Interview with Witche's Brew Guitarist Mirko Witche Bosco
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| Photo by: Davide Bordogna |
By Mick Michaels
COSMICK VIEW: Hello, Mirko! Welcome to The Cosmick
View. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with me, it's
greatly appreciated.
Mirko: Hi, allow me to introduce myself, I am Mirko Witche Bosco, the guitarist of Witche's Brew, it’s my pleasure thank you for having me here.
Mirko: Hi, allow me to introduce myself, I am Mirko Witche Bosco, the guitarist of Witche's Brew, it’s my pleasure thank you for having me here.
CV: Do you feel Heavy Metal music in general is viewed
differently by fans in Europe compared to fans elsewhere, especially in
America, and if so why?
Mirko: I personally think that European and American Heavy Metal fans are very similar and have a lot in common so the differences are not exactly in the fans but in the music itself. Generally speaking American and European Metal have a slight difference and that is due to cultures. Americans invented Rock ’n Roll, we brought it over to Europe and we made it heavy, they liked it and they got this new version back…like a sort of collaboration back and forth. Europeans tend to integrate classical music into it which is in our culture, Americans integrate it with Rock ’n Roll which is in theirs…we have Beethoven, they have Elvis, both are great…whatever is in your blood. I lived in the U.S.A. for almost ten years and they tend to see Europeans as a bit extreme, we all remember what happened in Norway with Mayhem and in Italy with the Beasts of Satan, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that wherever there is Heavy Metal in Europe there has to be a massacre. The media has a lot to do with that.
Mirko: I personally think that European and American Heavy Metal fans are very similar and have a lot in common so the differences are not exactly in the fans but in the music itself. Generally speaking American and European Metal have a slight difference and that is due to cultures. Americans invented Rock ’n Roll, we brought it over to Europe and we made it heavy, they liked it and they got this new version back…like a sort of collaboration back and forth. Europeans tend to integrate classical music into it which is in our culture, Americans integrate it with Rock ’n Roll which is in theirs…we have Beethoven, they have Elvis, both are great…whatever is in your blood. I lived in the U.S.A. for almost ten years and they tend to see Europeans as a bit extreme, we all remember what happened in Norway with Mayhem and in Italy with the Beasts of Satan, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that wherever there is Heavy Metal in Europe there has to be a massacre. The media has a lot to do with that.
CV: What do you feel makes Heavy Metal music so alluring to the
fans? What is it about the music that personally resonates so strongly with
you?
Mirko: Well, Heavy Metal music has got a unique power and, as we said, it’s a natural evolution of Rock ’n Roll. Since the beginning it’s been associated with anger and rebellion and in a society where everything is imposed and decided for you, it’s no surprise that whoever wants to be an individual grows close to it. That’s what resonate with me, music can give you the power to rebel, to be yourself, to flip the finger to whoever thinks they are better than you, while they’re only a bunch of slaves.
CV: Has Metal splintered into too many sub-genres in your opinion, thus, making it harder for newer bands to actually classify themselves as one style over another? Is it confusing for fans as well?
Mirko: In my modest opinion it has splintered into too many sub-genres, it’s a good thing to be in constant evolution but sometimes this can lead to useless separations…kids should be united, on the same side of the fence and never look down one on another. If I like a band I really don’t care if they’re thrash, black, sludge or classic, I like it and that’s it. All this classifications is just useless to me. Just go out and play what you feel, if it’s good you don’t need to be cataloged.
Mirko: Well, Heavy Metal music has got a unique power and, as we said, it’s a natural evolution of Rock ’n Roll. Since the beginning it’s been associated with anger and rebellion and in a society where everything is imposed and decided for you, it’s no surprise that whoever wants to be an individual grows close to it. That’s what resonate with me, music can give you the power to rebel, to be yourself, to flip the finger to whoever thinks they are better than you, while they’re only a bunch of slaves.
CV: Has Metal splintered into too many sub-genres in your opinion, thus, making it harder for newer bands to actually classify themselves as one style over another? Is it confusing for fans as well?
Mirko: In my modest opinion it has splintered into too many sub-genres, it’s a good thing to be in constant evolution but sometimes this can lead to useless separations…kids should be united, on the same side of the fence and never look down one on another. If I like a band I really don’t care if they’re thrash, black, sludge or classic, I like it and that’s it. All this classifications is just useless to me. Just go out and play what you feel, if it’s good you don’t need to be cataloged.
Mirko: Even though COVID has changed the state of music business in a massive way, I don’t think it will have a long term drastic break on the whole thing. At the moment things are tough but sooner or later concerts and venues will reopen and once everything is safe, the bands will start touring again…people are starving for live music and it’s our duty as artists to feed them.
CV: What do you feel makes your band and its particular approach to songwriting work? What keeps the band together and making music?
Mirko: Every band has a different way to write music, us, in particular, have many ways. There is no real one way to approach it…we don’t really force it, we wait for the song to come to us. Every time is different…sometimes a riff comes in my head for no apparent real reason, other times maybe I’m in a particular mood and I feel like picking up the guitar and that mood gets transmitted to whatever I’m playing, Mark might come up with a melody and we work around it…Demis might come up with a killer bass line and we build from it, etc. We all collaborate to the songwriting, everyone in the band is responsible for the final product, it is not a single minded product, it’s more like a witch's brew…throw in what you’ve got and let’s see what comes out. We love what we do and we love that way of working and interacting with each other…that’s mainly what keeps the band together, as well as friendship and respect.
