“I guess Lucifer Youth Foundation [LYF] was set up as a foundation for those who want to have an alternative lifestyle. Lucifer was a fallen angel – he dropped out of the heavens to try and find his own way because the initial thing didn’t really fit him too well, so it’s kind of putting another set of ideals into a wider sense of being – how you’d want to live your life and stuff, actually making it possible,” Tom ponders while maintaining a degree of obfuscation.
“That’s what the Lucifer Youth Foundation set out to do. Like I said, it was initially set up so us four could be creatively self-sufficient; to be a band. But we wanted to be about a wider collective of people doing what they want. Right now it stands up as kind of like an old school fan club or something. The support that we get from people is just really appreciated. So we can hang on a little more, ‘til we can start to cut our teeth a little.”
The group’s tendency to shy away from divulging in depth biographical details and shun certain follies of the musical press has only exacerbated the intense, hype-driven scrutiny aimed in their direction. It’s something WU LYF are handling with aplomb.
Cynics have derided their stratagem as nothing more than calculated, web-savvy marketing. But it could simply be a case of the four-piece sticking to an unabated, and incredibly refreshing, virtue of youthful resolve. “I never think bands can live up to hype,” Tom states frankly. “I never really think they can meet journalists’ expectations. You know, they’ll build something up to such a great height and then they’ll just go, ‘Nope, didn’t work’.”
Of course, NME-conjured hyperbole comes hand-in-hand with being a shit-hot young band on the rise in Britain. Those British tabloids have had something of a field day while championing the group in articles with gaudy titles such as ‘WU LYF Are Fucking Amazing – Here’s Proof’, all the while prepping the scythes for some tall-poppy choppin’.
“There’s a little bit of that. I mean, there’re loads of people who have been really supportive. In our country there’re people that look up URLs in the source of web pages of some of our images, and try and trace it out to be some kind of graphic designer or creative mastermind. But then you have some of the press we’ve got from our shows in Australia, just from these gigs, and it’s really good. A lot of people are giving us more than just a chance outside the UK,” he muses.
Being able to play the Sydney Opera House on their first run of shows outside the UK is a distinction not lost on the group, with the unenviable prospect of showcasing yet-to-be-released songs to a foreign audience providing a conquerable challenge for the collective. “I think the first one we were all a little nervous ‘cause, you know, playing the Sydney Opera House is a pretty big deal.
“On both nights the crowd was kind of stoic and a little wary of themselves. But it’s understandable, because they haven’t even heard the album. To be honest, I would be the same. But you have people come to you after the show, telling you how much they enjoyed it – so that’s what matters. I don’t expect anyone to come to our gigs if they don’t want to,” he laughs.
Arguably the foremost distinguishable musical aspect of Go Tell Fire To The Mountain is the vocal styling of frontman Ellery Roberts – sounding something like a sword-swallowing, fire-breathing, early-KoL Caleb Followill. So there’s the legitimate risk of a premature vocal blowout causing an abrupt end to the rapid rise of WU LYF. “Ah well, there are a lot of guys that can really blow their voices out by doing it incorrectly,” raises Tom.
“I think on the actual record he hadn’t had any lessons or anything and he hadn’t really perfected his sort of technique, but for the live shows he now sees a throat specialist. I think he’s the throat specialist at Manchester Royal Infirmary – he teaches Ellery posture and all that. I don’t think he gives him elocution lessons, but it’s something to really help it all,” Tom laughs.
Though their most recent trip to Australia was fleeting, and sadly enough, exclusive to Sydney, we can rest assured another visit is on the cards. “Yeah, I think the plan is to come back in September, which will be awesome.”
Damn straight it would.
