Formed in Brighton, UK in 2011, The Wytches comprises Kristian Bell (vocals, guitar), Dan Rumsey (bass, vocals) and Gianni Honey (drums). Led by Bell’s luminous lyricism, feral delivery and overdriven, surf-like guitar bends, the trio create a sound that is at once raucous and unruly, and yet decorated with semi-automatic poetry and authentic emotional clout.
Having left Peterborough after feeling stifled by their hometown’s inward-looking hardcore scene, Bell and Honey relocated to Brighton in the autumn of 2011, applying to the city’s university before enlisting Bournemouth-raised Rumsey on bass – the sole applicant of an advert placed on campus. From the outset promoting their own shows in the city, The Wytches have never lost the DIY spirit of their hardcore origins: arranging their own tours; printing flyers; pressing their first single, ‘Digsaw’; inviting friend of the band Samuel Gull to create their artwork; and producing their own videos – all in spite of squeezed funds. It is this relentlessness and resilience that has led to The Wytches headlining countless shows across the UK and Europe to date, acting as chief support to Blood Red Shoes, The Cribs, Drenge, METZ, Japandroids, amongst others. In 2013 the band released a number of singles and EPs on London’s Hate Hate Hate Records (‘Beehive Queen’, Thunder Lizard Revisited EP, ‘Robe for Juda’), before attracting the attention of Heavenly Recordings in the UK and Partisan Records in the USA, who will release their debut album, Annabel Dream Reader, in Summer 2014.