'It's Been a Long Time Coming' — Charles Michael Parks Jr. Dives Into All Them Witches' New Album, 'House of Mirrors'

On Friday (May 29), Charles Michael Parks Jr. joined Loudwire Nights to celebrate the release of All Them Witches' seventh full-length album, House of Mirrors.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

"It's been a long time coming," Parks admitted to Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong.

"We haven't released an album since 2020 or 2019 or something, so it's time. It's been time for awhile. We worked really hard on this record and wanted to make sure that it came out the best way that it could and we're finally really excited for it to come out."

Similar to past albums, All Them Witches knocked out House of Mirrors pretty quickly once they got into the studio.

"Time is money," Parks said.

"The way we record is mostly live anyway, so that cuts down a lot of the process."

Though their time in the studio was fast, Parks shared that they worked quite a bit on the songs before they got together. And they were finally to finish one tune that they've been trying to wrap up for years.

"At least one of the songs, ['Starting Line'], is kind of an old song that we can never really figure out a way to make it work until this record," he said.

"This is like the fourth or fifth time recording it ... We could never really figure out where to put it or how to start it or how to finish it. It's gone through four or five different full-on band recordings over the years. I'd say that song is probably five or six years old."

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Parks was honest and said it feels really good to have that one finally done.

"It's like your child that you don't know exactly where they're going to place in the world. You taught them everything you can. It's good, it turned out alright."

What Else Did All Them Witches' Charles Michael Parks Jr. Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• "The Welterweight," a song about his great-grandfather: "He was a welterweight boxer in Alabama. I grew up hearing that word, welterweight, all through my life and it never really stuck as to what it was. The weight classes were always kind of a mystery, but welterweight is a pretty little guy. I like the lightweight boxing. Everybody freaks out over the heavyweight guys, but after awhile they're tired. But those light guys, man, they're too light to knock each other out and they just go until they're bloodied. And I think that's what they like, it's maybe some sort of therapy. He was a welterweight boxer and I'm sure he got off on the rage aspect of it."
• What it feels like to be 14 years into the life of All Them Witches: "I'm grateful every time we go out and people show up [or] every time an album is received. It's real easy to just kind of vanish into obscurity or burnout or whatever. But our growth has been so slow and steady over the years. I'm really thankful for that. We have a really great fanbase and a lot of them show up to all of the shows, which I'm really grateful for. I don't know, I'm 37 now, and you feel all those years. I think I'm going on 20 years in the van. It's crazy, there's definitely times you're like, 'I don't know if I'm cut out for this anymore,' but it's unlike anything else. It's unlike any other job in the world, really ... If it ended tomorrow, I've had a really good run. Anything past this, as we say in Louisiana, is lagniappe, it's a little bit extra that you get. I'll write as long as people are willing to come and have a good time."
• Preparing for their tour this year when they'll play 21 shows in 21 days: "It's a funny back and forth between band and crew because the crew is like, 'Oh my God, why did you do this to us?' And the band is like, 'Yes, no days off.' Because usually on a day off, you end up in a Walmart parking lot for 28 hours or something and you're taking Ubers to do whatever. There's only so much mini golf you can go play on a day off or movies you can go see. For a band being able to keep rolling, getting your ass kicked, it just makes you better. As long as I can make it through the first three shows and not blow out my voice, I'm golden. We can go. But it is going to be a hard one. It'll be hard."

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below or the Video at the Top of the Page

Charles Michael Parks Jr. joined Loudwire Nights on Friday, May 29; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.