All Them Witches are back on the road, supporting their newest release Sleeping Through The War
“Sleeping through the war, this is what we’re doing. There are so many terrible things going on in the world and we’re just staring at our phones, and we don’t see it so we don’t care,” said Michael Parks, singer and bassist for All Them Witches
Parks, singer/bassist for All Them Witches, elaborates on the very heavy times in which we all live. Parks and his bandmates–Ben McLeod, Allan Van Cleave and Robby Staebler–are enjoying a brief respite from the endless tour that saw them visit Europe three times in 2016.
“It’s tough to get passed all the cat videos.”
From their earliest days, there has been a current in All Them Witches’ music that has come from outside the continuum of our collective perceptions. On 2013’s Lightning at the Door they drew a bigger chalk circle in the center of the crossroads and conjured a haunting occult blues. On 2015’s New West Records debut Dying Surfer Meets His Maker they dove the depths of oceanic canyons and surfaced with a shining psychedelia. Sleeping Through The War is the next step in that progression.
“We write in every way possible,” says Parks. “There’s no limitations on it, no I’m going to come to it with this song and this is how it’s going to go. It’s more like stretching your arms out and seeing who can grab what and seeing what fits together from there.
“This is the most I’ve ever sang on a record, so my writing process was a little bit different than on the other ones. We weren’t relying on long, drawn out jam sections; we were putting more of a storyline into the songs.
“The songs are catchier, they’re faster and there’s more singing. Or talking. Or whatever I’m doing.”
The result is evidence of the adventure, beauty, and excitement that lies on the other side of the galaxy. The fundamental laws that govern Sleeping Through The War are the same fundamentals that have made ATW a cult favorite–big fuzz, deep grooves, cosmic vision–but the journey through the wormhole has brought something else.
“It’s more brain than body,” says Parks. “Everybody kind of knows where they are going even if nobody knows where the song is going. We’re good at juggling the torch around, making sure everyone gets to play. 
