TLOBF Interview // Wolf People

It is increasingly difficult in this day and age to put a finger on the pulse of what constitutes popularity regarding anything other than the saccharine, platinum-selling pop that gets shoved down our throats daily. However, crammed into Bristol venue The Cooler on a typically rainy Monday night in February, it becomes apparent that the power of word-of-mouth is not waning. It is also quite clear, as they take to the stage, that, despite their worry once that “hairy record collector types” would be their only audience, Wolf People are a band on the way up. The congregation assembled tonight consists of both young and old. Local eccentric ‘Big Jeff’ more than makes up the “hairy” quota, and anoraks are seldom to be seen. All of this confirms certain suspicions that it might be becoming cool to be able to actually play an instrument again. Or maybe musical trends and scenes don’t really exist anymore in the internet era.

This, and a host of other topics, the band were eager to discuss as we squeezed into the less-than- luxurious ‘backstage’ area above The Cooler. Whether pondering the pros and cons of illegal downloads or swapping their favourite Mark E. Smith and Captain Beefheart stories, Wolf People spoke with the eagerness of a band that are actually enjoying themselves. That they are refreshingly non-jaded, unlike so many other bands on the gigging circuit, comes across in their camaraderie and their live performance that night: a powerful juggernaut of riffs, soaring vocals and explosive instrumental sections. Bassist Dan Davies is keen to point out that there is nothing self- indulgent about Wolf People’s music, though.“The jams we do, they’re not prog-rock jams and they’re not just wig-outs, they’re kind of structured and they’ve got melody. I guess we work from a place of melody doing that kind of thing.”

First impressions might reveal Wolf People, with their self- professed indebtedness to 60s and 70s progressive rock, to be a carbon copy of that kind of music. Drummer, Tom Watt, jokingly describes them as “kind of like Jethro Tull without the flute”, a nod to some of the obviously lazy press that has dogged the band. In addition to their dismay at being categorized as “just another ‘wolf ’ band,” some journalists seem to have taken their groove-laden, flute-driven lead single ‘Tiny Circle’ as an excuse to “pigeon-hole” the band as mere Tull impersonators. “It’s amazing how some journalists get away with it. If you get up and do a whole gig out of key you’d get booed off, but journalists will say anything,” recounts guitarist Joe Hollick. “We did a set at Green Man where a review said how good the flute playing was and the flute player wasn’t even there.”

Just as the band members are from all over the country, their influences are diverse to an extent that only a true music fanatic’s could be. “One band that doesn’t get checked very much when people talk about us is Television,” Davies begins. “The way they jam on the track ‘Marquee Moon,’ for me that’s quite a big thing. I think you can hear that in the way Jack and Joe play guitar together.” The group muse over the links between Television and Fairport Convention – a band with more obvious sonic associations to Wolf People. It is a connection that at first seems unlikely, but as soon as Hollick points out that “Tom Verlaine is huge Richard Thompson fan,” it all falls into place.

Though their music might be full of heavy riffs and lead guitar lines that nod, perhaps unintentionally, to bands like Led Zeppelin, Wolf People do not evince any of the excessive rock and roll clichés of yesteryear. “We were quite happy just trundling along and being quite independent,” jokes Hollick, in reference to their signing to American label Jagjaguwar. The closest we get to debauched anecdotes is the story of labelmates Black Mountain “asking, for a dog on their backstage rider for petting, then forgetting they’d put it on there. The promoter put one in their dressing room, and they thought, ‘What the hell’s a dog doing here?’” But that is the crux of what makes kicking back with Wolf People so enjoyable. In their own words, “there’s no bullshit”, they’re not in it to make money. There’s no money to be made anyway; they take a grass-roots, authentic approach, and it’s clear the band is slowly gathering a decent amount of hype.

On the eve of their third Bristol show in less than a year, it’s clear that this city holds some fond memories for the band. Watt reminisces about “Driving through the night at 200mph, trying to get a record for the M4. What did we do it in? 15 minutes.” Tonight’s gig, as well as the band’s gracious sense of humour suggests that Wolf People’s future looks very bright indeed. Questioned as to what this future holds, Watt grins and replies, “Our first proper European tour, lasting as long as it can without losing our jobs and our girlfriends. We’ll do a few festivals over summer and then start on a new album.” Just the way it should be.

Wolf People – Silbury Sands