s easier for a lot to do that. Sometimes it better to do lesser rather than a lot so in that sense like all of the little punctuation things that I do, they come across really well and with the drums and everything. It sounds quite good I think.

Karma: I’m sure you’ve been asked many times if the album title’s in conjunction with the Blue Öyster Cult song.

Sharlee: Uh, I have been asked that question quite a few times, yes! [We both laugh] I must say we set ourselves up for that one. Because in the past we have been known to steal titles and then, fuck them up slightly. [Snickers] This time we just blatantly stole something so I’m just going to have to take question as many times as it comes. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. [Hysterical laughter ensues]

Karma: No truer words have ever been spoken. Were the lyrics and/or music touched up since it was recorded back in 2004 especially since the genre is ever changing…to be honest, it sounds very current.

Sharlee: Uh, no, not really. It was done, all finished, mixed, and everything back in 2004 and it’s just been shopped around and it’s been sitting there. Well, it hasn’t just been sitting on a shelf collecting dust because it’s done its rounds at the labels and everywhere else. So but it hasn’t been touched sense.

Karma: Speaking of lyrics, was or Toxine the main lyricist on the album?

Sharlee: Uh, no actually on this album with a few exceptions it’s actually Jensen that wrote the most of it…actually all of it. Except for “Immortal Death” and something else, he basically did everything. While we were sitting and was getting done with the basic tracks: the guitars, drums and bass then we started to go into overdub stuff, like solos and vocals and bits and pieces. It was usually me or Martin in for the recording, either Richard or Toxine and then Jensen was like sitting outside with his head buried in a few notebooks and stuff writing the lyrics. We popped our heads in once in a while and gave him a few pointers.

Karma: Okay, here’s a two-parter… How do you go about doing arrangements especially for it sound as tight as it does? Do time restrictions ever hinder the Witchery process considering you spend a large bulk of time with your other bands/projects?

Sharlee: Well the arrangements are done in the classic way, we take bits and pieces and riffs and whatever we got musically going on and just sit down in a room with four or five people and turn it into songs. It’s not overly rehearsed at all. It’s funny that you say it sounds “tight” and everything because it’s actually extremely loose. There’s not many takes in the studio or anything; it was all done at once. But that’s the thing with it, you don’t have to sit and nitpick as much. We do like two guitars bass and drums at once, you can hear what you get away with. Even where there are, at times me or somebody else knows or did make a mistake. If you can’t really hear it, well then just leave it in the take of the song. You can conserve the energy; but if it’s a major mistake you can punch it in.

Karma: So have you always primarily recorded live?

Sharlee: Yeah ever since the first album; you save quite a lot of time doing that as well. You can hear instantly what works and what doesn’t. That’s the way we’ve always done it and one of the reasons why we’ve never done many edits because it worked out that way on the first album because the tape recorder was actually broken, so you couldn’t actually punch in the middle of the song because it left a big gap.

Karma: Wow, that sounds terrible inconvenient!

Sharlee: We had to do everything all the way through and we found out that worked better for us because it’s like playing something live. We’ve always done it that way since.

Karma: Considering Witchery started off as a pet project you definitely take your music seriously but what is the motivating factor to keep it going?

Sharlee: The fun and games I think. It’s like the band chemistry as well; we do enjoy each other’s company and it’s a lot of laughs going on while we’re doing things. Everything, even though it’s serious, it’s very much tongue-in-cheek as well! I think that’s one of the main motivations behind this band is to have that fun and games type of outlet. It doesn’t have to be dead serious all the time because there’s not a whole hell of a lot of money or anything like that riding on it. We could just basically do whatever we want and take chances and risks all the time.

Karma: It’s a great way to be. Having said all that, it pretty much leads into my next question of the camaraderie of the band and being able to do Witchery with your best friend. It must be cool/blissful for you.

Sharlee: Uh-hmm. It is absolutely, that’s the way things should be done I think. Yeah, it’s not only that the people in the band are good musicians and play well together. I think one of the reasons why we do play well together is because we know each other basically inside and out as well.

Karma: Then too it’s perfect because the kind of music you create with Witchery would not fit into your other bands, would you agree?

