Doom punk band Witch Fever recently spoke about the difficulties professional musicians face in the modern music industry, calling it “quite a depressing landscape.”
Witch Fever is a Manchester-based doom punk band formed in 2017 whose members boast about having “always defied expectations as individuals in society.” They’re a rising force in the industry, having recently completed an arena tour of Europe in support of Volbeat.
Witch Fever is broke
Despite this success, they are struggling to survive. During an appearance on the 101 Part Time Jobs podcast, singer Amy Hope Walpole said that Witch Fever is “broke” despite the tour, and that the members have difficulties finding a job due to the nature of bands and touring obligations:
“So we’re broke as f*ck – and we just did two months in arenas. We also can’t get a job because we’re back on tour in March, so nowhere will hire us.
“This is just crazy that this is what the music industry is like at the moment. I’m currently living off four grand of my late mother’s pension that I got at the end of last year. That is obviously rapidly running out. So it’s quite a depressing landscape at the moment.”
This isn’t the end of Witch Fever’s troubles. Bassist Alex Thompson said on the podcast that their earnings from the Volbeat tour are stuck in “withholding taxes,” which they are powerless to change:
“We just got off tour with Volbeat. We did two months in arenas and stadiums. You know, we played Wembley. We got to the end of it, and our profit is all stuck in withholding taxes across Europe.”
