Interview with High Priestess

Los-Angeles based psych doom trio High Priestess have recently released their second album "Casting The Circle", a stunning effort that blends grandiose guitar harmonies that have the power to get glued in listener's heads with a tribal percussion and enchanting, beautiful vocalizations. We got to speak with guitarist/vocalist Katie Gilchrest, bassist/vocalist Mariana Fiel and drummer/percussionist Megan Mullins on this new album. Read on... 



This new album arrives two years on from your self-titled first album, how do you think your sound has progressed since then and was there any difference in the writing process this time?

Megan: Our sound has evolved. We still sound like High Priestess from the first album, but I’d say we’ve upped our game. We pushed ourselves further on this album and took deeper dives into atmospheric doom. The writing process was similar to the first album except that this time we were able to get out and tour the new material before recording. We’ve played new material at shows before recording since the beginning of High Priestess, but not as many shows so close together like a tour provides. We spent nearly a month touring Europe with Cities of Mars last summer and included 2 or 3 tracks off Casting The Circle in every setlist. 

Katie: Yes, totally what Megan said! For the writing process, it was mostly the same where one of us has an idea, might share it via recording before we bring it in the practice space and work it out in the room. Might be a couple of exceptions, The Hourglass I might say was a little different. We had the song on tour but the harmonies and guitar solo came after. We had a recording of a show in Coventry, UK that I used to write my guitar solo, because I really like the solo from that show which I normally improvise. Then as I was listening to the song I heard some little counter melodies that I worked out to be the harmonies. I sent a demo to Mariana and Megan and they loved it. Ave Satanas is an all vocal, renaissance style polyphonic mass, which is mostly the demo I did at home.  Mariana and Megan added in their voices when we were recording the album. But it’s still a great process, one of us has a riff or musical idea, we bring it into the practice space and it becomes High Priestess.


There’s nothing more thrilling as a musician than to feel completely in sync with a crowd as you share your music and bare your soul on stage.

I understand you have been playing a couple of new songs over the last few months, do you usually like to test the new material in front of a crowd before entering a recording studio?  

Megan: Yes! There’s really something special about taking the energy from live performances and laying that down on the album. We planned our recording sessions for both albums just days after a show so that we still felt that live performance spirit. 

Katie: For sure, I think I had read Led Zeppelin had recorded some albums in various studios while they were on the road, I always felt like the albums brought in that atmosphere. Plus it really kind of solidifies the songs, and you can get a better perspective about what works and what doesn’t.

And do you think people are more likely to better "experience" the band when they see you live than when they hear you on record?

Megan: Hell yeah!! To me there’s nothing more thrilling as a musician than to feel completely in sync with a crowd as you share your music and bare your soul on stage. It’s an amazing experience! I strive to give more on stage than what can be experienced listening to the record. The way I see it, they bought a ticket and freed up their schedules to be there in person so I want to give them something special. 

Katie: Yes, I think getting to hear the music live is going to be a way more immersive experience.  For me personally I love being able to sing with Mariana live and Megan is such an outstanding player and performer, they are really fun to share the stage with.

Continuing on the subject for a second, High Priestess are a band that doesn’t shy away from being on the road. Do you enjoy that constant momentum?

Katie: Touring has been some of the best times I’ve had. That’s funny you call it constant momentum, as we see a lot of our friend’s bands who seem to go out constantly, whereas we will maybe plan 1 bigger tour and a couple of smaller runs throughout the year.  It really kind of depends on the yearly situation, our finances and the opportunity. I would maybe call it varied focused momentum, as sometimes we are concentrating on shows, sometimes songwriting, sometimes recording, or rehearsing.

There’s quite an occult theme to the lyrics on your releases and Casting the Circle is no exception, is that something all the band are into? Can you describe the lyrical themes explored on this album?

Katie: The title track and Invocation are ritual based. Casting the Circle was written as an opening for live shows to summon good energy into the room. Invocation is, what I like to think, a Satanic Hymn, proposing that Satan is living in each of us, but is the darker parts that we don’t want to face. When we accept them we become whole, and perhaps those parts of us (Satan)  aren’t so dark after all. Hourglass is a lament about wasting our lives, wasting our time and ignoring what our true purpose is. For me personally I enjoy the occult, the unknown mysteries of the universe, practicing Wicca. I attend some Coven meetings in LA and get together with friends. Chaos Magick is also a fascination after reading Condensed Chaos by Phil Hine. But I think it is safe to say we are all interested in the Occult, as a band!

If you could only play someone one track from Casting The Circle to hook them on the whole record, which would it be and why?

Mariana: I would probably go with Invocation, just because it grabs elements from the whole album. It also has a traditional doom vibe to it that I love and can’t get tired of, which is when Katie’s vocals come in and the song takes an epic doom turn.

Megan: Gotta agree with Mariana, I’d choose Invocation as well. It’s my favorite song of all our material to date. It’s a long listen but delivers nearly every element of High Priestess’ sound. It’s creepy as hell, heavy, and hypnotic. Come “meet the devil” with us! 

Katie: That’s a hard question, because I love them all so much and the songs all have something different to offer.  That said, Invocation brings all the elements together. It’s a wild ride! Our In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, if you will. 

Things are quite complicated at the moment with the virus outbreak and you won't be able to tour in the coming months. But once everything gets better, what are you planning next for the band?   

Mariana: Ultimately we have to wait for this whole thing to be over, so it’s wiser to probably just see what opportunities present themselves once that happens. 

Megan: This year is going to look a lot different than we planned, but we’ll adapt. When we’re sure that it’s safe for us and our fans we’ll get back out there and share our music live. In the meantime, keep an eye on our socials as we’ll be sharing behind the scenes things to stay engaged with our fans during these difficult times.

Follow High Priestess on Facebook for more info. 


0 Comments: