“Being that everyone calls us the DnD band, we figured why not make a setlist that we can chop and change at the drop of a hat.”

WARLOCK A.D. have undertaken a mighty adventure with VICTORIUS and one of their stops was Power Metal Quest Fest. In this midst of this escapade, the band of warriors sat down with Rock Out Stand Out’s Lotty Whittingham. They spoke about updates in their tale, their upcoming album, deciding the fate of their setlist with a DnD dice and mental health.

Sounds like there has been some updates since we last spoke. Whiteacre, you were a warlock when we last spoke. Is this a reincarnation or has something else happened?

Whiteacre The Nomad:  After our epic battle with the evil desimator Ballsax, I was sucked through a rift in space and time. I then ended up in the mystical land of Britanni, I was stripped of my magical powers and I am no longer a warlock. I was found by Quinn [check spellings] who looks very similar to Quinn the Elven Bard, naturally I tied him up and asked him what was going on. To find our way across the land of Britanni, we had to seek help from Horatus the Mushroom Wizard.

Horatus The Mushroom Wizard:  I was stuck in a tower for a few thousand years so it was nice to be let out.

I’m sure you were Horace The Alchemist before who had lost his voice.

Horatus:  Who is Horace The Alchemist?

Whiteacre:  You look like Horace The Alchemist but he’s actually from a different universe.

Horatus:  I am from Britanni.

Whiteacre:  You didn’t used to speak Horatus, that’s why I was surprised when you told me to fuck off.

I was also going to say to you Quinn you have upgraded from a bard to a prince.

Quinn Eilianther The Elven Prince:   Yes indeed. This bard you speak of, I hope they are devilishly handsome. Especially if we share a name.

Whiteacre:  I think the bard is slightly slimmer.

Quinn:  What can I say, I have been eating well. Mainly orcs, it pays to be a prince.

When I last spoke to Whiteacre, he told me of how he zapped Quinn The ElvenBard so you Quinn may have more power already.

Quinn:  Well I have been hunting dwarves for a while now with my band of exiles. We trenched the whole of Britanni, we’ve been fighting the evil emperor Thorin the Third. He is a mechanical robot of steam and when this ugly bastard [points to Whiteacre] fell from the sky, he dragged me on a quest to get me back to his brothers. He talked of multiverses and other Quinns.

Whiteacre:  The other Quinn was much nicer to me.

Quinn [to Whiteacre]:  You give me no reason to be nice to you.

Whiteacre:  I am a nomad in this land, I have no more warlock powers. They were stripped from me when I lost the sword of eternity. 

Quinn [to Whiteacre]:  You’ve never had powers to me.

Horatus:  Is that why you say he’s not your bard?

Whiteacre:  He’s not my bard no.

Horatus:  Ahh makes sense now.

Quinn:  What is a bard?

Hoartus:  They’re a funny person that likes to drink, sleep with people and play music.

Quinn:  So none of you.

Or if you live in Labia, tell their quest masters to take a nap.

Quinn [to Whiteacre]:   Is that what your old Quinn used to do?

Whiteacre:  No, my old Quinn used to sleep with everything.

From our last chat, Quinn the Bard told Whiteacre The Warlock to take a nap. Whiteacre zapped Quinn.

Whiteacre [to Quinn]:  Yes I did zap you.

Quinn:  I feel like there is some catching up I need to do over the camp fire later.

Or you can read it here in the previous scrolls I wrote when I last spoke to Whiteacre.

Quinn:  That will be very helpful.

So you’re about to embark on a new quest or new album to us mortals in this realm.

Whiteacre:  Yes, this second album we are working on at the moment details our adventures across the land of Britanni. There we must find the ancient Valley of Vagene; when we reach that, I will find the gate to the multiverse and I can return to my brothers. To get there however, we have to get past the evil dwarf empire who also want to get to the valley.

You’re currently on a quest with Victorius, how has that been going?

Hoartus:  Absolutely amazing.

Whiteacre:  So good, they are the sweetest little guys. We love them. 

Quinn:  They are sexy, naughty and lovely. That’s all you can say.

Whiteacre:  It was awkward at first when we first met them in Berlin, we were quite star struck and now it’s a case of ‘that’s just Dirk’.

Having just seen your set, you are the first band I have seen that use a DnD dice to decide the fate of their setlist. Please explain to those who haven’t seen you on tour.

