German heavy prog/psych rock band The Witches’ Dream have been grabbing listeners with their thrilling blend of vintage, progressive, occult, and kraut rock influences. Following the success of their debut album Utreya, the band returned in January with their ambitious sophomore release, Muses & Conjurations (review here), a double album that delves deeper into their mystical storytelling and sonic experimentation. We caught up with members Marcel Schiborr, Ramona Wandolski, and Henning Funke to discuss the inspiration behind this daring release, their lyrical concept of seven witch sisters, the challenges of being an independent band, and their creative journey through Germany’s vibrant underground music scene.
Muses & Conjurations is a double album—a bold move in today’s music scene. What inspired you to go for such an ambitious release, and how did you approach crafting its concept and sound?
Marcel: Yes, you’re absolutely right. People’s attention span is getting shorter and shorter and so it really seems a little bit naive to release a double album. And indeed, there was an interested record label which in the end did not want to work with us because of this. But we don’t make music that just passes through the bubble, we rather invite people to immerse in detail, find hidden meanings and enjoy diverse and manifold compositions. So what, those people will love double albums, I’m sure! [laughs]
The concept came quite naturally. I took over the lyrics for the first part, Ramona for the second. Both parts deal with our seven sisters but in different times and perspectives. Soundwise, the first album is a little bit more rocky and straight, the second one more experimental but also a little bit harder sometimes.
Your music blends elements of vintage, progressive, occult, psychedelic, and kraut rock. How do you ensure all these influences come together into a cohesive sound?
Well, we absorb all those influences quite naturally and they are mixed and filtered and processed within us through our years and years of being musicians. Each of those influences deliver musical and aesthetical characteristics like the choice of instruments, sounds, scales, playing styles, lyrical themes, and of course a certain sense of life. We use them with deep respect but with the clear intention of creating our own vision and style.
So even though it is a broad field of influences in the end what comes out emanates just from us and therefore is in our view cohesive.
The band’s lyrical concept follows seven witch sisters who become ghostly world walkers. Can you tell us more about the story and how it unfolds across your albums?
As a brief overview imagine seven sisters who as children lived in an isolated village in the countryside close to an old bridge and a flanking birch forest. One by one they disappear to be reborn as ghostly world walkers. They have become Witches, but in the sense of strong women who interpret dreams. Those dreams serve as a sort of communication between our world and an other world.
Our debut album Utreya shares the same name as the oldest of them. It introduces the seven and tells about their characters and abilities. The current double album goes back in time and tells about their childhood and parents (Muses), but also about their intentions, experiences and their present (Conjurations).
Compared to your debut album Utreya, how do you feel Muses & Conjurations marks your evolution as a band?
I think, our sound has become more dense and experimental, though at the same time we have some songs which are more straight to the point. Especially on Conjurations, if you think of “Calamity”, “Stones in the Rainy Forest” and of course “Black Stone Witch”.
The album title is intriguing — how do muses and conjurations tie into the themes of the music and lyrics?
Our witches are muses—they developed a life on their own in our heads and they keep us going. So even though they have been created by our music they influence our music and our lyrics.
Their conjurations are the core ceremony—throughout them they unlock the secrets hidden in the dreams.
You’ve mentioned influences ranging from Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin to Opeth and Witchcraft. How do you balance paying homage to these legends while maintaining your unique identity?
As I said earlier this is a natural process. Each band and their music have resonated in us and what comes out when we make our music is a reprocessing in which first and foremost we strive for our own vision. When mentioning those bands as influences we especially mean the feelings and images which have been induced by them in us. And those feelings and images are a strong motivation and engine for our own music.
How did the recording process for Muses & Conjurations differ from your previous work? Any challenges or standout moments?
It is comparable, although for Muses & Conjurations the creation of the vocals took longer. This was also the case because we split the lyrics into two records and one big part of the lyrics was written by Ramona.
So I as a singer had to adapt to her lyrical style when I created the lines. But it turned out that her lyrics work very well with my singing.
