Defiantly Glam: an Interview with Wolf Gang

Defiantly Glam: an Interview with Wolf Gang

05 July, 2011
by: Mewcy

We want to be in your gang...

Max McElligott had better be prepared for being a bit busy for the next few months. The man behind the simmering, sparkling storm that is Wolf Gang is set to see him and his band explode onto the scene when debut album 'Suego Faults' is finally released later this month. It's taken it's time to reach us and most of us will have seen them play by now- their glitteringly dramatic dream pop has been a hit across the land. 

If you haven't, then imagine Mika. Then imagine him not being an utter twerp. Then throw some actual decent tunes into the mix, and an engaging live show that doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out. Okay, maybe they're hardly like Mika at all. Perhaps it's just the synth and dance aspects that flirted with the illusion for a millisecond just then- stop panicking and running away. We only need to start worrying when Wolf Gang becomes the music to a soppy montage on a TV talent show. 

How did a creative lad like you come to fall into London's School of Economics anyway..? 

I went to the LSE to study social anthropology which wasn't quite as boring as economics, it's all about human cultures around the world. It's actually an incredibly mind expanding degree, there's loads of creativity and imagination in there, stories about rituals or beliefs or even learning about kinds of music played around the world. 

The learning was always played out on an intellectual level but there was loads to be inspired by creatively as well. I'm naturally quite inquisitive anyway so I really enjoyed it. 

So, having decided Uni wasn't for you and getting straight into this- a couple of years down the line has this begun to feel like a 'job' yet? 

Not really, I still can't believe I'm doing it for real, I love it. There is no one out there whose job I envy. 

With the sweetness of your pop, inspiration from dreams and your willingness to follow your heart and ambitions... is it safe to assume you're a bit of a romantic? 

Definitely. It's a philosophy that I'm having a love affair with. 

There is a strong sense of glamour in your sound- did living and working in a city like London help inspire some of that? 

I think maybe it just references the theatrical side to my personality, which I think I've always had, even as a small child growing up in Scotland. I guess living in London for the past five years hasn't done anything to harm the glam though... 

In a lot of ways your imagination and subconscious seem to be your co-writers, have you ever thought about keeping a dream diary? 

I'm too unreliable to keep any sort of diary, but I would like to sit down at some stage and write a novel. 

Fantastical imagery suits your sound perfectly- did you happen to write a lot of stories as a kid? 

I loved creative writing as a child; it was what I always got my best marks in at school. I would run with an imagined idea to the point of almost believing it was real. It's the same when I role-play in front of friends, I never know when to stop and always end up freaking them out a bit... 

Your live shows have the vibe of being theatrical performances as much as being a gig- what mind set are you in as you approach the stage? 

I always try and feel a bit defiant before I go on stage, I think to myself I'm going to have fun no matter what the crowd is like or how many people there are. 

Well, it feels like you've been a name on a lot of people's lips for some time now- how does it feel to very nearly have the record out at last? 

The build up has been pretty steady but I'm hoping people will still be pleasantly surprised when they hear the album in it's entirety, there are one or two album tracks on there that I'm particularly proud of. Yeah, it feels exciting! 

'Suego Faults' is released on 25th July on Warner Records.
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Mewcy