It was my last night in Knoxville, Tennessee and it was time to dive into the underground to see what the local music scene had to offer. I made my way into the old city of Knoxville. All the street poles were wrapped in lights like candy canes and the streets were filled with football fans dressed in orange, after a day of hard partying. My destination (The Pilot Light), a live music venue located at 106 E Jackson Ave, Knoxville, in the city's Old City neighborhood.
A New York native, this club reminded me a lot of the legendary CBGB in New York City and QE2 in Albany, New York. Needless to say, I felt right at home and was quickley welcomed into their scene. This is where the outcasts, the freaks, the tattooed, the pierced all gathered. Have I found the true underground in Knoxville? Yes I did and I was right where I belong.
As I made my way into The Pilot Light, the crowd was starting to build to see the opening band. The lights were dimmed and a hypnotizing hum came from the speakers. The band kicked into their intro, which left the crowd blindly staring toward the dark light with bloodshot vision as if they were in a trance. The band then blasted out some of the deepest, darkest doom and stoner rock/metal I had been craving. If you are a fan of The Sword, Sleep, Monster Magnet or Kyuss, this is your gig. NinjaWitch deliver that raw sonic power with their own cursed twist.
The members of the Knoxville, Tennessee-based band Ninjawitch are Nathan Wright (vocals), Herb Himes (lead guitar), Haley Clark (rhythm guitar), John Springer (bass), and Brandon Clark (drums). I had a chance to sit down with Nathan, Herb and Brandon to find out the story of the magical NinjaWitch.
Ralph: Let’s start in the now. Tell us about the latest record. Songwriting, recording process and themes?
Nathan: As far as subject matter, I try to pray for the right things to be said and the right message to be received. Not a very popular or rock n roll answer but after the the things I’ve been through and things I’ve seen its just the moment I’m in and a deeply spiritual place is where I try to come from.
Herb: We're extremely excited about our latest recording, Frequency of Gods. Our songwriting process for all of our material thus far has been very organic and largely a result of extended jam sessions where we're just-off-the-cuff riffing on a vibe. If the vibe is right, everyone will just kind of join in and start adding their ideas. I've always been a fan of improvisation because it lets you live in the moment and express something you are feeling. We'll record what we're jamming on and then come back and add, remove and refine until we have something that tells the story within the soundscape we've created.
We recorded live in the studio with Danielle Fehr at The Wizard Productions because we wanted to capture that energy shared between us as we play. I consider myself lucky to have such a great group of versatile musicians to create with that are all moving in the same direction. It's honestly all about space, openness and creating a "heads exploding" kind of cosmic vibe the the listener or audience can interpret in their own way and that, hopefully, resonates and sticks with them.
Brandon: Everything came together organically. Even during the recording process it wasn’t a struggle, it just flowed very naturally. The song writing always syncs up. Either with a groove or melody. It all just snaps in.
Ralph: Let’s talk about the beginning of the band and how it formed is the whole band from Knoxville Tennessee?
Herb: John (bass) and I also play together in a touring theatrical blackened metal band, Summoner's Circle. We've been writing music together for more than 10 years in Summoner' Circles and we wanted to do something different. We wanted to do something less structured and more free flowing and a stoner rock/doom band was always something on my radar. In 2023 it seemed like it was time to put something together locally to scratch that itch - thus NinjaWitch was born.
Nathan and I met around 2009 when he was playing in his band Pick Up the Snake and we immediately bonded over our shared love of all things Monster Magnet and space rock. I always knew he was going to be the vocalist whenever I got around to putting together this project and, thankfully, he was into the idea when I called and asked if he'd be interested.
Like many bands starting out we had quite a bit of member turnover for the first year, but bringing in Haley and Brandon Clark in late 2024 to fill the open second guitar guitar and drum positions really cemented the band and helped us evolve into whatever thing we're becoming today. The energy and camaraderie in the band is now something special.
Ralph: Cosmic God like, sticky riffs is what I think when I hear your music or see you live. What are your influences that drove you to become NinjaWitch?
Brandon: The guys and Haley got me in the head space for the music. Honestly, I never listened to anything like NinjaWitch before joining. I enjoyed it but didn’t know much about the genre outside of Sabbath. I took a dive into Monster Magnet, Kyuss and Acid Bath and figured out what the drums needed to be.
Nathan: We are influenced by a wide variety of bands. That's what I feel makes us sound different from most bands in our genre. We definitely bonded over our love of Monster Magnet and space rock (which we claim to be the bastered child of Dave Wyndorf and an early Dopes to Infinity tour late night meeting of minds with a unknown stripper in 1995).
Herb: If it dooms, it really all goes back to Sabbath. Bands like Hawkwind, Lucifer's Friend, Blue Cheer sprinkled with a heavy dose of Monster Magnet and the stoner rock revival in the nineties brought me here. Guitar hero-wise I'm all over the board with Hendrix, Billy Gibbons, Billy Duffy, Randy Rhodes and Michael Schenker playing a big part in my personal evolution. As a band, we all have very diverse tastes, and I think that's part of our secret sauce as we're pulling influences in from all over the musical spectrum.
Ralph: What are the plans for 2026, are you going to hit the road and what is your next show?
Herb: We plan to spend the first part of 2026 in writing mode, which I'm very excited about. More shows, possible tours and fests as opportunities arrive. Our goal is to keep building on the foundation we've built and ride the cosmic wave where it takes us.
Ralph: What was the biggest mistake you have ever made on stage?
Herb: My very first live show, waaaaay back in the 80s, I started playing the third song in the setlist while the rest of the band was playing the second song. It took me a couple of minutes to realize what was going on. LOL. It was like jazz. I was mortified that I screwed up so badly, but shit happens. LOL.
Brandon: Biggest mistake was wearing the wrong bracelet on the wrong wrist. That shit got snagged on my ripped paints and made my snare hit sound weak. Luckily I caught it shortly after and took it off.
Ralph: Tell us about some of the bands you’ve shared the stage with in the past or with NinjaWitch
Herb: NinjaWitch has shared the stage with Pentagram, The Obsessed, and The Skull among others. Myself, in other bands, way too many bands to list. Some main highlights with Summoner's Circle are touring with Children of Bodom, Swallow the Sun and Wolfheart on Bodom's last US tour in 2019 and Touring Europe with Hate and Batushka in 2023.
Nathan: I've been playing music for years. I stopped and was out of the scene for about 7 years due to addiction. When NinjaWitch came about, it was one of the things that saved my life and got me back on stage again. Our 1st show was opening for Pentagram on Nov 13, 2022. It was an amazing come back for me to be sharing the stage with such amazing musicians and I hold that 1st show very dear to my heart.
Link up with NinjaWitch linktree
NinjaWitch can be heard on Capital Underground on 93.7 WVLZ FM - Sunday’s at 6:00 PM. Showcasing hard, heavy, loud and local music from Knoxville and beyond!
