INTERVIEW

THE SACRED, THE PROFANE AND THE SPELL OF DOGGOD — Darkness descended upon Chicago's beloved Thalia Hall on Thursday, May 28 as femme trio L.A. Witch took the stage in support of The Black Angels’ “20 Years of Passover” tour. With their signature blend of brooding garage rock, post-punk edge, and gothic atmosphere, the band transformed the venue into a hypnotic sanctuary.

Comprised of Sade Sanchez (guitar, vocals), Irita Pai (bass), and Ellie English (drums), L.A. Witch delivered a captivating set that pulled heavily from their acclaimed third album, DOGGOD. The record, released just over a year ago, remains a defining statement for the band, one that continues to resonate deeply with audiences as they bring its songs to life night after night.

At the heart of DOGGOD lies a fascinating contradiction. The album's title, a palindrome that flips “dog” and “god” into mirrored reflections, embodies the record’s central themes of duality and surrender.

Throughout their set, L.A. Witch finds transcendence in that tension, exploring what it means to occupy both extremes simultaneously. Sanchez’s haunting vocals floated above bewitching guitars while Pai and English locked into hypnotic rhythms that felt both primal and precise.

As one of the final stops on the tour with The Black Angels, the trio’s evolution was on full display. Songs from DOGGOD took on a new life within the walls of Thalia Hall, embracing the audience in waves of reverb-soaked guitars and driving rhythms.

By the end of the night, the audience had been completely bewitched.

Before taking the stage, Luna Collective caught up with L.A. Witch backstage to discuss the lasting impact of DOGGOD, the overwhelming response the album has received over the past year, and what the experience of touring alongside The Black Angels has meant to the band.

LUNA: Welcome back and thank you for talking to Luna again. It's super exciting to have you back since the last time we talked when DOGGOD was released. I would love to catch up and see how life has been treating you and what have you been up to since the last time we talked.

SADE: It's good to be here again. It's been pretty cool. It's been very positive feedback and we're excited about new material, but also excited to be able to play this album to our old fans, some new fans, especially touring with Black Angels, we're being exposed to a lot of people who didn't know us. It's been fun.

LUNA: It’s been a year since the release of your DOGGOD album. What has the response from listeners, friends, or even strangers been like? Has anything surprised you about how people have connected with it?

ELLIE: I think one thing that was really cool that came from it, is that we did “THE LINES” music video with Lark Detweiler and I thought that it was really cool that they incorporated a Bob Fosse style with sign language and that won an award for best dance.

IRITA: Their interpreted lyrics that Sade wrote and their interpretation is through bodily movement. It's really cool to see them recognized for the video.

LUNA: Are there particular songs from DOGGOD that have taken on a new life in a live setting? Has spending a year performing these songs live changed your relationship to them at all?

SADE: I feel like all the songs slightly change a little bit. We were just talking about this yesterday, about recording and how the process is so different from when you play it live and how there's like an evolution to it, and sometimes that evolution could be just like a feeling, which does change how you play it. I think all the songs have more confidence in the way we play it. Our relationship to the songs itself becomes stronger.

IRITA: It's also different live because we recorded as a three piece, and so playing the songs live, we have Lauren playing keys on tour, we have another friend in Europe who does the same thing, but it's cool because they bring their own style to it, so it's cool to see their interpretation.

LUNA: You’re currently on tour with The Black Angels for the “20 Years of Passover” tour. How has the experience been so far, both musically and personally?

SADE: It's been great. This is our second tour that we've done with them. We did a tour with them after COVID. It was our first tour after COVID. It feels really good to be able to play with them, and especially Irita and I. One of our first concerts that we went to together when we first met 10 plus years ago was the Black Angels, before we even started L.A. Witch. I remember driving around one of my first cars, and listening to Black Angels, so it's definitely a surreal experience.

IRITA: It feels like an honor.

LUNA: How did you first connect with The Black Angels?

IRITA: We played Austin Psych Fest with them. We had always wanted to go. It was a dream of ours, and so when we got invited to play for them, we were so excited.

LUNA: For people who may be discovering L.A. Witch for the first time on this tour, what are you most excited for them to experience about your live show?

IRITA: Like Ellie says, we're a live band. Our sound is hard to capture during recording, versus us being live. Also, I think the chemistry on stage can be really cool, and the way that we're on stage this time, we're in a line because we're in front of all of the Black Angels gear, but I think it presents something different than our other live shows.

LUNA: Touring can be physically and emotionally demanding. Do you have any pre-show rituals or routines that help ground you before going on stage?

ELLIE: We usually take a shot.

IRITA: We have a ritual. We have a show ritual that we do before every show to have the best show.

LUNA: Last time we talked, you said that you hope that the band can inspire people to pick up and play and not care about what other people think. How do you hope listeners — especially your femme audience — can connect with or find power in this new era of music from you?

SADE: I just hope it can give them confidence and make them believe in themselves, and hopefully, seeing other women on stage can make it something more of like an experience that they can relate to in one way or another.

IRITA: Because we were once those people going to shows and you'd see a frontwoman commanding the stage, and damn, they're so badass.

LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the rest of the year look like that you would like to share with Luna?

SADE: I'm excited to play. [Thalia Hall] is a really beautiful venue. I'm excited to see the Black Angels again in a sold-out show. Our friend Ross is helping us with merch tonight, so I'm off merch duty.

ELLIE: No matter how tired we are on the road, we're constantly reminded of how we're really lucky to be here to be doing this, and to see all these different venues and different cities and people.

IRITA: And connect to people through our songs during a scary time in life. It's nice to have a community wherever you go.