Interview with Wolforna

Ready to charge back into the Leeds music scene after such a turbulent year, this time armed with their new EP, ‘Harlequin’, it’s Wolforna.

wolforna-interview-record-weekly — *Image credit: Wolforna*

RECORD WEEKLY’S INTERVIEW WITH WOLFORNA

Hey guys, how are you doing?

Surviving! Nah, it’s all good. Looking forward to being able to walk up to a bar mask-less though, for sure.

What’s the vibe like among you at the moment, with restrictions easing and things progressing back to normal?

The vibes are definitely improving in the Wolforna camp with stuff easing up. Buzzing to be back in the practise room and studio. Things seem to be returning to normal, but the live music scene isn’t quite where it needs to be yet! We do have a few gigs lined up for the summer though, so that’s something to be excited about.

Definitely! What have been the biggest sticking points or issues you’ve faced as a band since the pandemic began?

I think the main thing we really missed was actually jamming together. When COVID first kicked off, we actually each wrote a lot of material and shared demos with each other… That’s where a lot of the new EP came from! We were just keen to actually play and develop the tunes as a band, so when things eased up, we were straight back at it.

Now, let’s take it back to how you guys started — how and when did you form Wolforna?

Funnily enough, Wolforna actually used to be exclusively a three-piece acoustic act! We played a few local gigs, wrote and released a couple tunes (‘The Fleet’ and ‘Better Watch Your Back’), but we hit a point where we played a couple gigs in Leeds and were like, “nah, it’s time for a bigger sound, let’s get a drummer”. So, we did! We’ve actually just got our second one. Not planning on going down the Spinal Tap route though…

Which artists have influenced your sound the most?

It’s a mixed bag. One of the coolest things about our sound is that it’s really varied, because we each like different kinds of music.

The main vibe is definitely your standard rock, so the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Biffy Clyro, Royal Blood… But then there’s other elements like Pink Floyd, The Black Keys, Led Zeppelin. There’s also inevitably some indie stuff — Arctic Monkeys (who didn’t listen to them religiously way back when?). But I wouldn’t say we’re indie — far from it.

What are your favourite things about the Leeds music scene?

From the few gigs we’ve actually been able to play in the city, the venues are definitely a big attraction. There are some top places like Verve, Oporto, The Key Club, Lending Room, so no lack of gaffs.

Definitely no shortage of top-class bands either! We’re looking forward to getting out there and meeting more of them as restrictions ease.

You’ve just released an EP, ‘Harlequin’. Tell us more about that and how it’s been received.

Well, it’s our debut EP and contains four tracks, including the second single we released as a four-piece, ‘In His Dreams’.

After we’d been playing together with our original drummer for a few months, we gelled more as a band and found a sound that we all liked and developed these tracks from there. We’re all really happy with how it turned out and, so far, it’s been received quite well, too. It’s been played all over the world and it even made to number two in an Australian chart!

Aw incredible! What’s next in line for the band then?

We’ve got a pretty busy schedule lined up — just going full throttle with it. Like we said earlier, we’ve just got ourselves a new drummer (shout-out to Theo!), so we’re working on getting our set ready for live performances.

We’ve got a couple gigs planned in for the summer; the first one’s at Verve in Leeds on 23rd July, then Lending Room on 20th August.

In terms of new music, now ‘Harlequin’ has been released, we’re onto new material, looking to release a single sometime soon… So, watch this space for more Wolforna!