Wolf Alice ‘My Love Is Cool’ Interview

Releasing their debut album, returning to Glastonbury and playing at Splendour In The Grass this year, we had a chat with Wolf Alice’s Theo Ellis to find out how this exciting band are coping with superstardom.

Hi Theo, where in the world are you at the moment?
Right now, I’m in my mum’s house [Laughs] I think this is actually the first day off we’ve had in three months. There’s no one here and the house looks like a bomb’s hit it. I’m just hanging out in rubbish, basically!

Before we get onto your upcoming album, you’ve been announced to play Glastonbury and Splendour In The Grass; how are you feeling about the upcoming summer?
I think this summer’s going to be a little bit easier than it has been lately; we’ve been relentlessly on tour and we’re flying back to America next week, but it should be pretty busy. It’s not a bad way to spend the summer!

How were your festival experiences last year? Wasn’t it your debut at Glastonbury?
Yeah, that was petrifying. That’s one of the scariest moments we’ve ever had as a band. I remember Ellie kind of crying just before we went on. We’re excited to go back this year; just a bit more competent, older and better at our instruments.

So have you developed in the last year?
Yeah, this has been our most formative year as a live band and recording. We’re almost a different band just from experiencing so many gigs and playing nearly every day.

The album, ‘My Love Is Cool’, is released on 22^nd June. When we spoke to Joel last year, he said that it was written at the time of the ‘Creature Songs’ EP…
We’ve had an album written for a long time, but we were afforded a bit more time so some of the songs are a few months old and others are five years old. So it has always been written, but it would have been different if we hadn’t taken the time we have.

How do you feel now that it’s finally coming out?
Excited! Kind of nervous. It’s weird for other people to have your songs and criticise them and pick holes in them, it’s like sending your kids to school.

But with the previous material you’ve brought out, does this make you more confident?
Oh, we’ve made an album that we’re all really proud of and I’m confident that people will like it, they might be a bit shocked by it because there’s some quite different sides to us – it’s not just a straight down the middle rock record.

 Not at all. You’ve got the slow, haunting opening track, ‘Turn To Dust’ and the riotous ‘You’re A Gem’ and ‘Bros’. What do you think it says about you as band?
That we’re fucking weird. It’s a bit schizophrenic, but it just shows how many different sides there are to us and how we’re inspired by a lot of different types of music. It’s very much a first album; it’s a collection of songs rather than a narrative.

Do you have a favourite track?
It changes every day, I actually haven’t listened to it in a month or two. I’m looking at the test pressing of the vinyl right now, so I’m going to listen to it later. But ‘Silk’ is my favourite today – just because it’s so fucking weird! It’s unconventional, it’s full of characters and it’s a strange song. And it’s really cool to play live; we’ve been rehearsing in a room in West London and we were all making weird voices.

Talking of playing live, you’ve completed your UK tour, you’re embarking on your US tour, do you have any favourite venues or gigs?
Shepherd’s Bush was amazing – we had a confetti canon that went off for a minute. That was cool but it cost loads of money. The Olympia in Dublin is one of my favourite venues in the world, and there’s a few across America, but I think I need to experience it a couple more times.

You’re returning to Australia in July; what did you get up to last year?
I went in the sea for, like, seven hours. And burnt myself. We got kicked out of an oyster restaurant… A lot of swimming, lying down – it was really nice! I can’t wait to go back.

Is there anything you’d like to do this time around?
I want to go cage diving with sharks. I really, really want to do it. I think it costs loads of money as well, so if anyone in Australia wants to pay for me to go cage diving, it would be really appreciated!

Finally, can you describe each member of Wolf Alice with one word?
Ok, Joff can be horse, Joel can be a small hippo, Ellie can be a cat, and I imagine I would be a leopard, but obviously that’s me wanting to be a leopard, not a fucking meerkat or something…

By Charlotte Mellor
@cmellor_03