November 21st, 2013 - "A Witch For The Mountain": An Interview With Witch Mountain Vocalist Uta Plotkin!

From Portland, Oregon, Witch Mountain is a doom metal band in the tradition of St. Vitus, Pentagram, and Black Sabbath, but with a female vocalist whose powerful voice and vocal range will put you under a spell!  (I actually paired Witch Mountain's brilliant album "Cauldron Of The Wild" earlier this year on this very page.  Check it out here: http://brewsandtunes.blogspot.com/2013/04/april-6th-2013-cauldron-of-wild-rose.html!) 

I recently interviewed Witch Mountain's amazing lead singer, Uta Plotkin over e-mail.  She opened the interview by stating, "First off, let me say that I’m honored and happy you enjoy our music so much and thanks for being interested."  She also sent the attached photo: "Here's a picture of me in the van with WM and Cough in Europe with a beer the size of my head (that's Joey, Cough's drummer in the background)!"  How cool is Uta?  Damn cool!!  Here's the interview... enjoy!

1. How did you originally get started in music?

My whole family is musical. Between all of us we can play flute, guitar, drums, trumpet, viola, piano, saxophone and sing. So getting started was just a matter of being born. But I really started to get passionate about singing and song-writing when I was fifteen and obsessed with the Beatles.

2. How did you and the other members of Witch Mountain get together?

Well they can tell their own story but I joined in 2009 after I’d been working with Nate (our drummer) at his booking agency, Nanotear Booking, learning the trade so as to better book my own band, Aranya. Witch Mountain had been wanting a witch for the mountain for years and I fit the bill. At my “audition show” opening for Pentagram at Satyricon in Portland, I sang just one song, A Power Greater. Nate and I watched Bobby Liebling do his magic, crazy thing from sidestage. It was a lot of fun. And they must have liked it because they asked me to join full time and lured me in with a Jucifer show. I love Jucifer.

3. Both your vocal range and songwriting prowess is profoundly powerful! What musicians have influenced you most… both as a vocalist and as a songwriter?

I grew up listening to The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Bjork and Billie Holliday, among others. It helped teach me a good mix of classic songwriting, intelligent lyricism, innovation and soul. My main instruments are viola and voice so I have a real love of melody and that’s where my strength shows. I’ve always been drawn more to solo instruments. And I get a real kick out of good lyrics.

4. Do you follow other doom metal bands? Other genres and sub-genres? What musicians/bands are currently on your radar? Who do you listen to in your down time? Who do you think we should check out?

I can’t help but follow other doom bands because I’m pretty deeply embedded in that scene. Witch Mountain plays with a lot of doom metal bands and a lot of female-fronted-doom-metal bands (which my friends are incredulous is a real genre). Some of my favorites are Blood Ceremony, Ides of Gemini and Jex Thoth (these bands all sound very different from each other but alas that is the pitfall of genres, initially they are often trying to describe a movement rather than a sound.) The Portland metal scene is really healthy right now with great bands like Holy Grove, Lord Dying, Taurus, Red Fang, Yob and others. I also think you should listen to Aranya, where my heart lives.

5. Is there a specific ‘message’ you are trying to convey with your music?

Witch Mountain is a home for my humanness. It’s an outlet for me for more classic song-writing in the blues, folk and metal realms. I write about daily life and trials and sometimes delve into mythological themes. When I write for Aranya, the message is to transcend humanness, whether that means going backwards, forwards or upwards. All my subjects there are larger than life, ritualistic, Jungian, primitive, animal.

6. What is your favorite song to perform live and why?

Shelter is my favorite since it starts out quiet and gives me a chance to really sing. It’s heavy and soulful and it escalates to utter epicness.

7. If Witch Mountain could open for any band, what band would you most like to tour with… current or from the past?

This is just me but I think I’d get a kick out of touring with Girlschool. We played with them in Calgary at Noctis Festival and I have a lot of respect for those women.

8. Is there one person living or dead you would most like to meet? 

I want to meet Alejandro Jodorowsky, who made Santa Sangre, El Topo and Holy Mountain, came up with his own system of healing and writes comic books too. He’s still alive and active in Paris, though he’s in his 90s. Next time Witch Mountain is there, I’m gonna try.

9. Where can my readers catch a Witch Mountain show? What upcoming shows does the band have for the remainder of 2013 and on into 2014?

I’m currently on hiatus in New Orleans until next Spring. When I go back to Portland we’re going to record a new album and Nate is planning our tour schedule for next year. Keep an eye on facebook for our 2014 shows and tour dates.

10. What’s next on the agenda for Witch Mountain?

New album! And more touring in Europe and the US.

11. Brews and Tunes pairs artisan beer with hard rock, progressive rock, and heavy metal. So Uta Plotkin comes home from a long day at the studio or from a show… what beer does she grab and what album does she spin to help decompress?

Oh I can’t wait to get back to that NW beer! I like Terminal Gravity IPA (among a hundred others) and nothing makes me feel better than some Otis Redding.

If you haven't done so already, check out this kick-ass band!!  Here's Witch Mountain performing "Shelter" live: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cLeuh3epOg and "Veil Of The Forgotten": live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfhIgYwkKPA both at the Scion Rock Festival in 2012!  Check Witch Mountain at https://www.facebook.com/witchmountain and the other band Uta plays in, Aranya at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Aranya/136029676423!

Cheers!