An interview with Circus Wolves

An interview with Circus Wolves

What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?

During the Leeds days, we would frequently host practice sessions at the Leeds rehearsal studio, Rock n Roll Circus. It is within Rock n Roll Circus that the first EP was crafted, and the band returned to the Leeds music scene as Circus Wolves. So the name is really a nod to the rehearsal space where we developed as a band.
We went through absolutely loads of different names to begin with, some of them are quite cringeworthy to even think of. When we finally came up with the name Circus Wolves, it just fit!
In terms of influences, we all have a really varied music taste and that brings a lot of different ideas to the table. Some of us would say bands such as Radiohead and the Smiths are big influences on our sounds while others would site metal as a key to how they play. It’s great because we end up picking up endless new ideas that way, which is cool.

How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?

We’re very much a band that writes together. It helps bring the energy to the tracks. Normally one of us will bring an idea to the rest of the group. This could be a riff, a chord progression or just a melody idea. Then things build up from there. There are times when we’ve had to give up on ideas, but that’s the nature of the beast.

How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?

We’re very much a band that writes together. It helps bring the energy to the tracks. Normally one of us will bring an idea to the rest of the group. This could be a riff, a chord progression or just a melody idea. Then things build up from there. There are times when we’ve had to give up on ideas, but that’s the nature of the beast.

Why do you write the sort of music that you do?

That’s a tricky question. There’s no particular mission when it comes to the type of music we write. We work on whatever we have in our heads at the time, although the UK lockdown situation has certainly changed up our writing style so it will be interesting to see how that affects our future releases. The music we listen to is certainly an influence. We all get a lot out of our local music scene in Manchester because it’s just such a vibrant place for upcoming music. It’s amazing to be a part of it.

How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?

We actually kinda work in the opposite direction. We write all our songs live together, so when it comes to performing them live, there is already that energy around the tunes. There’s more work when it comes to recording the tracks. We use our studio time as a component of the creative process and that’s really interesting because that on the one hand allows us to fine tune the tracks, but on the other it allows us to experiment and add new ideas to our recordings that you might not be able to replicate in a live setting very easily.

How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?

We actually kinda work in the opposite direction. We write all our songs live together, so when it comes to performing them live, there is already that energy around the tunes. There’s more work when it comes to recording the tracks. We use our studio time as a component of the creative process and that’s really interesting because that on the one hand allows us to fine tune the tracks, but on the other it allows us to experiment and add new ideas to our recordings that you might not be able to replicate in a live setting very easily.

What plans do you have for the future?

With the way things have been in the UK this year, it’s really scuppered our plans when it came to promoting and touring for our latest EP. Once things start to get back to normal, we’re hoping that once things settle back down to normal, we will be able to pick that back up and get playing some live shows again. That’s the big goal right now!