Sharlee: Yeah, it definitely wouldn’t I think because it’s done in a completely different way and it’s a different type of material as well. I don’t think the looseness would fit in anywhere else either.

Karma: As far as the cover art is concerned what made you go with David Diaz (POD)? Was it done in 2004 or was it a more recent development?

Sharlee: Oh no, the artwork was done recently. The reason why we went with him is because you know we worked with him before and he’s an old, old friend of Jensen’s, like way, way, way back. Even though he's an art director at an ad agency, he mostly does that type of stuff, that’s how he makes his living. Doing cover artwork for like albums and stuff and doing artwork for merch as well is something he does on the side because he likes it. It’s a bit of a creative outlet for him and he’s always been into metal, so he can do all of that. It’s like going back to being a teenager again. He had listened to the music and came up with the basic design for the cover instantly because he found the music to be slightly darker than the stuff that we had done before. So he thought, “Let’s do something that’s not so colorful”, and I think the basic idea behind it was like an old engraving or like an illustration from a 16^th Century occult book.

Karma: Very cool story indeed!

Sharlee: Uh-hmm.

Karma: How does the touring schedule look, I know you have some dates coming down the pike with Arch Enemy as well as Jensen with The Haunted? Are you planning to do a mini tour sometime in the near future?

Sharlee: Well, we’re looking into it. We’re waiting to see what the rest of the year looks like for everybody involved to see if there is a hole somewhere where everybody’s off at the same time. So hopefully that’s gonna happen. Maybe not a super lengthy tour but to do something; it’s been quite a while since we’ve all been in the States, so it would be fun.

Karma: What do you have going with Arch?

Sharlee: Uh, we’re gonna do an American tour that starts in April with us, Chimaira, God Forbid, Nevermore, and Hate Eternal I think. I think it’s going to be Nevermore for the first half of the tour and God Forbid for the second; it’s going to be a Jäger Tour.

Karma: How cool is that!

Sharlee: Um-hmm!

Karma: How do you find time for Witchery with AE and various other projects going on as well as your bandmates and their prior commitments? How have you always found the time to multi-task?

Sharlee: Well, I think it’s a matter of priorities. It depends on what you want to do when you do have time off. Do you want to sit at home, hang out and do stupid spare time stuff [laughs] or do you want to get your hands dirty with something else? I think it’s just a matter of that, I would say. There’s always a little bit of time to do things, it’s not that difficult. The difficult thing is to get everybody to have spare time together. Doing a tour or something like that is a bit of an undertaking when it comes to the scheduling of things.

Karma: You are you still in Spiritual Beggars, right?

Sharlee: Uh-hmm.

Karma: What’s going on with that?

Sharlee: It’s been quite dead as of lately just because it’s basically the same thing with that as it is in Witchery, as you know, both me and Michael [Amott] have been rather busy for the past six months. And the same thing with our keyboard player, Per [Wiberg] because he's with Opeth.

Karma: Right, right.

Sharlee: Yeah, and they’re out right now but once we’ve had a little bit of time off, that we could have done something but Per’s been out with Opeth and JB [Janne “JB” Christoffersson], our singer, has been out with Grand Magus. It’s the same there, schedules, colliding and all of that. So it’s been quite difficult but we’ve been fiddling about with some new material as well. So we’ll see when we’ll get some time to sink our teeth into that as well.

Karma: Well, looking forward it. Well here’s a couple of Speed Round Questions for you. What's a phrase that's overly used within your group?

Sharlee: [Pauses and then chuckles] Let’s see, I can’t really think of one right now. Oh, ers mos rens…. [Laughs]

Karma: Okay, so what does it mean?

Sharlee: [Laughs] It means…Jesus, I don’t know how to translate that into English. It mostly means all of them have to do with a piece of music sounding particularly good. Like speed, heaven, earth, and all of that. It’s a good description of a good metal song, if it has all of the three things. [Laughs]

Karma: Who are you a fan of these days?

Sharlee: Lately, I must say the new Devin Townsend album. I was thoroughly impressed with that one. 

