Over the last couple weeks, we’ve been introducing some of the bands playing this year’s first-ever MidWest Friends Fest. Taking place on August 31 at The Southgate House Revival, MidWest Friends Fest features 21 local, regional, and national acts on all 3 stages, as well as a local artist and community partner showcase taking place the first half of the day.
 
Today, we’re stoked to introduce you to relative newcomers, Cincinnati midwest goth/indie outfit Mall Witch. They’ve just released a shimmering, mature, and thoughtful debut EP - which you can check out here - and will be performing at MidWest Friends Fest 2024. Our thanks to Levi, vocalist for Mall Witch, for taking the time to answer our questions.

Mall Witch is a relatively new band and a VERY recent addition to MidWest Friends Fest! Can you tell us about the band - where you’re from, how you got together, where your sound lies?
 Mall Witch formed in the summer of 2021 because David picked up bass guitar during lockdown the year before. He sent me [Levi] a bassline he wanted vocals on that later became our first single “milo’s lullaby”—a lot of our songwriting stems from that lonely period of time. We roped our lifelong friend Michael in on guitar shortly after and played a couple shows with a drum machine. The 3 of us are from the rural but also very suburban Ross, Ohio, and we try to capture that midwestern bleakness in a lot of our textures. Later, we expanded with our drummer Dan Spagna, David’s coworker who we yanked out of retirement, and most recently, Claire Lefton on keys and backing vocals.

We’re basically a metal guitarist, post-hardcore bassist and drummer and pop vocalist mashed together. It mostly seems to work, though.

You just released a really wonderful 4-song self-titled EP - can you tell us about putting that EP together and getting it out into the world?
 A lot of our songs deal with modern individualism, social justice and the growing trend of social isolation. These were the 4 songs of ours we felt were strongest to record in a studio setting, so we went back near our hometown to Third Street Music in Hamilton to record and they were so warm and comfortable to work with. But we do intend to release all our old self-produced demos as an album this fall to show their original forms and all the other tracks that didn’t make it to the record. We have a lot in the works for the future, but we think these songs are a really strong foundation for our “thesis” and a cool mashup of all our influences.

You just recently played an EP release show at Radio Artifact - what was that experience like?
 We love the Radio Artifact family! Devin Brooks and their whole production team are all multi-talented folks who are so honed in their profession, but also so kind and welcoming. Radio Artifact is hailed as one of the highest quality live streamed music events in the midwest for good reason. I think we all regard that show as one of our strongest showcases yet, but we’re hungry for more.

After MidWest Friends Fest, what’s the band up to next?
 Our next single “Home is Hell” drops September 1st, a song we wrote as a prayer for peace and ceasefire in Palestine. We’ve pledged all streaming and Bandcamp sales for that track to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. It’s my favorite song of ours to date, and I’m happy to use it as a vessel for a good cause. This next record will be more experimental and heavy, so we’ve decided for now to self produce it. David and I both have experience producing for our own solo projects (wifi ghost, and sappha, respectively). We’re also playing Taproom on Ludlow November 9th, and hoping to book a small midwest tour soon.

Is there anything else you would like to add or mention?
 We’re bummed Ok Cool can’t make the trip this year for Midwest Friends Fest, but honored to step in and fill their spot for our first festival gig.

 
Find out more about Mall Witch on the MidWest Friends Fest website, where you can also stream music from all 21 bands, follow along on social media, and purchase tickets. If Facebook is more your speed, check out the event page and be sure to RSVP to let your friends know you’re ready to have some fun.

Check out the stage lineups and set times below - we’ll see you at the fest!