Whiteacre:  Being that everyone calls us the DnD band, we figured why not make a setlist that we can chop and change at the drop of a hat. It’s more so a case of working with evens and odds rather than numbers themselves; these decide the path of the quest. For example, we usually start our set with The Valley Of Vagene and depending on the roll of the dice, we are either attacked by the dwarf empire and play our new song Nano Emporium or we go old school and play Rise.

So we heard a new Warlock AD song this afternoon.

Whiteacre:  You did, we played a couple. It’s tricky as people are still listening to our first album which is fine but some of the songs on our new album, we have played pretty much every night because of the roll of the dice. They include The Valley Of Vagene, which we have just released. Then there is Nano Emporium, which details the rise of the dwarf empire.

Quinn:  There’s a song called Rothguard War Song which is about an orc chieftan, actually half orc chieftan which Whiteacre tried to sell me to. I won’t forget that.

Whiteacre:  Another new song we have played on this tour is The Trapped Golden Showers Of Prestonia, which details a magical golden oasis and mermaids lives in the waters that are gold are warm.

Horatus:  They have a slight funny smell to them.

Sounds like it will be an amazing tale, when can we expect this out?

Whiteacre:  We have a couple of things in the works that we can’t say too much about.

Horatus:  We’re half way through.

Whiteacre:  The album itself is halfway through recording but we’re holding off a little while to release any more singles. When the time comes, it will be thick and fast.

Which songs have you found gone down well the most with crowds?

Whiteacre:  We always get a really good crowd interaction with singing when we play Geralt Of Labia. However in terms of joining in with the song itself, Rothgard Warsong goes down very well. It’s really a mixed bag; at some shows, people go crazy for Potion Seller, some nights it’s Skyrimming. It depends on the crowd.

I know Whiteacre knows this. For the rest of you; Rock Out Stand Out, the scrolls I write for, one of our main missions is to keep the conversation about mental health going. What’s the most important lesson you have learnt when it comes to taking care of yourselves mentally?

Quinn:  Ahriman [Cullblade The Shadow Assassin] I think you should take this one. [all laugh] Ahriman doesn’t speak.

Whiteacre:  The timing of this question has come at a perfect time really. Being on this tour we have done, we have faced the toughest things we could have possibly faced whilst being on this tour. We have come out the other side closer than ever before, I think the biggest message we can give is talk and never feel embarrassed. Also never feel like you don’t want to say something to your friends or family because you think it sounds crazy. You’d be surprised at what other people are going through too. Conversation is the main thing.

Quinn:  Check in on each other. If you feel anyone in your party is struggling or having a hard time, drop a text or call and let them know you are there for them and vice versa, ensure people do that for you too.

Horatus:  We learnt that very quickly on tour. There were a few tense moments and lots of tears.

Whiteacre:  Our bandwagon got attacked by a dragon.

Horatus:  It did get attacked by a dragon.

Quinn:  I got transported to a field and I had to use smoke signals to get back. Our manager Tiny Wizard Liam really helped pull us together as well and really making sure we were OK.

I asked Whiteacre this question when he was a warlock. I’d like to find out what an elven prince, a mushroom wizard, a shadow assassin and a nomad like to do to unwind and relax?

Horatus:  Read

Quinn:  I like to do this thing called racing, our good friend Danger Dirk likes to talk about this. There’s something called Formula One over here and Grand Turismo, I like to go and find an adrenaline rush at the minute. Our shadow assassin likes to hide in the shadows and go for long walks.

Whiteacre:  And also model trains. He loves those.

Quinn:  Me and Aruman had a man date, we went to a place in Hamburg called Minature Wunderland and it was lots of recreations of different cities on Planet Earth but in tiny model form. So there was lots of model trains, hot air balloons and there was an airport where mini planes took off and landed. There’s a reason we need to keep him on a leash as we lost him.

Who would your dream quest troupe consist of?

Quinn:  I would like to get all the members of Victorius into a cover band of us called Wizard B.C or Wizard B.O.V. 

Whiteacre:  And also Michael Gambon RIP.

Do you have a message for Warlock AD fans and our readers?

Quinn:  Watch this space, we’ve got very cool new things coming that show how much we have grown as a band and a party.

Whiteacre:  Honestly, open your brain. We turn up to a lot of shows where a lot of people think we look too serious and they’re going to be cringe, just have fun and don’t be embarrassed. Have a good time.

Horatus:  Make sure you talk to each other, that’s the one thing I’ve learnt from this tour.

Thank you so much to you all and best of luck with the rest of your adventure.