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Blackwych as a band started out in 1982, after Dec answered an add in the local newspaper for ‘guitarist wanted for rock band’ That band were called ‘Warlock’ and required a second lead guitarist to fill out their sound. So after a bit of an audition, and conversations about music influences he got the job. With their new lead guitarist on board, Warlock got straight into rehearsals in back gardens and gigs in local youth halls, well is that not what all 18 year old bands do. The band were going well but this line up only lasted about 10 months or more. Anyway, around this time, singer Martin Doyle made the decision to leave the band and Dec’s brother Ciaran  joined. More gigs, more rehearsals and more importantly the recording of original songs on demo tape began. The bands first demo included Mental Telepathy and Out of Control, and were recorded  on a 4 track Tascam at the only local studio. Dec had written these songs in his Dads garage to the background noise  “turn that f--king racket down”  These demo’s opened the way for the band to new musical opportunity’s  and allowing people outside of the usual group to hear the sound and feel of the music the band were producing. Around the same time two more changes occurred. The bands drummer John, lovingly know as  “Gonz” decided to leave, its likely he had never come to accept the departure of he friend Martin  earlier in the year, this effectively  left the band with no drummer as there was no one else in the frame. Then second change to come about was the bands name.   The name “Warlock” was already in use by another successful female fronted recording outfit from Germany. So after a period of names in a hats etc, the guys settled on “Blackwitch” put forward by Mario, who liked the whole dark magic aspect. Around 1984, Dec was chatting to producer Pete Holidai from the ‘Radiators from Space . and asked him to promote the band if he could. It was through Pete contacts that the band got offered their first recording release on  new compilation of Irish Metal called Green Metal It was on the strength of a demo  produced by Pete and recorded at SRS Studios Slane. This demo included  Rockin Lady and Out of Control. It was around this time Mario the band bassist decided it was not for him, and Niall,  Dec’s second brother joined the band,  After securing the release of two tracks on this compilation, and a short deliberation the bands name spelling was modified to Blackwych.  Using the word Wych as a preferred spelling, its comes from the name of a tree, the Wych Elm, the tree brothers being carpenters, it was something they all embraced,  its also used in old English give to an area of London called Aldwych (old town). The name change was a must, the lads wanted to Move away from the whole Witch thing, dark magic etc, not their bag. Shay Hennessy owner of Crashed Records asked if it were possible to send in two more tracks as Rockin Lady was not heavy metal enough for the compilation, so the lads went back to SRS to record another 2 song demo including Metal Mania and The Hangman. In the end, Out of Control and Metal Mania were picked to appear on the compilation. Unfortunately for all the bands on this compilation, the record company used their demo tapes as masters for the release, so it is not what it could have been. Chris ‘Andralinus’ Connolly from ‘Shadowfax’ had played drums for the previous demo, but he was not available for the second  session . So Damien Grant a young drummer from Maynooth who had been rehearsing with the band assisted on these two tracks. The band made a meeting in the Gresham hotel in Dublin with Shay Henessy to sign a publishing contract for the songs before their release on the Green Metal Album, Richard did not turn up and Shay said he would make a second meeting with him to finalise the agreement. About a month or two after this session’s and the publishing deal he left the band, Later to reformed Warlock with Mario, Gonzo and Martin. Blackwych now consisted of three  brothers, Dec James, Niall C James and Ciaran James, who became the core members of the band working with different musicians as time went on. After the release of “Green Metal” Album and the promotional gig in the Project arts centre in Temple Bar, Dec approached Crashed Records and secured the release a full debut album for the band. This album was recorded at SRS studios Slane, and released on the Crashed Records label in Ireland, and Metal Masters  Records for the rest of the world. This album was recorded in three days at SRS and titled “Out of Control” The band went on to tour and promote the album, recording live show and writing more material. We did release our music on cassette at shows to pay for touring. These were live recordings  and limited, check out my shop for more material. Blackwych Song Title links

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