CV: On a more global view, how do
you see your band’s music and songwriting separating itself from just being
another Heavy Metal act?
Mirko: I don’t really like labels, that’s why I don’t consider myself and the boys as being just another Heavy Metal act. We do what we feel and we feel what we do, sometimes I can’t even put a genre on it myself. We didn’t start all this thinking…let’s be like this or let’s sound like that, we just said hey let’s have a good time and do what we like.
Mirko: I don’t really like labels, that’s why I don’t consider myself and the boys as being just another Heavy Metal act. We do what we feel and we feel what we do, sometimes I can’t even put a genre on it myself. We didn’t start all this thinking…let’s be like this or let’s sound like that, we just said hey let’s have a good time and do what we like.
CV: Can an artist truly be unique? Some would argue there is no such thing as being unique; that it’s nothing more than a compounding of influences making an artist who or what they are. Would this then say that artists today are destined to be just copies of those who have already come to pass?
Mirko: Good artists borrow, great artists steal (cit. Pablo Picasso ). It is undeniable that everything around us influences us in one way or another. Each and every one of us is the sum of what they experienced. I don’t see anything wrong with getting inspirations from whatever you have metabolized, but there’s a huge difference between being inspired and being a copycat. Copying is just sad, why would you want to be anybody else, where is your self respect? Even if you are great at it you’re still a copy. I much rather listen to a mediocre original than a great copy. If you listen to the same genres for years it’s only natural that what comes out of your band might have the same imprint, not because you’re coping it but because that’s all you know, it gets in your DNA. Music is in constant evolution and it comes natural to drag inspiration. Hendrix played the blues 50 years after it was invented but he was unique.
CV: Are there life lessons to learn
being in a Heavy Metal band that you feel cannot be taught elsewhere? If so,
what are they?
Mirko: There are a lot of life lessons to learn from being in a band…you learn to make do, sharing the same bus for long periods of time, sleeping in all sort of different places sometimes excellent sometimes slums, eating any sort of foods…sometimes delicious others disgusting, all that makes you appreciate everything. It turns the band into a sort of brotherhood, even in the worst of the situations you’re still thankful that you’re doing what you love. After traveling for the most of the day you get to a venue, wrecked, hungry, tired and you see the crowd that came to see you, all that goes away and you still deliver 100%, out of gratitude and pleasure.
CV: What do you feel makes someone a “rock star”? Does being a rock star automatically make one iconic or are the two completely different in your opinion?
Mirko: I think what makes you a rock star is the whole package, it’s not enough to be a good musician, it’s about the attitude, or you have it or you don’t, some musicians are excellent at how they play but they lack personality, some of them are rock stars, some others just hack on their instruments but they give it all they got and they do it with attitude…some of them are icons.
Mirko: There are a lot of life lessons to learn from being in a band…you learn to make do, sharing the same bus for long periods of time, sleeping in all sort of different places sometimes excellent sometimes slums, eating any sort of foods…sometimes delicious others disgusting, all that makes you appreciate everything. It turns the band into a sort of brotherhood, even in the worst of the situations you’re still thankful that you’re doing what you love. After traveling for the most of the day you get to a venue, wrecked, hungry, tired and you see the crowd that came to see you, all that goes away and you still deliver 100%, out of gratitude and pleasure.
CV: What do you feel makes someone a “rock star”? Does being a rock star automatically make one iconic or are the two completely different in your opinion?
Mirko: I think what makes you a rock star is the whole package, it’s not enough to be a good musician, it’s about the attitude, or you have it or you don’t, some musicians are excellent at how they play but they lack personality, some of them are rock stars, some others just hack on their instruments but they give it all they got and they do it with attitude…some of them are icons.
CV: What's next for you? What can fans expect to see coming as the world looks to surmount a new normal laced with a load of restrictions?
Mirko: We are doing our best considering the times we’re all living…we have a second single and video coming out at the beginning of September and our new album at the end of September. We’re trying to give the people as much as possible in this hard period using the media, since there cannot be any kind of human interaction. But you can be sure that as soon as all this is over we’re gonna hit the road and we’re gonna hit it hard. Every other pandemic, real or fake has been defeated, through the centuries, restrictions are gonna fall, slowly but surely.
CV: Thank you again Mirko for spending some time talking
and sharing with our readers. It was a pleasure. I wish you all the best and
continued success.
Mirko: Thank you for giving me the time, it was my pleasure. Keep doing what you do!
Mirko: Thank you for giving me the time, it was my pleasure. Keep doing what you do!
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My name is Mick Michaels...I'm an artist, music fan, songwriter, producer, dreamer and guitarist for the traditional Heavy Metal band Corners of Sanctuary. Writing has always been a creative outlet for me; what I couldn't say in speech, I was able to do with the written word. Writing has given me a voice and a way for me to create on a multitude of platforms including music and song, articles, independent screenplays, books and now, artist interviews. The Cosmick View is an opportunity to raise the bar and showcase artists in a positive and inspirational light. For me, it's another out-of-this-world adventure.
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