Wolf Alice: Feeling Vulnerable In The World Of Modern Popularity

In 2016, English rock quartet Wolf Alice took part in something far from your regular rockumentary. On The Road followed the band on a British tour, but inserted a pair of fictional characters into their world; charting a flower romance between two members of the band's road crew. The film was the work of Michael Winterbottom, who worked with real concert footage (and real sex) with 9 Songs, and made the classic rock flick 24 Hour Party People. For the band at the centre of the production, the film was a strange case of novel and business as usual.

"It was a case of 'just carry on as you are', and so we did," says Ellie Rowsell, Wolf Alice's singer/guitarist. "You don't want to start thinking 'how am I going to be portrayed?' Or worrying that it felt like too much. I just made sure the cameras and the mics weren't on when I didn't want them to be. I watched the film and really, I'm not even in it that much. I just kept out of the way a lot. You don't have to let the presence of the camera crew convince you that you have to give everything of you. It's okay if the camera just sees one side of us."

Weighing up how much to give is something Rowsell thinks about often, especially in regards to social media, where she often speaks out on social issues. "If I feel strongly about something — for example, politics — I don't have to put that in my lyrics," she says. "I can share my views outside of the music. People want a lot more from you, they want to know everything about you, fandom feels quite extreme these days. [But] I feel like I have to be really sure in what I'm saying, and make sure it can't be perceived in any other way. It's a really intimidating prospect."

The intimidation comes because of the online tendency to make mountains out of molehills, but also ever-lurking trolls and the social media currency of abuse. "I do feel a sense of vulnerability," Rowsell offers. "Everyone grows up making mistakes, and if everyone's watching you all the time, then your mistakes are going to be there for people to scrutinise. I think, often, people who have any celebrity status are scrutinised infinitely more so than the normal person, which is quite scary. But then also, I have the privilege to have a platform to share my ideas and opinions, and that's also a very powerful and exciting thing."

While Rowsell found press in 2017, for railing against the Tories and backing Labor candidate Jeremy Corbyn in the UK election, she's glad that the year was defined by the release of Wolf Alice's second LP, Visions Of A Life. (Their 2018 is defined, thus far, by their tour of Australia for Laneway, where Rowsell befriended Moses Sumney and hung with the boys from Shame, and the band spent downtime at beaches.) Rowsell felt far different, making her second album than she had when writing Wolf Alice's debut, 2015's My Love Is Cool.

"If I had an idea but was too embarrassed to suggest it, on the first album, I'd just sit there and would keep my mouth shut. On the second album, I was more like, 'What have I got to lose? I might as well try,'" she says.

The goal was "to be bolder and braver in [their] experimenting", something the band's growing confidence allowed them to do. After feeling "a sense of freedom" on their early singles and EPs, Rowsell was worried that they'd lost it as their stature had grown. "What I've learnt most is not letting go of those things that you felt at the start, to not try and normalise your work too much," she offers. "Although, maybe the fact that we did normalise our work, helped us get to where we are today. I guess it's a catch-22. But now, we don't have to do that. We have a host of loyal fans, which can allow you to take risks. The bigger you are, the less you have to normalise your work."