As promised in our second edition of Cápsula, the band’s founder, Jyrki Witch (vocals), along with current members Miss Blueberry (vocals and synthesizers) and Marko Gravehill (guitar), spoke with us regarding the 30th anniversary of the release of The Vampire’s Kiss (1993). They commented on the reception from both European and Brazilian audiences, and shared behind-the-scenes stories about the recording and release of the material.
Once again, my thanks to the band for their kindness!
Did you already know the band? Just discovering them now? Tell us what you thought of the interview and which artist you’d like to see here next!
Current line-up: Marko Gravehill (Guitar), Miss Blueberry (Vocals & Synthesizers) and Jyrki Witch (Vocals).
Rewinding
The Finnish band was originally created by vocalist and songwriter Jyrki Witch and singer, songwriter, and keyboardist Anne Nurmi, who left the band shortly after the album’s release to join Lacrimosa.
Two Witches‘ lyrics explore themes such as vampirism, psychological horror, fear, and sexuality.
With a rawer, edgier, and less commercial sound, Two Witches brings a striking and unique tone to gothic music. This ’93 record certainly deserves a place of honor, alternating between Jyrki’s vocals and vocal passages by Anne and Nauku (the second backing vocalist who would leave the band a few years later), blending elements of darkwave and punk.
The Vampire’s Kiss – The Release
Jyrki shared some comments regarding the album’s release before the interview itself; his full remarks follow below:
In 1991 we started recording our first full-length album, Agony of the Undead Vampire part 2, which was released in the summer of 1992. That album was released by my own label, Darklands Records.
We sent the album to European magazines for review and to our big surprise we got really good reviews. Then we were even more surprised when we received offers for a recording contract from several record labels. We chose the offer that seemed the best, which was sent by Music Research GmbH. They already had a highly respected sub-label Zoth Ommog (with such artists as Leaether Strip, Bigod 20, X Marks the Pedwalk and Armageddon Dildos). Music Research promised to start a new sub-label specializing in gothic rock, Talitha Records, and Two Witches was honored with the first album. In-between 1993-1995, Talitha Records released albums by, for example, Aurora (later known as Aurora Sutra), Sex Gang Children and Screams for Tina.
Talitha was going to start with us by re-releasing Agony of the Undead Vampire part 2, but they wanted to change both the cover art and the title of the album. They thought Agony of the Undead Vampire part 2 was too long title and suggested rename it The Vampire’s Kiss. We were fine with that, even though the name wasn’t as funny as the original. They also wanted us to record at least 3-5 new songs for it and leave out “We All Fall Down” from the original album (and use the song on the label’s first release, The Myths of Avalon compilation album).
The Vampire’s Kiss album was recorded in three separate sessions and partly in different studios. First, Dead Dog’s Howl and Mircalla, recorded in 1990 (and released as a single in 1991), then the songs for Agony of the Undead Vampire part 2-CD in the winter of 1991-1992, and finally the new songs requested by Talitha in the last session in December 1992. Only Anne, Nauku, Toby and I were involved in all three recording sessions.
The recording contract with Talitha lasted for three albums (The Vampire’s Kiss, Phaeriemagick and Bites) and one CD-maxi (Bloody Kisses), but most importantly it also opened connections for us to Cleopatra Records in the US and through them we also released three albums in the next few years (The Vampire’s Kiss, Bites and Kisses and Wenches, Wytches and Vampyres). The Vampire’s Kiss was actually released twice in the US, each edition with different cover art (and both of those are also different from Talitha’s European version).
Cleopatra EditionTalitha Edition
The Vampire’s Kiss album was released in Europe in the spring of 1993 and after its release Talitha suggested we do a European tour and a new album for the fall of that year. The label boss traveled to California to try to get us as a support band on tour with Rozz Williams’ Shadow Project but came back empty-handed and ended up signing another support tour with Lacrimosa.
How has the band’s sound evolved since the 90s? Have your influences changed?
Jyrki:Of course, each player has brought their own influence on the band’s sound and songs. I’m the only one left in the band from the 90s lineup. Studio technology has also changed a lot and that affects the sound. Before, we had to do everything completely in advance and then we just went to the studio to record the songs quickly. If the playing went wrong or something else unexpected happened, we had to leave all the mistakes on record because we didn’t have the money to pay for new studio days. Now we can record everything in home studios.
Our guitarist Marko Hautamäki joined the band 2001 and nowadays he is also composing most of our songs. Miss Blueberry joined 2017 and plays the keyboards. We also have three live musicians; Alarik Valamo (drums), Antti Hermanni (bass) and Haydee Sparks (guitar).