Your live performances have gained recognition, including supporting Sorcerer. How does playing live shape your music, and do you have any standout memories from your shows?
When we play live we strengthen our bond as musicians and this directly influences our music, especially sound-wise. We once played in a church and it was an extraordinary feeling to sing about our witches while looking at all those sacred things all around…
I guess, it is again all about the feeling in us that we make something meaningful for ourselves and hopefully for some others out there…
Ramona, as a bassist and backing vocalist, what unique energy do you feel you bring to the band’s dynamic, especially with your diverse sound?
I think it’s important to understand and feel every single song. Even though it’s one album, every song is different and has its own characteristics. Finding out those and implementing them in singing and on the instrument and integrating both into the overall structure of the band is what creates music that lives.
Marcel, your dual role as a guitarist and vocalist must be demanding. How do you approach balancing both during live performances?
It definitely is. The most challenging part is remembering the lyrics while playing the guitar. My guitar lines are not that easy. I am a lick player, not that chord based. And when I play chords I often use more difficult fingerings to create a more interesting sound. As I am playing in several bands, we cannot rehearse that often, so I cannot “loop it in” to remember. So, I went over
to having my lyrics on a music stand before me, although I really find it unsexy.
Henning, as a guitarist, how do you collaborate with Marcel to craft the band’s signature heavy yet melodic guitar sound?
We use different classic tube amps and play them more on the crunch/overdrive side rather than
distortion. This gives us very organic tone that produces nice two-guitar harmonies as in “Chosen
Beings” for example. Despite the limited gain, some parts sound really heavy with two guitars.
Marcel and I both played or still play in death metal bands before and our picking style can definitely help with the heaviness.
In the future, I want to experiment more with effects to bring the mystical atmosphere from the albums to live shows. I think, Marcel can share his experience from the recording process and provide guidance.
Germany has a strong underground music scene. How has being part of that community influenced The Witches’ Dream and your creative journey?
Being part of the underground has not influenced us as far as our music and passion is concerned, but there a lot of bands we really respect and to some of them we have a good connection, i.e. Zen Trip, Pariahlord or Enojado. And being part of the underground tests your stamina.
Your music often incorporates occult and mystical themes. How do you ensure these elements remain authentic and engaging for listeners?
We do or say nothing that we ourselves feel to be insincere or stagily. I earlier mentioned the feelings and images that music evokes in us. This is the “occult and mystical” world that we talk about in our music and lyrics. And we are convinced that there a people out there who share this and who we can reach.
Krautrock is a unique and experimental genre. How has it specifically influenced your music, and do you incorporate any unconventional techniques in your compositions?
We used the Theremin on our first album to enrich our sound and give it an otherworldly character. It is some kind of a crazy instrument which is often used in old movies. You can hear it on “Through the Veins of the Forest”. And we embedded field recordings to create the image of a landscape that the listener is part of. We also used a sort of self-created language as part of the conjurations which can be heard on “Voices” and “Rooted in Spell”.
As an independent band, what challenges have you faced in carving a space in the international heavy prog scene, and how have you overcome them?
The biggest challenge is being heard and seen. We produce and publish our music ourselves, try to be active on social media, produce music videos on our own, work together with promotion companies, have our music everywhere.
But still it is really hard to get to the bigger stages where a lot of people see you. And what´s more important, where you can reach people who are open to the kind of music that we make.
And can someone explain me how those algorithms work? And does anyone have the address of an algorithm so we can to talk to him/her? 😉 We´d have a lot to talk about…
What are your hopes for Muses & Conjurations, and where do you see The Witches’ Dream heading next creatively?
We really hope that Muses & Conjurations reaches the people who are open to our music and then we are convinced that it will strike a chord in them. Currently, we are looking for a new drummer and as soon as we are complete again we’d like to hit the stages again to show the people our music – Heavy Witch Rock!
Check out Muses & Conjurations on Bandcamp. Follow The Witches’ Dream on Facebook and Instagram.
