HotWax spoke to NME at Download 2024 about the huge milestones they have reached over the past year, as well as the festival’s determination to support new talent.
The Hastings trio – Tallulah Sim-Savage, Lola Sam and Alfie Sayers, –caught up with us backstage at this year’s Donington Park festival, shortly after they took to the stage on Saturday (June 25).
“It’s so great to be here playing for the first time,” said Sam. “We played a fun set on the Avalanche Stage and had a great time with it, plus it’s been fun to catch up with some of the other bands here.”
The band’s Download invitation came after a year of buzz, kicking off with their debut EP,‘A Thousand Times’ – putting the band on the map as “a teenage band who are destined for big things”. It was then followed up by October’s ‘Invite Me, Kindly’ – the EP that took them to new heights.
“I feel like this past year has been really intense for us, but it’s been amazing too,” Sim-Savage recalled, looking at how life had changed since the start of 2023. “I wouldn’t have expected us to be this busy and touring so much [by this point]. It’s been really exciting.”
“We released two EPs last year and the response was really exciting and unexpected. It’s all very new for us,” she continued. “It’s been spurring us on to write more music too and it excites us more for our album, which we’re looking to release next year.”
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As well as becoming NME Cover stars with their latest EP, the band have also gone on to get support from huge names across the UK rock scene, and recently joined Royal Blood as support for their UK live shows. The experience, the trio told us, was one that not only had a personal significance, but also led to them learning more about the industry.
“Opening for them was pretty insane because it was like our first big, proper tour. So we learned a lot and it also gave us a lot of confidence,” Sim-Savage said. “They’re lovely and we had a great time with them. Plus, we all loved Royal Blood since we were around 12 and 13 years old. They’ve always been a big inspiration, so it was weird to actually be playing with them.”
“They’re very professional, always super tight every night because they’ve been doing it so long now – plus they don’t play with any click or anything! It was interesting to see how a big tour works as well because we learned a lot just by watching how they do it.”
They also shared their views on the changing landscape at Download – and how this year’s edition included more new talent on the line-up than in past years. Sharing their fondness for new artists including Knife Bride and Friends From Home, Sam added: “We have definitely felt a shift in more new bands, and obviously coming from a new band’s perspective, it’s been refreshing to see lots of names on the line-up that are up-and-coming.
“Not only that but there are lots that are pretty different when it comes to blending genres. It’s really cool.”
As for that the future holds for HotWax? “The future for us is definitely our first album, but up until then some headline tours would be great! We’d love to do a headline tour across Europe, or really anywhere that’ll have us! For us right now, it’s all about new music and more live shows.”
HotWax are set to perform at Psych Fest in Manchester later this summer, before joining The Mysterines for two UK shows in October – visit here for remaining tickets.