The following is the transcription of an interview with Bryan Darlington (Drums), Cat Wright (bass and backup vocals) and Andreas Markantonatos (singer and guitar) the three members of The Warlochs. 

SA: How long have you all been playing together?

AM: Since August, which is about… eight months!  Yeah, so it’s been a pretty fresh start.

CW: Our first gig was in November.

AM: So that’s kind of like the official start date on The Warlochs as you see them.

SA: How did The Warlochs come to be?

AM: So, we all went to college together. But Bryan and I have played in bands together and done musical projects since 2018.

BD: It’s been like five, or six years. Yeah, a long time ago.

AM: Bryan and I played a show together with our good friend and we were like, ‘oh shoot, let’s play some rock n’ roll.’ And then Bryan moved up here. I’ve been up here for a couple of years longer. Then our buddy, Marshall, who we also went to college with, he plays bass. We started playing together maybe in March

BD: Yeah, it was March of last year. And then it was just Tuesday weekly, just getting in the studio.

AM: So, Bryan, Marshall and I played. Then Marshall moved to Arizona. We were like golly, you know, there goes The Warlochs. But wait, Cat, who is also my roommate. She’s been playing bass. 

CW: I took it up in 2020 as a pandemic hobby but if you were to add up the actual hours of playing it wasn’t a lot before I started. These two took a chance on me and I’m very grateful. This is the first band I’ve ever been in. I’ve been in the arts growing up, so it wasn’t like my first stab at music or anything like that but never in a band.

AM: Yeah, we were like, ‘Do you want to give it a shot? Do you want to try this thing out?’

CW: Yeah, and I said, ‘Andreas—if I absolutely suck, no hard feelings, like you can give me the boot.’ And we sat right here, and he taught me the songs, that was the end of August, and we’ve been playing together ever since.

SA: I just listened to your EP. How would you all describe the sound of your music?

CW: Our EP sounds very different from what we sound like live. 

AM: I’ve always said rock n’ roll. It’s always rock n’ roll just to be as blanket as possible because some things on the EP are not rock n’ roll. They might not even sniff rock n’ roll. It’s just a general curtain you could put over it.

BD: One of the things that I find the most fun about playing with you guys has been that our music is versatile. And whenever we’re building a set, we’ll always have songs that are more on the jammy side. We’ll have songs that are a bit psych-y. We have some songs that are a bit harder and fast. You know, not quite punk-level stuff.  And then we have some angsty cuts. We hop between some of those sub-genres.

CW: In terms of genre, we don’t know how to classify it. But people at our shows will be like, ‘You sound very Seattle,’ and we’re like, ‘What the hell does that mean?’ Because none of us are from Seattle originally. Andreas is from Portland, I’m from Denver, and Bryan is from the Bay. 

SA: When you are writing music, how does that look?

AM: Starting last March, I did this project where I tried to write a song a day. I failed half the time but I could still write fifteen songs in a month. It starts, usually, as a hollow, acoustic demo. Then we’ll turn it around and go to band practice and be like all right, let’s flush out this bad boy. I kind of have an idea of what it will turn into when writing it acoustic, but it doesn’t come to fruition until we hear it out through a band practice. 

SA: So you have been doing this for less than a year, what do you want from this band?

BD: I think it’s kind of multifaceted. I love playing music, I think it’s so fun. It’s fun in one regard, but in another regard, I want to keep playing shows, they’re so fun, I love to play shows. The outlet to that is by being in a band. I don’t know, you guys can talk about other stuff, but I like just having fun. 

CW: Yeah, it’s just been really fun to have a structured creative outlet, and get to perform and meet new people who are interested in the same things that you are. I think one of the things I’ve loved so much about this, is seeing others live, you know local artists, that you know, that you didn’t know before. I think that’s been a huge highlight. 

AM: I would say I’m in a very similar vein. It’s always been a no-expectations situation, but, as we play, we meet people, we get feedback, and it’s like, ‘Oh, people really like to hear us play.’ And that’s inspiring, and I think, you know, just being out and playing shows and getting people to enjoy a night is just so intrinsically satisfying. 

CW: I feel very motivated by seeing other bands, in terms of improving my bass playing. That’s really motivated me to just get better and improve upon my skills. 

One of The Warlochs’ goals is to foster a community of like-minded people through playing at different shows. Their next show will be at Wallingford Porch Fest June 15.