#rough spells

- Modern Kicks For The Solitary Witch - Cut Me Out - Live @ Baby G ROUGH SPELLS Grise Fiord (2019) (digital only) All proceeds from the song with be donated to It Starts With Us, a community organization that honours the memory of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Two-Spirit, and Trans people. itstartswithus-mmiw.com Syster (2019) (7″) Fuzzed And Buzzed Modern Kicks For The Solitary Witch (2018) (12″ EP / 45rpm) Not On Label Toronto / Ontario

- Roger The Shrubber / Absolute Underground TV Volume 15 Thursday, 01 August 2019 -

Absolute Underground: Who are we talking with and what are you most infamous for?

Maija Martin: We are a womb metal band from Tkaronto (Toronto), Canada known for calling out fascist metalheads through song.

AU: Give us a brief history of Rough Spells, who are you and what are you all about?

MM: Many moons ago Sarena sang some vocals on a record for Maija’s old metal band and blew everyone out of the water. Six years ago we started jamming every Thursday. Last year we pressed our vinyl EP Modern Kicks for the Solitary Witch and some people in the internet liked it.Our first bass player Dave moved to New York City and Kerry grew his hair and joined the band.

AU: You’re described as Witch n Roll, what does that sound like? What can we expect to experience at your live show?

MM: Think Anton LaVey meets Heart.

AU: Tell us about the queer female-fronted doom movement you’re a part of. Why is it important for bands like yours to pave the way for others?

MM: The doom community has been a very supportive and welcoming place for us. A lot of women and female-identified people are killer players and songwriters. Sister bands like Doomstress and Psychic Hit are living proof.

AU: You’re releasing a new full-length album this summer, is that right? Tell us about it! What can we expect to hear? Does it explore any particular themes or topics?

MM: Ruins at Midday will be coming out later this summer on DHU (Dark Hedonistic Union Records) in the Netherlands and will be distributed by our good friends at Fuzzed and Buzzed. It explores themes of death, heartbreak, and how lucky we are to be gay.

AU: You released a single track on Canada Day, where can we hear it? What’s the song about?

MM: “Grise Fiord” is about trying to address the fucked up shit that settlers have done very recently in Canada, especially in the North. Both the Qikiqtani Truth Commission and the National Inquiry into MMIWG recently released calls to action. The government of Canada has yet to properly respond. All of the proceeds from the digital sales of “Grise Fiord” are going to It Starts With Us, a group that honours the lives of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, trans and two-spirit people. You can download the song on our Bandcamp.

AU: How can rock n roll and heavy metal communities engage in meaningful acts of reconciliation and decolonization, within our own context?

MM: Metal does not belong to bearded white dudes and settlers. Bands like Slayer have written about cultural genocides for decades. We need to make metal welcoming to all and recognize that in North America everything we do is on stolen land.

AU: You have a BC tour coming up, tell us about it! Will you be going anywhere else? Are there any cities you’re particularly looking forward to playing?

MM: We are very excited to play at Wheelies in Victoria with Crimson Witch on August 2! We are planning to go to Europe in next summer with some of our DHU labelmates.

AU: What else is in the works? What does the future hold for Rough Spells?

MM: We plan to spend the winter writing songs around the fire, using ritual to honour the psychic substance and power of women.

AU: What should we know about you that we don’t already?

MM: None of us actually smoke weed.

AU: Any final words for our readers?

MM: Don’t lose your chance magic.

Holy shit, this album is incredible! The lead vocalist is awesome, and the instrumentation is so good!