WYKKED WYTCH (Eng.)
– Hello, thanks for answering to our questions. What’s the band currently up to?
ipek – Right now the band is working & rehearsing for future shows and tour.
– First of all, could you please make some history of the band for all those who aren’t familiar with you yet?
Ipek-Who aren’t familiar with wykked Wytch? lol Well there is a very long history they can get it from our website or wikipedia. Basically I’ve been doing this metal thing for many years. 5 Albums and bunch of tours worldwide.
– And why did you pick the name of «Wykked Wytch»?
Ipek-Someone said to me «You’re so WYKKED» and i thought it would really represent me the best and it stuck.
– Your sound is really unique and varied, getting best things from Black, Death or Thrash Metal mixing it perfectly without sounding tedious, and this is what probably marks an evolution in your music. Is this blend of styles something planned or does it come out just naturally?
Ipek- We are unique in the sense we play what we feel what we really into plus me being a female a lot of people underestimate my knowlodge in metal music i can be just as brutal, wykked and evil as any metal dude and i also listen appreciate many different styles of metal which allows me to evolve with time and be versatile .i don’t believe in limitations i can push my limits as far as i can go. when you write album nothing is planned guitar player has the major part of the riffs and i come up with the melody lines,chorus and lyrics .whatever the song calls for it.we have many influences of metal so songs are all mixed with those death/black and thrash influences.it definetly comes out naturally.
– Your new effort, «The Ultimate Deception» is really solid; it has brutality, melodic parts, solos, good keys and all songs are really good structured. Do you think this is your best album to date (dispite the not so positive title)?
ipek-well i like all my albums and time goes on we get better and stronger to express our selves so if someone thinks this is the our best work so far than it should be ..the title has a double meaning it depends how you interpret it ,it could mean final betrayal or ultimate lies ,unexpected deceits.
– And is this your most mature album? Maybe so many years between the release of your albums provides you a different view when it comes to write and play your tracks?
ipek-yes i agree it is very mature and organic release ,we did not want to rush producing something simple and generic so we can have a new album,it was a very long therapy for us to focus on our feelings and where we were at the time of writing.just like making a homemade stew, we had to stir it for long time to come up with a great taste and flavors.the result is very obvious!
– You have covered METALLICA’s «Fade to Black»; how did you come up with this idea? What other tunes would you like to cover?
Ipek-we have had alwayz success for doing the covers in our style and we went through many songs on the list and we decided on this tune because i know it’s a classic everyones favorite.i like to do several different songs from my fav bands from Judas Priest, King Diamond, Dio, etc.
– I mentioned before the name of the record, «The Ultimate Deception»; does it have any special meaning?
ipek-yes of course ..i felt some unloyalty and back stabbing from friends and family so I knew the final betrayal and deceiving me was the most ultimate deception.
– All this about the new piece being said: how could you describe this new release in just 3 words?
ipek-epic,technical, brutality..
– As I said before you mix different music styles within your compositions; have your musical influences been changing throughout these years and with the different line-ups?
ipek- oh -yes most definetly.each album we lose a member or so than we get new personalities , new influnces ,and being pissed off to old band members certainly helps you to write better materials than the ones before ,,kinda getting revenge..hehehee.
– Talking about the line-up changes, there is a new member for this album, Nate Poulson, beside the «musical reunion» with drummer Steve Brubaker. What does Nate provide new to WYKKED WYTCH? And what prompted the comeback of Steve?
ipek-Nate is responsibble for perfection and technicality on this album ,he also got me out of my comfort zone where i did not think i needed to explore and expose my deep feelings and anger,he is a true artist understands the music and what makes a great song,so with that said he does not allow any old rehashed ,stale riffs in the process. meeting with Nate was a rebirthing a beast experience and like an exercist who has brought out my suppressed raw talent ..he kinda possesed me in writing process.i had to come out..
Actually we prematurely announced Steve for the band. We reconnected online and planned working with him but it’s a distance issue. We planned on working with him but at this point we are working with a drummer Weston that did our last European tour & California Metalfest in 2009.
– How has been the songwriting process for this CD?
ipek- Longgg…like a year of constant exchanging emails and mp3s back and forth ,we never met Nate face to face until we were in the studio.we wrote the songs separatly.
