by PAUL SOUTHWELL
SWISS metal band Burning Witches have been steadily growing their international reputation. Instrument endorsements, guidance and management from Destruction mastermind, Marcel “Schmier” Schirmer, and snaring internationally respected guitarist Courtney Cox [ex-The Iron Maidens] in the lead guitar role has further enhanced their credibility. Cox took over from lead guitarist Larissa Ernst, who is currently on maternity leave from the band.
Their twin guitar attack offers up ‘double toil and trouble’, with the band now set to hit Australia, in a run of dates that should ensure that ‘something wicked this way comes’. We spoke to lead guitarist Courtney Cox about what’s been bubbling away in the Burning Witches’ cauldron.
Hot Metal: You’re coming back? Well, it is the first time for Burning Witches.
Courtney Cox: “Yes, we’re really excited. I mean, the flight’s going to be the only terrible part, but after that long flight, it’s ready to go. Party time.”
HM: Hopefully baggage handlers don’t destroy any of your equipment in transit, too.
CC: “Not even going speak on that because I don’t want to jinx myself. My case has already been broken, but the guitars are still okay. Knock on wood.”
HM: So, what can Australian audiences expect from the set list?
CC: “We have a little bit of everything off each of the albums. We also are playing maybe a new song that was recently released as a maxi single with a music video [“The Spell of the Skull”]. But, yeah, it’s just going to be pure heavy metal and we’re ready to rock out.”
HM: Do you find that now that you’re in this band, as opposed to The Iron Maidens, that you have more freedom with your guitar solos?
CC: Well, the funny part is I never really did. I always kept the main notes because you have to, but, you know, when you’re in a band like that, for 14 years, I just started throwing the CC kind of touch on it because I’m not Adrian Smith. That kept me sane. But obviously now in Burning Witches I have full creative freedom. So, I’m really looking forward to the new album.”
HM: Do you throw in any covers in the set?
CC: “No, not this round. But you never know. If we actually get through the set faster than usual, maybe we’ll throw one in there. But we’re pretty much focusing on our original stuff. For us it’s always, ‘Play “Holy Diver”!’ I’m like, ‘it’s the second song in the set, no!’”
HM: How have you found, fitting into the dynamic of the band? I guess it’s almost identical in a sense to The Iron Maidens.
CC: “Yeah, I mean, we’ve been friends for years, and I actually recorded one solo for them back on their Hexenhammer album, for “Maiden of Steel”. We just made friends throughout the years, and then the Maidens and Witches from time to time were on the same bill. We did a tour in the States together. So, you know, this friendship has just been building. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner, to be honest. But here I am, a witch, and I’m really excited because, we’re all like sisters, as cheesy as that is to say. It works. We love the same music, the same inspiration or influences. It just works. So, I’m happy to be here.”
HM: So, when you contributed a couple of guitar parts for the last album, was it just a case of, ‘Here’s the song, here’s what we want you to play,’ or do you just do what you want?
CC: “Well, I mean, I just go in and do my thing, you know, especially with the new writing process that everyone’s involved in, you know, we just kind of shoot the shit. We just bounce ideas off of each other and yeah, they just allow me to do whatever I want. You know, we all just do what supports the song the best, and that’s the way it should be. Egos aside, we just want to make the best music we can.”
HM: Does Schmier have much input in this sort of stuff?
CC: “Oh, good old Schmier. No, you know, he wants the best for us. He’ll listen and suggest some things, but we don’t really need much of that because the core and everything we do is a smooth-running ship at the moment.”
HM: Fair enough. It must be useful to have that kind of, pardon the term, veteran at your disposal for advice on various industry pitfalls such as retaining publishing.
CC: “Yeah, he’s been through a thing or two, so it’s nice to have him help us out.”
HM: You have your own signature guitar [Caparison Horus-M3 CC] and with that profile, maybe following suit with somebody like Nita Strauss, do you have your own solo material in the works?
CC: “Yeah, but with my ADHD, it’s like a nightmare for me, especially with being in other projects. But I’ve been chipping away at an album for a handful of years now. But pretty much the songs are done now. It’s just like saving up to get into the studio and finding the time to be in the studio. Because I swear the one time I had like a week off, then you get the call like, ‘Okay, we’re going to America, we’re going here.’ It’s, ‘okay, off I go again.’”
HM: Is it the kind of thing that you’ll tour, in that you can tour your own material?
