“When you Cry Wolf…”
There is the same satisfaction in finding a new amazing band or a new song that speaks to you, as there is in reading a new favourite book or discovering a film you love that you never know existed.
This is a feeling I experienced discovering the music of new band Mt Wolf. I say ‘new’, but this South London-based four piece has been on the scene for a while, taken under the wing of music bloggers in London, DJ-ing at Nevada’s Symbiosis Gathering festival last summer, performing countless intimate gigs across London’s key venues and headlining and selling out the recent XOYO gig in East London.
It’s always tricky pigeon-holing a new band into a genre, and Mt Wolf is no different. Fusing different elements of more ethereal folk (a la Bat for lashes and Sigur ros) with a bit of electronica (SBTRKT), they’re a band of differing influences that somehow fit perfectly when combined, managing to have an entirely unique sound that can transport you to a serene place instantly.
Guitarist Sebastian Fox, also known as ‘Bassi,’ explains, “We all grew up listening to different styles of music, and I guess the subconscious aim of Mt. Wolf is to marry different musical elements and soundscapes to form a hybrid of natural and electronic sounds.”
Coming together with a mutual love of the sea, Guernsey born-and-bred Stevie McMinn met fellow Dorset-born bandmate Sebastian Fox at music production school in Hoxton. An old friend of Stevie’s from Guernsey, Kate Sproule, then linked up with the two guys after her stint at Cambridge studying History and started experimenting with a shared love of musical influencers and a desire to play and record with real instruments. Alex Mitchell, Brighton born and also Stevie’s current housemate, came on board with his percussion influence to complete the foursome. And so Mt Wolf was born…
Fast forward a couple of years and Mt Wolf have released their first EP, with a second very closely in succession. The first offering of ‘Life Size Ghosts’ (the title track a personal favourite) has earned the band a place in Clash Magazine’s Ones to Watch for 2013 and a Mercury Music Prize nomination. Not bad for a still unsigned band…
Constantly wanting to explore and stretch themselves as a band, they explain how the songwriting process is a completely collaborative effort. With songs such as Life Size Ghosts, to almost-entirely-instrumental Starliner, to a darker edge with Cry Wolf, Mt Wolf are no doubt set to further up the ante with their new offering Hypolight.
“Each song starts differently, usually with one of us putting forward one idea and then others building around it,” Sproule says. “It’s a formula that requires all of us to be clear about what kind of music we want to write. Then we experiment within that.”
If you’re a fan of Mt Wolf’s own influences, you won’t be disappointed, with the foursome citing the likes of Bon Iver, James Blake, Jamie XX and Alt J as favourites. These are musicians who live and breathe music and will continue making it until forced otherwise. This down-to-earth, talented and passionate band are only destined for greater things – enjoy before they become huge (you heard it here first).
Buy the Life Size Ghosts EP here
Check out their official website for all upcoming gigs and DJ sets here
Mt Wolf soundcloud shows all their tracks, including the ones ripe for remixing that have been picked up by the likes of Hiatus and Catching Flies
The official video for Life Size Ghosts:
Have you found any new great music recently?
LMNH x
so haunting/beautiful!
Beautiful. Thanks for sharing!