Q&A: Wolf Alice

Originally formed as an acoustic folk-rock pair with Ellie Rowsell and Joff Oddie, they rapidly filled out with the inclusion of a rhythm section (Joel Amey, percussion, and Theo Ellis, bass), to garner widespread critical acclaim and comparisons to genres raining from country to hardcore, grunge, dance and riot grrrl. There’s still a lack of a pigeonhole in which to stow the foursome, but while we come up with the proper convoluted genre (alt. Britcore? Grungegrrrl?), we can safely attest that they are three things: some form of rock band, immense wordsmiths, and friggin’ awesome.

‘Fluffy’ earned them some well-deserved hype. Its classic punk guitar licks and ’60s pop bass weave obligingly above a myriad of foot-stompin’ percussion and below a powerhouse duet from Wolf and Alice . The B-side, ‘White Leather’, is far more downtempo, showcasing a fragile side to the band – there’s clicking drums and shimmering lo-fi guitar noises as Roswell sounds at her most vulnerable. Their recent single, ‘Bros’, is the one that’s set to level a path towards international recognition. An ode to friendship, it’s got pop hooks and jangly chords, hacked vocal samples and breathy vox – Palma Violets may have ‘Best Of Friends’, but it can’t hold a candle to ‘Bros’.

We get up close and personal with most of the band, and discuss their humble beginnings, backstage habits and onstage evolution.

How did everything begin for you?

Joel Amey (Drums / vocals) : Joff and Ellie have been working together for a while and I joined in the summer of last year. Ended up staying on drums – Joff broke our old drummer’s arm! Then Sadie, who used to play bass, left and Theo came in and the rest is history.

Who/what would you say has had the biggest influence over your sound?

Ellie Rowsell (Vocals / guitar): Kings Of Leon, Pixies, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Queens Of The Stone Age, Patrick Wolf and a pint of turbo shandy.

What did you listen to growing up?

Joel: Everyone has had different upbringings with music, with the usual ‘classics’ of The Beatles, Bowie, The Who etc. chucked in for good measure. Personally my musical years started off as a little nu-metal weirdo, then nothing but hardcore punk and The Beach Boys for about five years until I saw The Horrors in a tiny club which sucked me into a world of weird vinyl collecting and dirty space sounds.

Ellie: I listened to whatever was thrown at me, whether that was from my dad, my friend’s big sister or Top Of The Pops. Was only when I was about 12 or 13 I started choosing music for myself and I should probably keep everything I chose to myself.

Theo Ellis (Bass): blink-182 was a big deal for me, that and when I got Blood Sugar Sex Magik by the Chili Peppers for Christmas. Again, The Horrors – they were the reason I found stuff like 13th Floor Elevators and Billy Childish. I think they encouraged a lot of kids to buy records they wouldn’t have found in their dad’s collections. Anything Josh Homme has ever done has influenced me.

What was the first record you bought?

Joel: Linkin Park – Hybrid Theory

Ellie: P!nk – Misunderstood

When did you know that you wanted to make music for a living?

Joel: From the moment I saw Joff, I knew we were all going to be millionaires.

Ellie: It’s a brave thing to really go for a career in music so its about working up the courage, which I think I only mustered up when I realised nothing else was going to make me quite as happy! (Deep, sorry…)

What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t in a band?

Joel: Professional Facebook user.

Ellie: An energy broker.

Which was the first song you wrote? What was it like?

Ellie: My cousin told me we wrote a song called ‘Hamster Poo’ which I didn’t remember until she sang it to me. It was alright. Better than ‘Bros’ but not as good as ‘Fluffy’.

How do you think that your songwriting has evolved over the years?

Ellie: It’s changed in numerous ways, I think its always retained some kind of pop element to it though and with a constant attention to lyrics.

We’ve seen two singles already this year. Does this mean you’re gearing up for a bigger release? EP/LP?

Ellie: Yes, I very much hope so. We have a lot of songs we want to share, it’s just about choosing the right ones.

How have recording/writing sessions for that been going?

Ellie: Great, we’ve started writing songs together much more which means we’re really developing a signature Wolf Alice sound. We really want to spend as much time in the recording studio as possible but it’s hard finding the time and funding.

How did you write and record ‘Fluffy’?

Ellie: I can’t remember. I think I had the basic chords and sang the riff over the top then Joff and I worked on the structure making it a bit more interesting. When we played it to Theo and Joel they saw it in the exactly same way we did and wrote the bass and drum parts to it.

How about ‘Bros’?

Ellie: I wrote ‘Bros’ on a whim. I wanted to make a video of my friend Sadie who used to play bass in Wolf Alice dancing. So I wrote it with that in mind about our friendship as kids, people always used to ask us if we were brothers ’cause we had terrible haircuts and really uncute, low voices. But yeah, I made a demo of it on my computer, it’s kinda electro and really chill. When I showed it to the guys, it transformed into some kind of indie anthem, probs ’cause it was sunny that day or something.

You’ve said ‘Bros’ is about friendship. Why is friendship important to you?

Ellie : ’Cause without it you’d probs be sad.

What are the top three most important things in your lives?

Joel: For me, it’s the other three, I can’t imagine life without these little freaky dudes, regardless of Wolf Alice.

Ellie: Sex and drugs and rock’n’roll. Nah, I dunno. Probably the ones I love – Wolf Alice and Becca – my best friend and part time teddy bear.

How was Live At Leeds for you?

Joel: Amazing, it was so busy which we really didn’t expect. Leeds is always so much fun. We hung out with Electric Guest and PINS who were all so great and then caught Unknown Mortal Orchestra‘s mind-bending set. Shout out to Bar Revival for the keyring.

What’s a show for Wolf Alice normally like?

Ellie: Awkward banter, a scissor kick, bear hugs and lots of fun.

Theo: And lots of jazz hands and smiling. Live is great, it’s where your songs are put to the test and you find out what works and what doesn’t for reals. We’ve started to notice that were getting quite comfortable on bigger stages, which is great. Slightly less rocking back’n’forth in the dressing room before hand too. And yeah, there’s normally a Busted jump thrown in for good measure.

Was it a good experience touring with Peace?

Ellie: We only did 3 shows I think but they’re a killer band live and we learnt a lot from them, mainly that we should practice more.

How do you wind down or psych yourself up backstage?

Joel: Jenga and warm beer followed by emotional breakdowns.