A band like Sörcery doesn’t emerge quietly. Rooted in the stark beauty of the High Desert and shaped by years of individual musical journeys, they’ve carved out a place in the modern NWOTHM landscape with a blend of sincerity, grit, and a touch of the fantastical. In this conversation, they open up about their origins, their creative spark, and the world that fuels their sound, offering a glimpse into the forces behind their rising momentum without revealing every secret just yet.

Interview

TheNwothm: TheNwothm: Hey there. Can you introduce the band and tell us a bit about where you’re from?

Sörcery: Greetings! Thank you so much for having us. We are Sörcery! I am Mel, the lead singer of the band, and the rest of the members are Greg, Hunter, and Nick. We’re based out of SoCal.

TheNwothm: Before we dive into the music, what were you all doing before Sörcery came together? Jobs, side projects, other bands — what did life look like?

Sörcery: Even though I was raised on heavy metal and am a heavy metal enthusiast, I also have a background in classical piano and music theory, and those studies culminated in acquiring my Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition from CSUSB. Whilst doing all that, prior to Sorcery, I was in several other local bands, playing classic rock to “disco punk” to symphonic metal. I was also writing symphonic works for university, high school, and community orchestras. Ultimately, life kinda just happened in the middle of all that when my guitarist, Greg, and I got married and started careers in other fields. 

Our guitarist Hunter was gigging with a classic rock band before Sorcery, and our bassist Nick was gigging with an EDM outfit, which he is actually still releasing music with! Later on, we’d all cross paths and comprise Sorcery! We all also have careers outside of Sorcery, but this group is definitely our heavier artistic outlet. It’s where we all get to really let our hair down. 

TheNwothm: Can you tell us a bit about each member, what drew you to heavy metal in the first place, and what role you play in the band?

Sörcery: I am the lead singer and lyricist for Sorcery. My husband Greg is our guitarist and primary songwriter, and Hunter is our other guitarist. Nick is our bassist. We don’t have a permanent drummer at the moment (we are currently working with a session drummer), and we are definitely on the lookout for anyone that is interested in joining forces with us full-time!

Hunter, Greg, and I grew up on heavy metal thanks to our parents. For me personally, my dad was and continues to be hugely influential on my knowledge of the obscure heavy metal scene. His vintage vinyl and cassette collection is massive—I’m pretty lucky to say that my exposure to all of that metal has primarily been through all those analog sources as opposed to the digital ones that a lot of kids these days utilize to dig up those obscure bands.

TheNwothm: Was there a specific moment that kicked things off for Sörcery, or did the idea come together gradually?

Sörcery: There was most definitely a specific moment that I realized I wanted to be in a band again. In the summer of ’22, I went through a bit of an existential crisis, and one of the things I realized was how disconnected I was with my artistic side. With our families and career and pursuit of education, all of that had come to a halt for a few years. I felt like I was missing an artistic outlet, a musical avenue to share what I was going through, cathartically—I needed to get it out of my system. Thus the first ever Sorcery song “Tower XVI” was created. If you listen carefully to the lyrics, it’s about the challenges I faced in my 28th year.

Also, when Greg and I started toying with the idea of making a new band, the intent was not to play live shows. We just wanted to write, record, and release music. A friend from our local music scene (who later ended up becoming our first drummer) reached out to me via social media and was the first to suggest we consider playing live shows—and that he’d be willing to drum for us if we ever did decide to perform. So I do have him to thank for that push, because performing live really has lead to so many new and amazing experiences!

TheNwothm: How did you all meet? Was it through the local scene, shared influences, or something more unexpected?

Sörcery: Our guitarist Greg and I met through our local scene when we were in different bands nearly a decade ago. With the new Sorcery lineup, we’ve recruited members online through Vampyr, and also through mutual band friends.

TheNwothm: Were there any other names in the running before you settled on Sörcery, or was it the clear favourite from the start?

Sörcery: The name Sorcery had been with me for a while! During my little musical hiatus, I’d always had that name in the back of my mind just in case I ever wanted to start a band again. We did try to come up with variations on the word “Sorcery”—we were reluctant on just the noun alone because it’s pretty basic and we figured there have already been SO many other bands named Sorcery in the last few decades of metal. But no variation was quite as charming or as straightforward as just “Sorcery,” so we decided to stick with it, and I’m glad we did. We ultimately decided to add the umlaut just to be cheeky, and also as an homage to Motley Crue.

TheNwothm: What is the local music scene like in Apple Valley? Any venues, bands or communities that helped shape your early days?

Sörcery: We have a very small musical community in Apple Valley, and no one band is like the other. The scene, as small as it is, does have a good variety of original metal and rock acts. As far as I know, we are the only NWOTHM band from the high desert and I’m glad that we’ve been able to set ourselves apart in that way and hold that torch. We’ve made more ties with bands from the Inland Empire and LA than in AV so it’s been nice tapping into those larger scenes and garnering more exposure that way.

Frogee’s bar is pretty much the one spot in the desert that’s fostered the scene pretty well. We played our debut show there to a highly receptive and warm audience, and have since played several shows there and we always pack the house.