ALTERNATIVE rock band Wolf Alice have been nominated for a number of awards for their music since the group’s beginnings in 2012, but winning the 2018 Mercury Prize for their newest album last month left them ‘speechless’, band member and former Tavistock resident Joff Oddie told the Tavistock Times this week.

The band, comprising Joff on guitar and vocals, Ellie Roswell, vocals and guitar, Theo Ellis, bass, and Joel Amey on drums and vocals, picked up the coveted Mercury Prize at the end of September.

They won the prize — awarded annually for the best album released in the UK — for their second album Visions of a Life, beating the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen, Florence and the Machine and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.

Joff, originally from Calstock, but lived in Tavistock for a period of his childhood, attended Callington College from 2002 to 2008, leaving after his A-levels. He has fond memories of West Devon and the Tamar Valley.

‘I was born in Freedom Fields in Plymouth and my first home was in Calstock,’ said Joff. ‘We moved around a little bit, around the Tamar Valley, briefly into Plymouth and also lived in Tavistock, so was hopping over the Tamar River for most of my childhood. I had a wonderful time [at Callington College], I really cannot fault it.

‘I then moved to Deep Blue Sound Music in Plymouth to study before leaving my beloved Westcountry for London in 2010.’

Joff said he learned to play the guitar at the age of 11, picking up one of his stepdads instruments.

‘My stepdad was in a band and played guitar so there were always a couple of them lying around the house.’

The band was called ‘Washango’ — after the brand of shampoo — and used to rehearse in an outhouse on a Wednesday night.

‘I picked up one of his guitars when I was about 11 and was given a songbook that taught you how to play a load of songs with only three chords. I remember learning Imagine by John Lennon and feeling like I was really into something so I kept at it. Now I can play at least double that amount of chords!’

Joff met Ellie when he moved to London in 2010. They played music together until they met Joel and Theo and released their debut single Fluffy in February 2013.

‘It wasn’t until a couple of years after meeting Ellie that we met Joel and Theo — our drum and bass players.

‘We wrote songs and went to open mic nights for a while and it was good fun but wasn’t really going anywhere.

‘We decided to try getting a drum and bass player — who were not the guys we have now — and started playing with electric guitars.

‘We made more noise than music but it felt really natural. That was a big turning point for us and after about a year of playing in that style, we had quit our jobs and signed a record deal.’

Since then, the band has grown in popularity, being nominated for various awards, including Brit awards in 2016 and 2018, Mercury Prize in 2015 for their first album My Love is Cool, nominated for several NME awards, an Ivor Novello award and a Grammy in 2016.

‘At the Grammys we sat in front of Rev Run from Run DMC — it was mildly bazaar,’ said Joff.

But the Mercury Prize is the biggest award they have won so far ‘without a shadow of a doubt’.

‘We’d been getting pretty used to losing awards so to actually win the Mercury was crazy,’ he said.

‘No one could string a coherent sentence together for a good couple of hours afterwards.’

After the excitement of winning the award, Joff enjoyed some downtime last week back in the Tamar Valley before heading out to South Africa for several gigs this week.

‘Then we’re playing at the Q-Awards, we have gigs in China and Malaysia and finally a little EU tour finishing with a couple at Brixton Academy at the end of December.

‘That’ll mark the end of this album cycle.

‘Then it’s time to record another and do it all again!’