CC: “Yeah, when it gets out, Nita and I talked about it; maybe we could do a co-headline thing or just me open her shows, in general. But yeah, I’m down for that kind of stuff. Yeah, it’s just a lot of work, but it’ll get done eventually.”
HM: I can imagine but things have changed substantially these days where people can just record an album on a laptop and almost no one notices the difference.
CC: “I can do that, but for me, I think my best playing comes out when I’m in a studio with an engineer breathing down the back of my neck, saying, ‘Do it again, do it again.’ When I’m at home I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s good enough.’ But you know, you always want that second pair of ears when you’re in the studio.”
HM: Really? I would have thought that when you’re at home you’d be a bit of a perfectionist. You’d be trying to push yourself.
CC: “Yeah, and then the other side of that is like, I’m too much of a perfectionist. So, the song will never be done because I don’t think it’s good. There’s a double-edged sword.”
HM: How did your deal with Caparison guitars come about?
CC: “I ran into the guitars when I was living in LA. One of the guitars was put in my hand to try out back in maybe 2014 and I’ve known the company before, because I’m a huge King Diamond fan. You know, Andy LaRocque used to use them, and the Killswitch Engage guys used them, and I just fell in love with it. Never looked back, and, you know, used them for everything. I was the fortunate enough to be asked if I wanted a signature model. Here I am with a green, pink and a blue one, and they’re great tanks.”
HM: King Diamond’s an interesting one because he’s never toured Australia. It is probably similar to a band like Rush where the production costs to bring it down here are just huge.
CC: “Yeah. Really expensive.”
HM: But, his vocals, you either love it or you hate it, right?
CC: “Not everyone’s cup of tea, no pun intended. But I love it.”
HM: A dangerous meeting?
CC: “Oh, God, that’s my fault. When that song came on live, I started to cry. Everyone’s like, ‘Are you crying at a King Diamond or A Mercyful Fate concert? My reply was, ‘Yes, oh my God, King Diamond!’”
HM: How does an artist like that keep their inspiration? I suppose this is a bit off topic, but they keep going. They keep recording and touring.
CC: “I kind of view it as I would do it. I don’t know anything else. Music is the only thing I’ve ever done. So, I guess for them, it’s just their life to just keep punching out music, and when it becomes a job, then you’re done, you know?”
HM: Yeah, true. Look at Iron Maiden. There’s a band that keeps producing, keeps recording. It’s remarkable, really, because so many vintage bands trot out the old catalogue.
CC: “Yeah, there’s the cookie cutter, rinse and repeat thing. But, you know, some people still love that. You know, it’s that whole nostalgia thing and their childhood. But even Maiden, I don’t know, I hope I could be doing the same at that age. God bless them, and then with Bruce flying planes, and all this and that, I don’t know where the energy comes from.”
HM: Did you have any copyright issues from Steve Harris, or was he supportive of The Iron Maidens?
CC: “I think the only problem, it was before I joined the band, I think we had to change the logo a little bit or something about the letter O and just something about the lettering and stuff. But other than that, it was fine.”
HM: When Maiden were here recently, he did sideshows with British Lion, and you could sort of tell that he was happy to get back into the clubs to sort of interact with people.
CC: “Yeah, it’s more intimate than these huge, you know, football stadiums.”
HM: How have you found that when you’ve played at places like Wacken and whatnot, where it’s just this vast sea of people?
CC: “I can play in front of five people or 50,000 people. It’s the same show but one’s a little more intimate than the other. But, with a festival, the people are so far away with the barricades and stuff. But it comes down to all just that adrenaline and energy that you get, just staring out. It doesn’t matter the amount of people, but it is just the smiles and the mosh pits. It is just great that people show up, and we’re very humble for that.”
HM: Your influences would obviously be Andy Larocque. So how did it happen that you became a fan of his?
CC: “Well, I grew up in the pop era, so it was a very strange time in my life because my oldest brother is an avid metal fan, so I’d start stealing records from him just because I was curious. But it was a very strange time in the sense that I was listening to Backstreet Boys and Kill ‘Em All at the same time. I still love Backstreet Boys. I don’t care what anyone says, that’s my jam. Ha-ha. But, no, I just started diving backwards into all these records that my brother had, and he didn’t know I was stealing them too. I think he still hates me to this day for scratching them.
But, yeah, it just latched on, and it was fresh. I mean, all genres of metal, just a lot of music in general. A good song is a good song, and I just fell in love with it.”
