Wolf Alice are one of our favourite new bands, and their songs Bros and Fluffy have been on constant rotation on our Walkmans for ages. Their ability to skate across 90s grunge to spacey synth-pop, while maintaining an original, high-quality songcraft, is turning heads everywhere. Wolf Alice (the name taken from an Angela Carter story, no less), now a mighty four-piece, began as the solo project of singer-songwriter Ellie Rowsell back in 2010, but has evolved into something far bigger.
They’ve just come back from a colossal 22-date UK tour, stopping everywhere from Middlesbrough to Bournemouth. We caught up with them to see what life after tour was like.
Was the tour all hookers, cocaine and smashing up hotel rooms? What and where were the highlights?
JOEL: It was all books, Diet Coke and sharing single beds in Travelodges! Think we’d all agree that Nottingham took the prize for most nuts crowd, but every show was special. It’s still pretty mind-blowing that people come to see us play in places where most of us haven’t even been before.
JOFF: The tour was too much fun. Nottingham was a great show. Best Friends started a mosh pit and everyone joined in. It was our first mosh pit; we got emotional about it after.
Do you feel more at home on stage or in the studio?
ELLIE: I love being in the studio – it’s my ideal way to spend time. I’ve always recorded music at home on my computer. It’s how I write songs, rather than playing them on the guitar or piano. I record bit by bit, all the nuances included. If I’m not with my friends or reading a really trashy novel, then I’m in the studio.
THEO: They are two very different ways of presenting your music. There is such an array of things you can explore sonically in a studio environment that we don’t necessarily convey live – but a good show is probably the best feeling in the world.
Will your next releases be as varied as the songs you have online, or will you hone in on a particular sound?
ELLIE: We are inspired by a variation of things all the time, but hopefully some kind of consistency will become clear. We’ve only really been around as this four-piece for about six months, but now that we have more time to spend writing and rehearsing together, the Wolf Alice sound is becoming apparent.
THEO: The next release will be our first proper collection of songs. They all differ, but at the same time tie in with one another. We all love albums and EPs that are kind of thematic – songs that flow into each other really nicely.
Have you all played in bands before and, if so, how does playing in Wolf Alice compare?
JOEL: I was in a band called Mafia Lights with two of my bros, but it was totally different. Mafia Lights melted my mind, whereas Wolf Alice melts my heart.
JOFF: I fronted a band back home in Cornwall when I was in my teens, but I couldn’t sing – and still can’t! So it’s nice now just to have my one area to focus on (guitar). I also get to jump around a lot with Wolf Alice, and that’s great fun.
There’s a lot of smashing things in the Fluffy video. Do you provoke reckless behaviour amongst the audience at your gigs, or is it more of a hugging-your-mates-and-singing-along reaction you’re after?
ELLIE: A bit of both would be great! Just as long as they’re not too reckless, and they’re singing the same song as the band...
THEO: It would be great to strike a balance between the two. Hugging and singing is great. I think we’d like our crowd to be hugging and singing while moshing? That sounds cool.
Are there any bands you really enjoyed playing with, or bands that you want to?
ELLIE: The bands who have stood out for me that we’ve played with have been Parlour, Hoopla Blue, Dressed Like Wolves and Best Friends. We just saw this band at Hultsfred Festival called Tweak Bird, and I’d like to play with them because they were really great.
JOEL: Parlour are incredible – we’ve seen them twice and they blew us away every time. Also a shout-out to Best Friends and Black Tambourines too, both awesome live acts.
What’s next for Wolf Alice: any festivals over the summer? If so, any you’re particularly looking forward to?
THEO: We’ve just come back from Sweden, playing Hultsfred Festival, and it was a blast. I made a concentrated effort to meet A$AP Rocky, but we didn’t cross paths. Damn. That’s a shame.
THEO: Yeah, I’m sure he was gutted that we couldn’t have shared a chardonnay. I’m really looking forward to Beacons Festival; it’s one of the only ones that we can stay at for a while, so we can party. I’m going to try and connect with my spiritual side at Secret Garden Party, which should be good.
We’re going to record our EP before all of this though. That’s what I’m most looking forward to – it feels like a long time since we put something out.