– Kevin Talley appears as session musician this time. Could you please shed some light on this?
ipek-when we started writing the songs the riffs were fast and technical and i had to think who could really handle this fast pace.I knew kevin for long time and knew his great drumming my band played with his other bands so i knew he was the best choice,so i contacted him and he jumped right on it.he tracked the songs in his private studio,he first thought it was going to be piece of cake and then he realized he was up to some challenge .but he did a great job!
– The album was recorded and mixed by seasoned Daniel Castleman; are you satisfied with the work done by him? How did you decide to record at the Tim Lambesis’ studios?
ipek-yes we were were pleased with Daniels work he is a real perfectionist and demands good preformance out of artist never settles with less.we were very impressed with his work with «As I Lay Dying» and «Winds of Plague» ,we also wanted to explore young fresh ideas within engineer .we did not wanna get someone one was burned out and tired of recording.the result was absolute/perfection..
– The artwork was crafted by Marcelo Vasco, and I personally think it’s just superb. Could you please explain us what can we see on it?
ipek-yes another great talent contributed in this master piece album was marcelo ‘s extreme vision and fingers.in this art work it represents the title which is a deception of what you know of in people and in the end you will see who they really are.Monster!
– This is your first record with Goomba Music; how did everything start? Is everything working fine with them?
ipek-yes very 1st album with them we have been shopping for a few months and they contacted me after i emailed them the few tracks and they loved it.it’s going well and good as expected.
– During these 18 years of existence for the band you have just released 5 full-length albums; is there any concrete reason behing this? Will we have to wait so many time until your next record?
ipek . .i have created only 5 albums in 14 years (not 18 years). First album was released in ’96/’97 and since then we always tried to release and album every 2 years but there have been setbacks because of member changes or delays with album release from previous labels so those setbacks push you back a year almost everytime. It’s tough and plus since most of it is self-financed it takes longer. Also in the past I’ve started about 2 albums that were never finished because of line-up changes, so there are some lost tracks out there that could of been 2 different albums. Hopefully next year we should be able to start new album again but i can not promise nor predict future.we shall see.
– 18 years are quite a lot so; what have been both the best and worst moments for the band so far?
ipek- yes very long time to play metal .many best times and few worst times through out the years,I loved toring with Kreator ,destruction and sodom ,loved recording our 2nd album «Angelic Vengeance» in Italy.and portugal fest .worst part was losing couple of good members for no real good reason.
– From Queens of Steel we have always brought special support and promotion to women into the Metal scene, so I can’t actually help asking you a couple of things about this matter. First of all, could you say there’s discrimination into the Metal world? In any way, as I don’t just mean giving women into this music a wrong role or undervaluing their work, but also making differences just because the gender can be considered a kind of discrimination.
ipek-well i thank you for the support for still growing musicians and underdog we are the women! answering your question of course there is always and will be a discrimination and bullying against females in every level music or work places.used to be more so than now because of more females embracing the metal jobs and not too shocking as much as in back the days. still though this show me your tits and ass thing still in their mind mentality..it’s up to us strong warrior women not to get them intimidate us.we sure can kick their asses too i myself wear very heavy army boots so watch out!
– And have any Metal female artist influenced you in any way?
ipek-nope.there were no females that I was aware of when I started. I’m sure there were out there but I haven’t noticed too many females doing my style until last 10 years ..i was influenced by male artists like King Diamond, Chuck Billy (Testament) Chuck Schuldiner (Death), Dio, & Mille (Kreator).
– As 2011 has just ended; could you please tell us what are your 3 favorite albums released during that year and what supposed the biggest disappointment?
ipek- Many bad albums in 2011 but a few were good in 2011. I liked in 2011: Obscura, The Black Dahlia Murder, Machine Head as my favorite albums. biggest let down was Metallica’s abortion with Lou Reed – LuLu.
– And finally, what are the near-future plans for WYKKED WYTCH?
ipek- Working on a video for our first single «Despised Existence» and planning on lots of touring.
– That’s all form our side, if you now want to add some final words; feel free to do it. Thanks once more for taking the time.
ipek-well hope to see everyone digs our new album and buys it not downloads it, stay sick and brutal.we also appretiate all the press and zines support,without you guys we would be silent.
Thanks for the interest in Wykked Wytch.
also if you like to check me out on my weekly metal radio shows follow me at www.facebook.com/ipekswytchinghour www.metalmessiahradio.com