HM: Yeah, Abigail was excellent.
CC: “Abigail is still my Backstreet Boys CD.”
HM: Oh, lovely. But “Abigail” is a great song, with a great riff, and the solo is not that easy.
CC: “I just sat in my garage for hours on hours and it was just repeat, repeat until the notes matched. I love doing that.”
HM: Do you think that with regards to moving on to other bands, do you think that Nikki Stringfield will probably get snapped up one day as well?
CC: “Well, outside of The Maidens, she has a band with her husband Patrick Kennison, Heaven Below, and then other than that, I think she’s just working on solo stuff.”
HM: Fair enough, that makes sense. For the Burning Witches’ new material, can you drop a hint as to what’s going on there or will we just have to wait and see?
CC: “Yes. Yeah, I already got the talking to on what I can and cannot say. It’s finished and they’re waiting on a release date. It is going to be a great album. Everything you’d expect on a pure heavy metal record is coming your way.”
HM: Cool. How is the songwriting process in the band?
CC: “Yeah, it’s just the same old, same old, you know, where we come up with these themes and, you know, say Romana Kalkuhl and I started bouncing riffs off of each other and the drums [Lala Frischknecht] come in. One by one, it gets completed. Then I go back in at the end and do my solo thing. But, yeah, it’s a very fast process. It’s very streamlined and no one steps on each other’s toes. Like I said before, we’re just focused on making the best record that we can.”
HM: For most bands, there’s always this core unit in songwriting, where it might be the singer and the guitarist, or the drummer.
CC: “There’s an approach when it comes to guitar riffs, and obviously guitars. But now everyone, and it’s the first time I experienced this, where everyone has their own little thing in the process and it’s not really falling back on anyone. Well, I mean, I wasn’t there for the previous albums, obviously, but yeah, everyone’s involved, whether it’s, you know, helping with lyrics or melodies.”
HM: You’ve done a few videos with the band and, you know, had to get stage makeup on and all the rest of it. Is it worth the effort these days or is it just one of those things you have to do to get yourself out there?
CC: “I don’t know. I find it fun. It’s kind of like Halloween to me. But it just comes with the job, you know, you just want to present your best self, you know, especially as a woman, I guess. But, I mean, I could really care less if I had makeup on or not. But for me, you know, on stage for sure, and obviously for music videos, because you have to do it for music videos. There are other things that are coming, but I’ll just say the visuals are pretty brutal.”
HM: Good to hear. How have you coped with the culture difference between coming from the LA music scene and into the Swiss rock scene, which is presumably different?
CC: “You know, when I joined the band, I actually made a decision, like a split decision. I jumped.
I’m going from LA to Germany, but after living in LA for that long, I was not paying Swiss prices. Yeah, of course I picked Germany because my family is from Germany. But yeah, the scene in Europe, as a whole is just complete night and day compared to the States. Metal in Europe is basically religion, whereas in America, and especially in LA, it’s kind of that standoff or standoffish, impress me kind of scene. You know, everyone’s here to support each other, whereas they kind of just want to tear each other down. But in Europe, it doesn’t matter if it’s raining, shining or snow, the fans are there and there’s just so much. There are so many bands to discover. Yeah, it’s mind blowing to me and I love being over there.”
HM: So, in LA is there still that kind of Guitar Institute of Technology competitive thing going on?
CC: “Oh, always, and it’ll never die. But I, I stayed out of it. The way I view it, is that it’s such a waste of time to compare yourself to others. It’s a big enough world that everyone can play guitar. Everyone has a spot if they want it.”
HM: When you think about somebody like Steve Lukather who has played on every pop record you can think of, or Paul Gilbert, and they’ve gone along to guest teach at G.I.T., they must think this is a laugh and just have a blast.
CC: “That’s the trick, or the trick to longevity, I guess, man, and especially Lukather. He’s literally on everything but is such a funny guy. I love following his Instagram and stuff. Yeah, they just kind of found their niche, you know, and I look up to him. So yeah, he is a monster player. I don’t have the same size hands as Paul Gilbert though. “
HM: No, no one does. Finally, when you do put this latest album out, is it going to be the big fold out vinyl release with features such as a hologram or something?
CC: “Of course, all the bells and whistles will be released.”
HM: Such as a spinning hologram pentagram?
CC: “Oh, that’s a good idea. I should write that down; I’ll give you a thanks on the credits. Actually, I don’t know but I do know there’s some goodies in the works.”
