During a solo set at this year’s South by Southwest, alternative-rock icon J Mascis, with his signature long gray hair and large eyeglasses, sat serenely on a folding chair and revved up his plugged-in acoustic guitar. How someone can make the music that Mascis creates using only his gravely voice and nimble fingers is mind-bending, and how a single person can become involved in multiple musical projects (all successful) is equally as mystifying. In 2007, Mascis’ old band, Dinosaur Jr., released Beyond, their first album in a decade, and in March of 2008, his new band, Witch, released Paralyzed. Along with three solo sets, Mascis played five shows with Witch in the course of those few SxSW days.

Although renowned as the guitarist and vocalist for Dinosaur Jr, which acted as a predecessor to many a grunge and indie rock band, Mascis has returned to his first instrument for Witch; “I never played many gigs on drums,” he says, indicating that this is his first time touring as a drummer. Witch’s monstrous “Sabbath-esque” sound harks back to seventies metal of the doom variety. The riff-heavy and nihilistic songs on Paralyzed, as well as the band’s self-titled debut, contain supernatural lyrics via vocalist Kyle Thomas (member of avant folk collective Feathers) and a menacing blaze of screeching, frequently soloing guitars. All of this amounts to a particularly nightmarish, yet not unfriendly, strain of heavy metal acid rock. Mascis cites Graham Parsons and Syd Barrett as influences, which justifies Witch’s psychedelic features (as heard on “Sweet Sue” and “Psychotic Rock”), but he explains, “A lot of people have the same influences and it comes out differently.” In terms of achieving with Witch the notoriety of his former band, Mascis calmly says, “You do what you want to do and see what happens,” though he does admit that he’d love to play with The Rolling Stones.