Ellie and Pablo from Burn FM caught up with Wolf Alice guitarist Joff on the phone. They talked about their rapid growth, their crazy touring and in insight into their debut album.
So where are you at the moment?
In Hamburg! No idea what the venue is called, it’s all moulding into one at the moment. We’re away supporting Alt-j in their European tour, it’s been fun!
You recently supported Alt-J in the o2 arena in front of 20’000 people, how was that?
It was definitely the biggest venue and bulk of people we’ve played to, even including festivals. It’s pretty amazing to walk out to that many people whether it’s your show or not. It’s a good opportunity to show people what you do and if they like it then they can come and support us after.
So 2015 has had a solid start, can you give us an overview of last year’s highlights?
At the beginning we had 1 EP out and playing smaller venues. We were then away of tour with the 1975 too in the UK which was cool because it was one of the first time we played a real big venue.
Playing some festivals like Glastonbury for the first time was very exciting too. And finally we also managed to track the album.
So a pretty full on year but I think this year’s going to completely out do it. We’ve already been to Australia, US and some of Europe!
How has the response been abroad? You haven’t even got an album out yet but you’re already playing big shows.
We found it really bizarre to see all our shows in LA and NY sell out bearing in mind we’re so far out. It’s like how the hell did you guys even hear about us?!
All your EP’s have lots of variation in sound. What’s the kind of sound the band is aiming for the album?
I think the album is very varied, there’s the heavy stuff and there’s the pop-ier stuff. We look up to bands who are forever in progression and don’t limit themselves to a sound.
And how do you tend to write songs?
It varies all the time. We’re all writers and we all contribute, so sometimes someone will come along with a complete song or maybe a riff or a concept. Then it can get finished in either Joel’s bedroom in his mum’s house or in the studio. It’s completely random.
What are the major influences within the band?
There’s a handful of bands which we all enjoy listening like queen of the stone ages, velvet underground. But there’s still some individual influences from everyone like grime or punk.
And if you guys weren’t in a band what do you reckon you’d be doing?
Well I was just finishing my special needs teacher training before Wolf Alice kicked off. Theo would probably be working in a bar and Joel would probably be selling beads in Camden market.
So what can you tell us about the new album?
We recorded in Livingston Studios in North London. It’s going to be released sometime around June, it’s just being mastered at the moment. Mike Crossey our producer was really great at getting performances out of each one of us too. He does all the nerdy and dark arts stuff to make it sound big and get the right vibe.
Hopefully people like it, if not we’re out of jobs.
