Ellery Roberts From 'Wu Lyf'
Manchester 4-piece Wu Lyf are heading our way next year for the touring St. Jerome's Laneway Festival, which takes place in Auckland on Monday 30th January (Auckland Anniversary Weekend) at Silo Park.
Wu Lyf, which is pronounced "Woo Life" and stands for "World Unite Lucifer Youth Foundation", have fast been making strides within the music world. They released their debut album 'Go Tell Fire To The Mountain' earlier this year to rave reviews and was released without the representation of a major record label. The Guardian commented that they were probably the "Most talked-about new British band of the last year" while BBC's Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe named their track 'Dirt' as the 'Hottest Record'.
We were lucky enough to secure an interview with band member Ellery Roberts and found out a little more about this band which rarely gives interviews.
When and how did Wu Lyf form?
We formed when we were young. We've been doing it properly since about the summer of 2008... I say properly in the way that it kind of felt what we were doing was worthwhile. I've always played in bands since I was about 13, but members or whatever kind of moved in and out. By 2009 it was the four of us, which is Wu Lyf. People started encouraging us to do more and it sort of developed from there.
And you're all still based in Manchester?
Yeah, we all live in and around Manchester. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the place. I think it's the people that make the city what it is and I've got a real good gang of people that I hang around with. But as a city it's kind of boring. It's pretty quiet, which some might say inspires creativity because there is nothing to do. There's no distractions, you just have to make your own fun. But on the other hand I'd kind of like to live near the sea... somewhere that is sunny.
You released your debut album 'Go Tell Fire To The Mountain' earlier this year which was recorded in a church. How did the idea for that come about?
We recorded a 12" inch in a studio, and although we were proud of the final product it took a while to get there and found the whole experience of being in a studio quite sedate. It was like making music by numbers... it didn't feel particularly creative. So we all discussed it and wanted to record the album live and play together at the same time to capture the energy and sound of it. Reverb had become quite a significant, should we say, part of our sound. So it kind of made sense to record it in a place with reverb... natural reverb, cause you can't really fake it.
So we were wandering around Manchester trying to find a sizeable space where we could record. And just by chance we came across this little chapel in this area that we never really go to. We were actually looking at a different kind of factory space down the road from it. The chapel door was open cause some event had just finished taking place... it was a real lucky coincidence. Within a couple of phone calls we had managed to secure it for three weeks and yeah, recorded the record there.
And how did the recording process work for the first album?
We had all the songs, so it was just three weeks of recording it and playing around. We had all the songs finished but not polished at all, so within that three weeks we played them differently and got to know them a little more. Most of the songs on the record were written when we were 16 or 17. The songs feel real old... like we've been playing them for a long time.
You've resisted the temptation to sign with one of the major record labels. What made you decide to go it alone?
A bunch of reasons. Creative control... issues like that. There wasn't really much that a record label could provide us with that we couldn't do for ourselves. It might have been easier and been a simpler ride if we'd had signed to a label, but it's also been a lot more exciting and a lot more creative. Although having never been signed to a label before it's hard to compare it, but the labels are finding it harder and harder to exist. You don't really need them, just a manager who knows what he's doing.
Your sound has been described as ‘heavy pop'. Would that be a fair description?
Yeah, that would be a fair one. I guess that was a phrase that we sort of started calling it. We had set up a monthly residency called ‘Play Heavy Pop' in Manchester. It's what we kind of aspire to make. Pop music with heaviness... but not necessarily a heavy sound.
Wu Lyf is definitely quite a mysterious band. Are you all fairly private people?
Yeah, I'd say so. Private and socially introverted, just like most people who become musicians. I find it a lot easier to talk to people anonymously on the stage than in an actual conversation.
I guess the bottom line is we were just entertaining ourselves. And it wasn't particularly entertaining to us to be like "Hi I'm Ellery, I live here, I do this and I like this". I don't know, we just liked having a little bit more fun and be a little bit more open minded with what we were doing you know?
You're heading to New Zealand next year for the St. Jerome's Laneway Festival. Will this be your first visit here?
Yes, it will be. I've heard good things about the beautiful countryside and the people. Yeah, it should be fun.
What can someone expect from a Wu Lyf show if they've never seen you play before
I think we are all quite physical performers. I'm not a big fan of watching people not give anything on stage. Every performance we give is quite physically challenging in that we put quite a lot of ourselves into it... passion... call it whatever you want to call it. So you'll hear great hits, pop songs, songs to dance to, songs to cry to... the whole bag you know?
Is Wu Lyf planning to head back to the studio in the near future for a follow up album?
We're going to wrap up touring by the end of April, then take some time out and work on a new record. We're working on new material at the moment but need some time to focus on it and build up our repertoire.
Catch Wu Lyf at the St. Jerome's Laneway Festival in Auckland on January 30th. For more information click HERE.
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