Karma: We just missed them; they dropped off the bill with Opeth and Dark Tranquillity right before the Milwaukee show.

Sharlee: Really?

Karma: Yeah, it kinda sucked! What was the last show attended as fan not as a performer?

Sharlee: Uh, last Thursday I went to see Krisiun.

Karma: Oh, cool! How was the show?

Sharlee: It was good, not too many people; it wasn’t a very well advertised show but they did well as always. They are one of the pioneers or flag bearers for the most brutal type of death metal I think; they do it really well! 

Karma: What’s your favorite colour?

Sharlee: My favorite colour? I don’t want to say black but…it is. [Laughter ensues] I know it’s a bit sad!

Karma: Hey, we all like what we like, right?!

Sharlee: Yeah.

Karma: If Witchery were a cocktail, which drink would you be?

Sharlee: We would be a…Jim and Jack!

Karma: Alright, a Jim AND Jack?

Sharlee: [Laughs] Yeah! It’s the best of both worlds!

Karma: What’s the one thing you are most grateful for today?

Sharlee: Today? [Snickers]

Karma: No, not today specifically, but to this day!

Sharlee: To this day, being born I think.

Karma: How about dreams, what was your last vivid dream about?

Sharlee: My last vivid dream. Let’s see…I tend to forget them quite quickly… I actually did have one the other week. I dreamt I was waiting for an execution. It’s not a very nice one, but I don’t know why!

Karma: Okay! Your execution?

Sharlee: My execution, yeah. I don’t know what that means!

Karma: I don’t either, I’ll get back to you on that one.

Sharlee: Alright.

Karma: Wow, which Witchery song would sum up your life in a nutshell?

Sharlee: [Laughs] Well, I guess it would be “The Executioner” then! Perhaps “Awaiting the Exorcist”! [We both laugh]

Karma: If your job were to interview bands, name one that you would want to interview and something you would definitely want to know about them.

Sharlee: It’s actually someone that’s not alive but I would like to sit down with Frank Zappa actually. It’s not gonna happen but another person that I would like to interview is Mike Patton.

Karma: Oh, okay…so what’s one thing you’d like to know about him?

Sharlee: Oh! Basically everything behind the recording and lyrics and things in details. I mean little geeky stuff; I listen to stuff like that. “What happened there? Why did you do that? What does that mean?”

Karma: Well that would be pretty awesome if you could geek out with him like that someday!

Sharlee: Yeah!

Karma: More role reversals, do you have any questions for me?

Sharlee: Uh, yeah? What’s your favourite album lately?

Karma: Well it flip-flops from day to day but I’ve really been into Himsa’s new one, Demiricous, and the new Yakuza. That particular album has really blown my mind.

Sharlee: Okay.

Karma: Yeah! I’m really impatiently waiting to hear Cradle’s new one.

Sharlee: Oh yeah, I don’t know when it’s due out really.

Karma: I heard late spring/summer…something like that…if I’m not mistaken. Hell I’m sure I’m incorrect on that one.

Sharlee: That would be interesting. I just asked Adrian what it’s like and he’s like, “Well, the same old stuff”! I’m like, “Okay”! [Laughs]

Karma: Any last comments or special messages for your fans?

Sharlee: [Laughs] Not really a part from the they are a bunch of fucking [phone starts to beep]

Karma: [Laughs] And that’s why your phone is bleeping!

Sharlee: [Laughs] Exactly!

Karma: Tack så mycket för intervjun, igen, Sharlee!

Sharlee: Varsågod, det så lite så.

We'd like to thank Sharlee and the Witchery camp for making this interview a possibility!

Related Links of Interest

q       Part II - Interview with Witchery's Jensen

q       CD Review of Don't Fear the Reaper

q       Jagermeister Tour 2006 Photos / Review

q       Ozzfest 2005 Photos / Review

q       Photos / Review of Arch Enemy from their headlining tour Doomsday Tour

q       New interview with Sharlee (Arch Enemy)

q       Previous interview with Sharlee (Arch Enemy)

q  Interview with Peter Dolving (The Haunted)

q       Photos / Review of Arch Enemy on Headbangers Ball Tour