Weird magic: Lip Filler blaze new trails with 'witchescrew'

From delirious origin stories to boundless future possibilities, new EP 'witchescrew' is just the beginning for audacious sonic storytellers LIP FILLER. Check out our latest Hype playlist cover feature.

Words: Stephen Ackroyd.
Photos: Shea McChrystal.

London has always been a place where bands thrive - it's so big and full of vibrant energy it's always going to attract talent excited by the potential of the bright lights and big smoke. It's a place powered by unpredictable sonic alchemy and a crackling spirit of youthful irreverence, more than enough of a draw to drag a group of friends from Somerset in the name of making some glorious noise.

The five former university mates - drummer Nate Wicks, guitarist Verity Hughes, vocalist George Tucker, guitarist Jude Scholefield, and bassist Theodore Pasmore - that make up Lip Filler been buzzing with activity since their adrenaline-laced self-titled debut EP hit in 2023. But as Nate divulges from his current lair ("Currently got a bit of the old Nala Sinephro on. On my laptop. Happy as Larry"), their year has been a hustle worthy of a victory lap: "We've been lucky enough to have some really amazing moments already this year. Supporting O. at OMEARA was super fun; it was great talking to Joe about all his weird-ass pedals. And going up to Leeds to play with Master Peace was amazing as well."

More than just stringing together gigs, it's the human connections fostered amid the swirl that have truly left an indelible mark. "I guess the highlights so far have been meeting really kind and genuine people who love what they do. Hope more opportunities like that come around!" Nate enthuses, his spirit shining through.

The spark that kickstarted Lip Filler's latest creative conflagration - their brilliant second EP 'witchescrew' - can be traced to one deliriously unhinged origin story, as Nate recounts with relish. "So the name 'witchescrew' is based on a spooky story that the boys love to tell. Imagine you've just moved into your new house. All your stuff's still in boxes; you've got no food, so there's a load of takeaway boxes strewn all over the floor. Instead of settling in, you decide to invite a load of strangers to your house for a few drinks. Then they basically start speaking their own language that kinda sounds like parseltongue. Then you get scared and have to ask them to leave. You swear from that day forward that they were witches. And that's what the EP is about, letting things into your life when you probably shouldn't have, but having some fucking good stories to tell for it."

"That story is 100% true, by the way," he promises. We're too trusting to argue.

That feverish tale of urban paranoia sets the tone for an EP steeped in atmospheric tension, but for the unstoppably ambitious Lip Filler, it's also a siren call beckoning them to transcend the physical and carve out expansive new creative realms. They've made a website, you see. witchescrew.net. It's full of stuff that offers a wider world around their creative inspiration - but it's more than just a smart marketing trick to accompany a new release. If anything, it's a less cynical expression, switched the other way around.

"It's more that the EP accompanies the website, to be honest. We put the link to the website in a QR code on the back of the first EP, and we knew we definitely wanted to do something with it," Nate expounds. "It's kind of turned into a blog thing – if the EP is the polished, concise version of what we wanna say, then witchescrew.net is the stream of consciousness. It's all the moments that feed into a project that never get seen. All curated by us – coded by our mate Billy Brudenell. Go to him for all your cyber security needs."

The immersive online universe they've conjured up around the EP acts as a glimpse behind the curtain into the band's febrile collective unconscious. "The demos are really fun to listen to," Nate offers as a suggestion of where to start. "Gives you a little sneak peek of where we may be going with our next project. But then again, we don't really know. It's just five people throwing a bunch of shit at each other and seeing what sticks. Instead, we just get all sticky. It's not a pretty sight, so that's why we call them demos."

Swapping sonic curiosities for more cerebral esoterica, Nate dives headlong into unravelling the eldritch veins of inspiration woven into the witchescrew.net tapestry. "The poetry is really interesting as well," he teases. "Try to guess who's written what."

It's a tantalising invitation into the band's shadowy mythos, one that gestures toward an ethos of embracing the supernatural and unexplained. "George will swear that his nan's house is haunted. He also gets scared if you make weird noises at night. Whenever George has pissed Jude off, Jude scratches the walls at night to creep him out," Nate narrates with mischievous glee.

"George also gets a lot of sleep paralysis, which has fed into the lyrical themes of the EP. I think it kind of helps to believe in weird things like that; that's kinda what being creative is, though, believing in things that don't exist."

Peeling back the layers reveals an idiosyncratic but undeniably potent songwriting alchemy, where the personal and paranormal intermingle in electrifying ways. While Nate is upfront that he and his comrades aren't necessarily acolytes of the occult ("Just have to say that we're not obsessed with the paranormal, though; it's just played into this EP. It was a natural thing. Spooky au naturel."), he can't resist indulging in a bit of impish speculation when asked if there's anything he'd like to be real, but thinks probably isn't. "Oooo. I'd probably say aliens," Nate pokes. "Verity wants to be Gillian Anderson from The X-Files, and we'd all really like that to be real. Having Gillian Anderson in your band is really something to brag about down the pub."

This impetuous streak courses through 'witchescrew' itself, imbuing the EP's kinetic sonic circuitry with a visceral rawness. On the gnarled centrepiece 'Ashtray', Nate pulls back the curtain on its spontaneous creation and poignant emotional resonance:

"'Ashtray' is a bit of a dark horse," he explains. "It was basically written in ten minutes, aside from the lyrics. The A/B structure literally came out of a guitar idea Jude had, me and Theo just started playing along, and that's the majority of the song. We recorded a little voice memo of it in rehearsal, and George did a scat over it, and he followed that almost exactly to write the lyrics. Very emotional tune. The deep cuts cut deep."

As arresting as the music itself is the chaotic backstory from which it sprang - navigating the murky rites of passage of young adulthood in the capital's turning cogs. "There was lots of sofa surfing in the time we were writing and recording it," Nate lays bare. "Feels like a typical London lifestyle though, especially if you're just out of uni. All moving out and trying to find our feet, it's pretty tough."

"George was sharing a bed with his brother for three months. I was sleeping on George and Jude's sofa just before they moved out, staring at all my possessions as I fell asleep each night. Humbling stuff. Feeling pretty grown up now, to be honest. You can hear it all in the songs, though, especially 'Ashtray'."

Yet from these shaky foundations, Lip Filler have conjured an artistic statement of boundless ambition - one that reverberates with the frenetic possibilities of their next evolutions. You'll find a few hints on that aforementioned website if you care to delve in. "It's all a big pool of ideas at the moment; looking forward to pulling them all together," Nate teases enticingly.

For now, though, the white-hot core remains that indescribable incandescence of youthful potential - a radiant force powering Lip Filler's imminent rise. They're on the road next month, and it's typically got the band buzzing. "Go grab a ticket! One for each of the whole family. They're gonna love it," Nate rallies with the zeal of a true believer."

And before that, 'witchescrew'. "It's huge," Nate exclaims. "It's massive, it's seismic. We love it. You love it. Lip Filler active, let's go."

The call has been sounded. Abandon all preconceptions and embrace the weird. Lip Filler's revolution has begun. ■