Over the years, my influences have certainly changed in many ways, but at some point, they always return to where they started. I still like the same bands, books, movies and other things as I did back in the 80s.
Marko Hautamäki:When the line-up has evolved over the years, all new members have obviously brought in some of their own influences. Also the whole music scene has had its own evolution, and that also affects us as music listeners and consequently also as music writers. I don’t think there are any “original” influences whose influence on our music has somehow become any less over the years, but there are plenty more influences in the mix now. Two Witches has always been a more experimental band than people tend to think. In the early days there were experiments with poetry and such. Nowadays we experiment more within the broad “gothic” style and the various musical elements within the larger scene context. That said, our “GoodEvil” album also featured some of the early days’ poetry experiments so we haven’t forsaken our roots in that sense either.
Miss Blueberry:I love dancing and I try to inject danceability into our current songs. I would like to bring more rhythms to the songs that would work on the dance floor.
How do you see the reception of Two Witches in Brazil compared to Europe?
Marko Hautamäki:Apart from audiences behaving very differently in South America vs Europe, we are seeing a big shift in the scene as a whole. The European goth scene has a lot of history but that also tends to make things a bit stagnant. People tend to concentrate on the bands and artists they fell in love with back in the 80s or 90s and don’t seem to care much what has happened since. On the other hand, the 2000s goth/darkwave etc bands seem to be supported mostly by a different audience. They still are within the same scene but the people are mostly different. That means that there is basically the old school vs new school division within the scene. In Brazil and South America in general (along with few other places) the scene is younger and while the influential bands are the same, that kind of division doesn’t seem as drastic and that makes the scene much stronger overall. For Two Witches it shows the immense support and enthusiasm that we are getting from the Brazilian audience. We hope to be back there as soon as possible!
Jyrki Witch:I don’t know why, but Two Witches has been more popular in Latin American countries than in Europe since the 90s. Especially in Brazil we have been received very warmly. But of course, we love Latin American countries and our audience in return. If it were financially possible, we would like to play in Brazil every year.
Miss Blueberry:There are much more incredible audiences in Brazil than in Europe. Although there has been a warm welcome in Europe, the welcome from Brazilian fans has felt really good.
How was Anne Nurmi’s departure to Lacrimosa? Have you kept in touch over the years?
Jyrki:Anne wanted to go and see what the world was like outside of our home. She joined Lacrimosa and I continued Two Witches. We were both so young at the time and future seemed to be wide open. Now we have both built our own careers and maybe some of the fans might even like both bands.
After Anne left, I decided to continue with Two Witches, Nauku learned to play the keyboards and there were also some other changes in the line-up. It didn’t affect the songwriting or lyric work, but of course the new line-up was a bit different, because Anne had been with us for seven years and had played 56 gigs with Two Witches.
We have remained friends and used to meet earlier more often if Anne was visiting relatives in Finland or we played at the same festivals, for example. In recent years, contact has been sporadic. So many years have passed and both of our lives are so different from when we were younger.
What does “The Vampire’s Kiss” represent to you today, more than 30 years later?
Jyrki:I understand that The Vampire’s Kiss is an important part of our history and a favorite album for many of our fans. It was our first album to be released worldwide, and it helped us get in contact with different places. We still play two songs from the album, The Omen and Burn the Witch, regularly at our shows and since 1992, Agony has always been played as an intro to our shows.
Looking back, years later, the popularity of that album feels good because we didn’t have to make any concessions for it. When we were recording the album, we were such an unknown and small band that we were able to make the album exactly the way we wanted, without worrying at all about whether anyone would like our songs.
Miss Blueberry:It was one of the first goth rock albums I borrowed from the library when I was young, and I fell in love with it. It was one of the albums that helped me find my way into this scene. Even though I never imagined when I was young that I would one day play in this band, it’s really great to play songs from that album at gigs now. Traditional goth rock was and still is closest to my heart, so that album had an influence on my taste in music.
What have you been listening to lately? Are there any artists you’d like to recommend to us?
Jyrki: I often listen to the same things I used to; David Bowie, Christian Death, Bauhaus, Classix Nouveaux, Japan, 80’s synth pop, 90’s goth rock, The Lords of the New Church, Spiritual Front, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, Sir Elwood, Duran Duran and Depeche Mode.
When I write I listen to a lot of dark ambient music and the old albums of Tangerine Dream. Lately, among the “newer” artists, I’ve been listening to Abu Nein, Ariel Maniki & The Black Halos, Kentucky Vampires and SexAndBlood.
