Wolf Alice: 'We're finding this year’s Brits weirder than the first time round'

It seems fair to say that Wolf Alice have had mixed fortunes at music industry awards ceremonies. Still, at least they have been invited regularly, which isn’t something many young guitar bands can say in these days when rock is dead and grime, hip-hop, R&B, dance-pop and Ed Sheeran (who is all of the above) are running merry riot.

The north London four-piece attended the 2016 Grammys. They went with a Best Rock Performance nomination for debut album track Moaning Lisa Smile, and with what frontwoman Ellie Rowsell describes as “brutal hangovers”.

“We went to anything we got invited to, mate, ’cause you don’t think it will happen again!” bass player Theo Ellis notes cheerfully.

Through the haze of alcohol he can recall Run DMC sitting in front of them in Los Angeles’ cavernous Staples Centre. “Then Taylor Swift comes on, first thing, confetti everywhere, and Rev Run goes, ‘I f***ing hate confetti’ as he brushed it off his hat,” he laughs.

Their first Brit Awards, the same year, were a little less starry. They were nominated in the British Breakthrough Act category. Singer/guitarist Rowsell was “really ill, but I wasn’t not gonna go. It was fun. Ant and Dec hosted, didn’t they? That was exciting for me. I grew up with them. They’re like brothers to me!” she says.

They lost out to Catfish and the Bottlemen — but did they meet anyone famous? They think not. “We tried to go to the after-party but they wouldn’t let us go down the red carpet. We had to go in the back door,” harrumphs Ellis, 25. “It didn’t feel like we were nominated or whatever.”

Still, at least the people who matter noticed. “Now my nan thinks I’m a millionaire,” says Ellis. “I have to tell her I’m not. We’re an independent band on an independent label — I think we’re quite out-there for a Brit nomination. It’s really cool for our music to enter that realm, the Little Mix world.”

Rowsell adds: “My mum says she actually doesn’t remember the night because she invited mates round and drank so much because it was such a fun night. Sounds like she had a better time than me.” She smiles, not displeased at the notion.

But two years is a long time in pop music, just like three weeks in freezing January is a long time on tour in Europe. It’s an icy Sunday in Oslo, the final night of the latest leg of a world tour that began last summer, before the September release of second album Visions of a Life. I’m talking to Wolf Alice backstage at the John Dee club. With a capacity of 400, it’s at the smaller end of the venues they’re playing these days. They did 1,000 in Prague and their last hometown show, at the end of November, was at the 10,000-capacity Alexandra Palace.

That step-up in their UK fortunes is one reason Wolf Alice are this year nominated in the Brits’ British Group category. They’re duking it out with Gorillaz, London Grammar, Royal Blood and The xx. It’s an all-London bout, if we claim Royal Blood’s Brighton base as the capital-on-sea and ignore for a second what Ellis describes as Gorillaz’s “700 members” and focus on east London-born, Notting Hill-domiciled leader Damon Albarn.

“I find this year’s Brits weirder than the first time round,” admits Rowsell. A commanding, whirling, vocally stunning presence onstage, she’s nervy off it (in interviews, at least). So much so that she occasionally stutters between syllables. “When it was about being that breakthrough act and finding your feet and the buzz about you as a new band…” she tails off.

“To think we’re now in a position where we’re perceived as one of the older, established bands,” chips in Ellis, who’s accompanying her on interview duties (guitarist Joff Oddie and drummer Joel Amey are hiding in their dressing room). “I mean, Gorillaz! I bought their first album and wrote the lyrics out.”

As part of Brits Week, Wolf Alice were in Manchester yesterday, playing a show in support of War Child, official partner charity of the awards. In the brief weeks since Oslo they’ve been back to London for two days (in which time they shot a video) before heading off to Australia, Singapore and India. But they weren’t going to miss out on the chance to support the cause.

“It’s just one of the most distressing of crimes,” states Rowsell, “to ignore children in conflict.”

Equally, it’s of a piece with the band’s increasingly politically engaged stance, something that’s come naturally to them and to their youthful, refreshingly gender-mixed audience.

“When we played the anti-austerity march last year,” she says, referring to the July 1 protest in London, at which they led the crowd in chants of “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn”, “there were loads of young girls and boys at the front with Wolf Alice T-shirts and glitter on their faces. That was cool.”

Still, there’s a politically engaged elder statesman from whom they’re not taking cues. I start to mention Bono’s recent quote about music having “gotten very girly”. He elaborated: “Hip hop is the only place for young male anger at the moment — and that’s not good… When I was 16 I had a lot of anger in me. You need to find a place for it and for guitars.”

“OK…” interjects Rowsell.

“She’s been waiting to be asked about this!” beams Ellis.

“That really annoyed me,” she says. “I read it and that was wild. That was so embarrassing. For him. I was really angry about it. It was sexist to both men and women. And then to give examples of what rock should be like.” She shakes her head. “It was so old-school and backwards. And you can’t say ‘girly’ as a bad thing any more.”

“He uses that as a negative adjective!” exclaims Ellis. “Bono — top w***er!”

“There’s your headline!” laughs Rowsell. “I don’t think Bono’s a top w***er! But I think he was very wrong to say those things.”

Here’s hoping Wolf Alice do triumph tonight. At least their winners’ speech might have a bit of spice.

The Brit Awards are on ITV tonight at 8pm.