The Witcher's Joey Batey reveals how his new novel embraces his Northern identity and being "forgotten" by those in power

If anyone sings the ditty "Toss a coin to your Witcher", you'd immediately hear the voice and see the face of Joey Batey. The 36-year-old was propelled to fame after his appearance in the hit Netflix series where he performed the catchy tune.

But acting is purely one string to Batey's impressive bow; he's one half of indie folk band The Amazing Devil and he's also an author, with his remarkable debut novel the topic of conversation with RadioTimes.com when we caught up.

It's Not A Cult is an ambitious folk horror novel, centred around a rebellious band in the North East of England. Callum, Melusine and Al have no band name, but they take their sound across pubs in the locality which tell stories of the 'Solkats', fictional gods of small things.

While no one really knows what they're singing about, the band is happiest when they're playing music together - until an act of violence at a pub catches the eye of an influencer and the band suddenly go from having a cult following to having that cult following them.

Callum insists the Solkats just want to have an effect on the world, but as their music grows far and wide, and their gigs become more tumultuous, they soon discover that the fictional mischief they've been singing about might just be real after all - and in demand of a sacrifice.

It's ambitious and expensive, potentially owing to the fact it had been sitting with Batey for a long time.

"When I was about 19, I had met these characters," Batey explained. "I knew the outline of what I wanted to write, but for some reason I was hesitant to put it to paper. I ended up writing a number of other novels throughout my 20s and 30s, just to cut my teeth. I got to a couple of years ago and thought, 'This story's been banging on the door for so long that I think now's the time'. In those years, with the introduction of social media, the story suddenly felt like it was relevant.

"I felt like I got all the ingredients for it but I just hadn't put the oven on. When I started cooking on this book, it was a really quick process."

Batey laughs when asked if he was glad he waited, adding: "If I'd written it at the age of 19/20, I think it would have been almost unbelievable, whereas the book now incorporates huge themes that are now very palpable and could happen - but would have been slightly alien to an audience of 15/20 years ago."

The novel is set in the North East of England, particularly Northumberland, where the scenery is beautiful but wild and mischievous - the perfect setting for the Solkats.

Batey explained: "I wanted to return to the North East because it become quite representative of this mythology. Playful but malevolent, quite ethereal in some ways. In this story, [the Solkats] have a sense of joy and threat at the same time - and that's how I feel about my personal relationship with the North East."

There's a wealth of books being adapted into TV shows at the moment, and something so inventive as It's Not a Cult would be hard to ignore. But Batey's very humble about his chances - though has some pre-requisites if he were to see it translated for the small screen.

"I've no sort of aspiration of grandeur when it comes to the book, but it obviously has a framework that I built into it from day one; there are only maybe three or four scenes in the entire book that don't take place down a camera lens. It might read like I was gunning for it to get made into a film, but that certainly wasn't my intention!" Batey explains.

He adds: "If it did get made, I would be first of all overjoyed, but I would hope to have as much creative control as I could, and to ensure that the North East was represented properly by people who were from the North East, who understood what it's like to grow up there, to live there, to be slightly forgotten by the rest of the country and certainly by previous governments.

"There's a wealth of togetherness in the North East and in the North in general that comes from being forgotten by people in power. So I would want as many people from the North as possible involved in the project."

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