L.A. Witch: "We're very excited to get our debut album out"

Formed of Sade on vocals and guitar, Irita on bass and Ellie on drums, L.A. Witch have been together for five years now, crafting music that is dark and cinematic - think Lana Del Rey with more attitude and less to lose.

With the release of their debut edging nearer, the Los Angeles trio have discovered that hype is a scary beast to have behind you. "It's a lot of pressure," starts Irita. "It's been stressful because it's been so long - people have been asking about it for years."

"And it's such a permanent thing too," continues Sade, "because you know it's going to be out there, and you don't want to put something out that you're unhappy with."

"It's been a learning experience putting together this first album," she continues. "I guess when we started this band we never even thought that far ahead; we didn't think of one day having an album, you know? We were doing everything little by little, like 'Here's a song I wrote'. Things grew very quickly for us, and before we knew it we were touring, and we didn't have time to be at home to work on an album. I guess this is the first time where everything we've done in the past couple of years will be on one thing."

It's a process that has affected Sade and changed her way of working. "What I've learned from doing this current album is, thinking ahead, I see more of a concept type of a thing whereas all these other songs don't necessarily tie in together. In a way they do, but for the most part, they were just like 'Oh a song I wrote then, at this time or that time' - and you know we've done our best to make it.

"I mean obliviously it's us, it's always gonna be similar sounding at the end of the day, but I don't know. I've changed my way of writing because now I'm thinking, 'This is gonna be on our next album', whereas before I didn't think that way, I was just writing songs.

"It was difficult only because recording is a whole different art, and we're not experienced in recording so it was hard and very emotionally draining."

Irita continues this sentiment: "It's very unnatural, you know? When we play music live, we can look at each other and connect, but when you're recording sometimes, they like to separate you mid-jam and make you wear headphones, which feels so unnatural. When you listen to the final product, it sounds so... soulless, in a way. It's been hard to capture that essence in a recording, and that's been, I think, the biggest issue we've had to deal with."

The fact L.A. Witch have reached this momentous occasion is, as Sade testifies, a blessing. "We're very excited to get it out, there have been a lot of emotions throughout this experience, and a lot of hard work and a lot of frustration, but it's going to be cool to get it out there finally."

As soon as this chapter closes, with a tentative August release, another will begin, and L.A. Witch will continue to surf the hype that's served them well so far. Through all of these learning curves, the band still look back to when they first started five years ago and find it all quite surreal. "It's so funny," laughs Sade, "we were just trying to find each other so that we could finally play music, and then all of a sudden it's like, you have a show, and you don't even have a band name!

"And then this starts happening, you start booking tours, and you quit your job, or..." she pauses, with a nod to Ellie, "you get fired. You have to tour, and one thing goes into another, and it's kinda crazy… and here are we!"

L.A. Witch's debut album is due later this year.