A Dirty Dozen with SETH BURDEN from SEVEN YEAR WITCH – December 2021

According to a recent press release: “South Carolina Hard Rock, Blues-Punk band SEVEN YEAR WITCH has released their blues-punk infused cover of AKON’s 2006 Billboard chart topping, dirty rap hit single “I Wanna Love You.” Filmed live at Blue Light Lounge in Chattanooga, TN, “I Wanna Love You” was recorded, engineered, and mixed by Chase Brown of Atlanta based rock band The CEO. Straight out of left field with an electrifying hybrid of hard rock, blues-punk, and 70’s garage rock, Seven Year Witch emerges with enough stage energy to feed a generation starved of real rock n’ roll.” We get drummer Seth to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

What’s hilarious about this cover in particular is that we released the “clean” version of it. That simply makes it easier to distribute online for us, and on social media. We play the true-to-the-song dirty version live. We got a ton of comments being like “this isn’t what I heard live!” It’s so funny. We had to do a lot of abridging to the lyrics to make it clean. Akon is a freak.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

Personally, my dad was drummer in a ton of bands over the years. Both parents pushed me and brother (Spencer) to get involved in school band and really learn and understand music theory. I would spend hours on YouTube as a kid obsessing over my favorite drummers and learning everything about them. After playing my first few shows with a band, my fate was sealed, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

For me, Jack White is an enormous influence on everything from my live performance to my writing and anything in between. He’s all about keeping it real and human in studio and on stage. No click tracks live, no backing tracks, it’s a human being pouring their soul out on stage. I always say – if you played a show without mistakes, you simply weren’t giving it your all.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I would love to hear Brann Dalior of Mastodon doing some vocals on a track. He’s got an incredible higher vocal that would be so fun to write around. Plus hearing him and Aaron do some harmonies would be excellent.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

I’m not sure if any of us every truly unwind… we’re all very high strung people. I think we’re always up to something. We all actually got on a kick of playing Minecraft on a server we made. That was good band bonding time when we weren’t obsessing over the music or being on the road.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

We all have different tastes that feed into what make our sound unique to us, so it’s hard to give it a sub genre. Plainly put, Rock n roll is a great umbrella term for us. I’d say we’re a three way love child of The Black Crowes, Crobot, and Jack White. We get told we have a “80’s vibe” a lot, which isn’t exactly what we’re going for. Maybe it’s the riffage?

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

Aaron would be the one cooking. He’s got a good little flair for that. Beau would go to Wal Mart and get everyone a Fosters. If there was a piano around, I’d be trying to show off one of the three songs I know how to play…

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

We met and hung out with Eddie Trunk after one of our shows in Atlanta. That had me shook. That man knows all my hero’s! Sitting around and picking his brain and having a causal conversation with him was so great.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

I love the feeling of being mid-show. The looks on peoples faces. We really confuse and shock some people. A live show is beyond what you can see on a screen. It’s a real and emotional thing going down. Nothing quite like it! If I couldn’t do music, I’d probably be scheming up some small business idea and take it Shark Tank.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

We love those off the cuff questions. The irrelevant, random ones. Like, “what’s your go-to Burger King order?” (Which is spicy nuggets). We get asked about where the name came from allll the time. We change the story every time. No one will ever know the truth! It’s honestly hilarious when we get caught. Some interviewers will be like “I’ve heard five different story’s, which is true??”

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

Not a thing! We had to figure this business and career out from the ground up. So as you can imagine – plenty of fumbles, missteps and wasted months chasing the wrong leads. All the mistakes shaped us. There’s a lot I look back and cringe at and wish we would’ve handled different, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

It would be amazing to see Black Sabbath recording their first album in just a few hours. I think they were very limited on time and had to do an expedited recording session. Side note.. I’ve always said I’d love to have seen Slipknot as a local band. NINE people trying to sound check monitors on a small stage. What was that like?? That must’ve been such a struggle.

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Category: Interviews