Wolf Alice shot by Jenn Five
Wolf Alice love LA. They come here often and every time parts of them remain here, and not just pieces of their hearts—memories of weird nights are built and swiftly lost, vital possessions go missing (credit cards, a passport), portions of their dignity die here never to be resuscitated. What remains, however, is the impression they make, which is why a line has already formed outside the Fonda Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard on the fourth consecutive day of brain-warping 100 plus degree heat. It’s October in the City of Angels. Some of the banner-wielding fans here have been stalking them since a show in Arizona three nights previously. Wolf Alice—like 90s Britpop stalwarts Blur—are undoubtedly a rock band, but one filled with four pop personas, lending themselves perfectly to fans who want to cut out their favorite member and adorn their school binders with their images. There’s Ellie Rowsell (frontwoman, bookworm, funny without intending to be), Theo Ellis (bassist, punk, harmless riot instigator), Joff Oddie (guitarist, wilds out onstage like he’s in a prog rock band), and Joel Amey (drummer, wilds out offstage like he wants to be in any band).
In 2015, it’s not enough to just look alluring and exotic thanks to forming across the Atlantic. British bands need to put the legwork in to make a dent Stateside. My Love Is Cool—the foursome’s debut record—shot into the British charts at number two this past summer, losing out to Florence & The Machine by a whimper when her third LP enjoyed a last-minute sales surge following a triumphant headline performance at Glastonbury festival. They needn’t feel too mopey though: last week they were shortlisted for the UK’s prestigious Mercury Music Prize. My Love Is Cool is a record that communicates blasts of screaming anguish (“Your Love’s Whore”) and moments of whispering romance (“Swallowtail”); poppy odes to friendship (“Bros”) and fizzy indie club tunes (“Freazy”). It’s erratic, like all searching debut albums from bands who are yet to fully form one sound.
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The North London-based band have built their gigs and fanbase at home over the course of two years, first in support of indie brethren Peace and Swim Deep, then headlining dingy London clubs like Dingwalls and Scala. Between all that, they’ve repeatedly slingshoted their way across the ocean to perform in America. In nine months, they’ve gone from planting a seed at a midnight Bardot showcase for 100 people, to headlining the legendary Fonda, which is 10 times bigger. Days before they arrive in LA, they played a hometown show to 5,000 fans at London’s Brixton Academy.
But backstage they’re as hungry as they would have been at Brixton, which might have something to do with the energy rush Ellie and Theo are experiencing thanks to the vitamin B-12 shots injected in their “arses.” Sounds fun. “It’s time to do some ironing!” says Theo, grabbing his favorite gold shirt, showing off his latest tattoo. There’s a new one every time I see Theo, which is once every six to eight weeks. He doesn’t like when I make fun of the one that looks like a blackened rectangle. It’s supposed to be a pint of Guinness.
In the bowels of the Fonda it smells of boys. Dozens of boys. Roadies, managers, photographers, security guards… Ellie, a lone wolf (and—for the last time—not named Alice), sits on a couch with a cup of tea. She’s glad to share her struggle with a rare female companion. Tomorrow they’ve been blessed with their first day off in a long while and, for once, they’ve scored individual hotel rooms overlooking a pool. A journalist took her in a car to help her find an H&M so that she could buy a bikini to enjoy the facilities, and not only did said journalist take her on a wild goose chase around the city, but once located, the H&M betrayed her. “They only had bottoms. No tops,” says Ellie, miffed. “It’s not the type of hotel you can go swimming in your underwear. It’s posh! They have rules.”
