The Wytches

Name?
Dan Rumsey

Where Are You From?
From Bournemouth, currently living in Brighton.

What do you do?
I play the bass in The Wytches and run my online art store called Oh So Grim.

Describe your style in three words?
Never in fashion.

What do you miss about home when you're on tour?
I miss my dog, Bella. She's a pug cross and the best dog. I also miss sleep.

What's the best gig you've ever played?
One of the best for me was when we played the London Garage, I think it was supporting Splashh. Our label were there and signed us after watching that show. I remember it just being really brutal and the crowd were really receptive to us.

What British musical icons inspire your sound today?
Thom Yorke has inspired me to always try and write better songs. I think the best thing you can do to give someone a lesson in songwriting is give them copies of The Bends and OK computer.

Black Sabbath will always inspire us, our sound would be very different if it wasn't for some of those riffs.

You can spend an hour with anyone from history-who would it be?
Maybe Jules Verne. I'm a big fan of his books, I think it's amazing how ahead of his time he was. I'd ask him for some writing tips.

What was the first song you played on repeat?
I think it was 'Nancy Boy' by Placebo. I was quite young so I didn't understand the words I just knew it sounded cool and loud. I've still got the CD single.

A song from your favourite album?
I don't have just one favourite album but a strong contender is Black Sails in the Sunset by AFI. They shaped my mid to late teenage years and this was the first album I heard from them. The song I'll choose is 'God Called in Sick Today'

Song you wish you had written?
I wish I had written 'O' Children' by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The melody is really strong and the arrangement is delicate. Everything about the song works for me.

A song lyric that inspires you?
"Turn and face the strange" from David Bowie's Changes. I was listening to this song today and it really hit me especially at this point right now in my life.

4 songs by new band you can't stop listening to?

Our Girl - Being Around
Our Girl are amazing and their songs keep getting better. They just released this song. It's got a great pre chorus section.

Bill Ryder Jones - Wild Roses
This is from Bill's latest album and it's one of my favourites. It feels really uplifting to listen to the chorus.

Jamie T - Sign of the Times
We are touring with him at the moment. This song has one of the best lyrics I've heard from a contemporary artist in a long time "I wish I'd been a little more exceptional.... But I was not enough"

Creeper - Lie Awake
I love Creeper, they remind me of all the bands I listened to when I was a teenager. I'm really happy to see this kind of music making a comeback.