It’s coming to the end of this headline tour and Sheffield exports Drenge have been in the bust with them for the ride. Now swollen to a threesome to beef up the sound of the Loveless brothers (Rory on drums, Eoin on guitar), Drenge are one step ahead of Wolf Alice: performing in support of their second record, Undertow, a collection of lean, mean psychedelic riff-heavy songs with zero fat. Together, Drenge and Wolf Alice are two of Britain’s finest new bands, pushing the quality of breakthrough rock performance and also showing how versatile the genre can be. If Drenge are the murky smash in the gut that comes with downing a pint of Northern ale, Wolf Alice are the bittersweet, champagne sensation in your stomach once the bloating’s settled. And because of sentences like that, we felt the best thing to do was to have Ellie and Eoin answer questions together about what it’s like to tear up the great US of A…
Continues below.
Drenge
Noisey: Do you find alone time difficult on a shared bus?
Ellie Rowsell (Wolf Alice): I’ve got to the stage now where I don’t want any alone time! I don’t want to think.
Eoin Loveless (Drenge): Whereas I love being alone. I spend most of my time running away from the bus.
What have been some of your weirdest finds across America?
Ellie: I’m into psychic shops that sell tarot cards and have hexes on the walls. I bought a book on how to read people’s futures. I haven’t used it on Eoin yet.
Eoin: I’ve become at one with nature. We drove through Nebraska for two days, exploring these amazing deserts.
When did Drenge and Wolf Alice first fall for each other?
Ellie: I first heard of them when they were playing shows with Mystery Jets. Those Mystery Jets are fortunetellers when it comes to great future bands…
Eoin: I first saw Wolf Alice when they were supporting Splashh at The 100 Club [in London]. I came downstairs into the venue with my beer and I hadn’t signed a record deal yet. I remember shouting: WHO ARE THESE? THEY’RE GREAT. We first hung out at Best Kept Secret festival.
Ellie: That was three years ago. That was mad!
What happened?
Ellie: It was the first time I ever went to a festival where there was a backstage bit for artists. I was like [shouts] OH MY GOD I’M BACKSTAGE! I was stealing the food and someone told me it was free, and I was so excited. IT’S FREE! OH MY GOD!
Eoin: It was the worst festival I’ve ever been to because there’s free booze everywhere.
Isn’t that good?
Eoin: No! both times I went there it ended up with something breaking.
Ellie: I have a video of you smashing a lamp with your head.
Eoin: Yeah! And then another time I almost got kicked out.
What do you add to each other’s tours in terms of vibe?
Eoin: We’re vibe killers.
Ellie: No, you’re not.
Eoin: Well, when I text Theo [Ellis, bassist] to ask if Wolf Alice needed someone to support them in the States I hadn’t heard the record and thought, “This is gonna be great! Guitars and stuff!” Then I remember listening to the record thinking, Oh God! It’s really quite poppy.” I was terrified we’d come out onstage and rock out and people would think we’re terrible.
Ellie: That works in your favor more than ours! Everyone thought we were going to make this really dark, heavy album. And now we come out onstage and people go, “Fuck! At least I got to see Drenge!”
Eoin: Can I ask a question? I prepared some on my iPhone…
Ellie: I didn’t prepare any questions. Was I supposed to?
Go ahead, Eoin.
Eoin: Ellie, last night you played “90 Mile Beach” which you haven’t played on the tour before. You also played your cover of [Chris Isaak’s] “Wicked Game.” There was a country vibe about you in those early days. Your tracks got rockier when “You’re A Germ” and “Moaning Lisa Smile” came out. And now you’ve got this weird sad pop thing… So I just wondered where it’s gonna go next?
Ellie: I can’t speak for all of us but… there’s a communal feeling that we wanna do something which we know we’ll have the most fun playing live. Our sad pop songs are really fun to record and write but they’re not that fun to play…
Do you not like playing “Swallowtail” then, Ellie?
Ellie: Uhhhh… nah! Hahahaha!
Eoin [interjecting]: But you get to rock out at the end!
Ellie: Yeah, that’s the thing. I’m like, “Oh phew! It’s the end!” But the faster songs are easier to perform.
Drenge’s album Undertow is out now via Infectious.
Eve Barlow feels like an Eve Barlow, but always offstage. Follow her on Twitter.
Mere
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