Q&A: HotWax Ignite Chaos and Catharsis on Explosive Debut “Hot Shock”
INTERVIEW
INTERVIEW
☆ BY KIMBERLY KAPELA ☆
Photography Credit: Louise Mason
HOTWAX AREN’T HERE TO PLAY IT SAFE – The Hastings-via-Brighton trio—Tallulah Sim-Savage (vocals/guitar), Lola Sam (bass), and Alfie Sayers (drums)—have spent the past two years living at the speed of sound, playing over 150 shows, touring with Royal Blood and Frank Carter, and commanding festival stages at Reading & Leeds and All Points East. Now, with the release of their debut album Hot Shock, they distill that whirlwind energy into 10 tracks of volatile, unfiltered rock—a record that doesn’t just beg to be heard, but demands to be felt.
Across 10 adrenaline-fueled tracks, the band embrace chaos, vulnerability, and unfiltered expression, tackling fear head-on and charging toward the future with reckless abandon. Recorded live at London’s legendary RAK Studios, Hot Shock is the sonic equivalent of a house party at full capacity, bodies surging toward the stage, sweat in the air, and the undeniable electricity of a moment that could collapse at any second. The decision to record with a crowd wasn’t just about capturing their scrappy, adrenaline-jolted sound—it was about preserving the essence of what makes HotWax such a force. These songs were made to be played loud, to be screamed along to in dimly lit venues and festival fields alike. “We wanted it to feel like a party,” the band explains, and that restless, reckless spirit courses through every note.
From the moment the album kicks off, Hot Shock is relentless. Gritty guitar riffs, thundering basslines, and pummeling drums propel each track forward, but beneath the edges lies an undercurrent of vulnerability.
Lyrically, the album plunges deep into the psyche. Themes of selfhood, intrusive thoughts, and inner turmoil are laid bare, but there’s also a streak of defiance—an unwavering belief in embracing the moment, however messy it may be. The band navigates themes of self-doubt and identity, never shying away from the unsettling realities of anxiety and uncertainty. It’s a coming-of-age story told through jagged guitar riffs and pounding drum fills, where even the most chaotic moments hold something deeply personal. HotWax don’t just perform—they exorcise, they release, they let the noise carry them forward.
With Hot Shock, HotWax have bottled the chaos, urgency, and sheer thrill of their live shows into a record that demands to be played loud.
LUNA: Thank you for talking to Luna. Our readers would love to get to know you and your music more. For any readers who aren’t familiar with you yet, what inspires your artistic style and sound?
HOTWAX: For our album, Hot Shock, we were listening to lots of The Breeders, PJ Harvey, Sonic Youth, and this album called Future Perfect by Autolux. I love 90s and early 2000s guitar bands.
LUNA: What kind of atmosphere or emotional space do you aim to create for your listeners?
HOTWAX: I think we're definitely aiming to create a live experience. I think when listening to the album, we've recorded a lot of it live, and we told people to feel like they're at one of our gigs, because that's the core of our band.
LUNA: You are about to release your debut album Hot Shock later this spring and a huge congratulations is in order! What is the inspiration behind the project and what subjects and emotions do you explore?
HOTWAX: It's mainly all to do with the past two years we've had touring and how to us, it's felt like a hot shock, if that's a thing, but it is a thing in my brain. It's been super intense, and since we're 18 now, just been pretty much sort of detouring, and the impact that's had on relationships and friendships and us as a band. It's about the intensity of that, and how we've really been living in the moment and been feeling quite vulnerable, but in a very exciting way, really. They're the main themes of the album.
LUNA: You’ve mentioned that the album was made to be played loud, with the energy of your live shows influencing the sound. How did recording in front of a live crowd at London’s RAK Studios contribute to the overall feel and authenticity of Hot Shock? How was that experience for you?
HOTWAX: What happened was we were playing this gig two summers ago at this tiny basement in London, and then Catherine Marks, who was one of the producers on the record, came to that gig and wanted to make an album with us that just has this sound. We decided to do the majority of it live, and we emulated and recreated that setting, and invited all our friends down. It was the first gig they'd had at RAK and it's the first time they'd done a show there. It was really fun. It was more of an experiment, and it all ended up being quite crazy. It was really, really fun, and we just really wanted to get that live energy across. It was a cool way of doing it.
LUNA: I would love to touch more on the creative process. Can you walk us through the creative process for Hot Shock? How did the songs evolve from the initial idea to the final version?
HOTWAX: It all happened quite quickly, really, because at the beginning of the year, we were in America, and we were out there doing some shows. We first started off in Vegas, then we were in LA for a while writing, and we recorded some of it in Joshua Tree with Stella [Mozgawa] from Warpaint. Then the whole summer, we did 40 festivals, and just in every sort of pocket of time we had between touring, we'd be trying to write these songs. The creative process was quite chaotic, but I think that adds to adds to the album, and it's all very in the moment. We didn't really overthink the songs so much, and then before going in to record it, we just did loads and loads of pre-production with Catherine who produced the album and got the structures and drums nailed, but then the rest of it was quite free in the studio.
LUNA: What is your favorite song from Hot Shock and why do you love this song? Is there a certain element, lyric or message that you gravitate towards the most?
HOTWAX: I think it changes all the time. I think at the moment, it's probably “One More Reason.” It's quite different from the rest of the album, and it's always so fun to play. I also really like the music video we just did for it as well. I think a lyric that really speaks for the album is the song called “Chip My Teeth For You.” We're all on tour together and it meant that I would chip my teeth and hurt myself and I would go that extra mile for you. Would you do it too, sort of thing? I think that carelessness and a slightly destructive message is how we felt recently, with everything being super intense and sometimes slightly destructive, but we're always there for each other.
LUNA: You’ve already garnered attention with your live shows and previous releases. What are you most excited about for the album’s release, and what do you hope listeners will take away from their first full-length experience with HotWax?
HOTWAX: I just hope people can have fun, feel like they’re at a live gig, and connect with the emotions we poured into these songs. We want to bring a new energy to our live shows, and with this album, I hope the audience can truly experience the journey we’ve been on—the raw, heavy and electrifying essence of a rock show.
LUNA: Hot Shock follows two highly praised EPs in 2023. How do you feel this album reflects the growth of HotWax as a band both artistically and personally?
HOTWAX: I think musically it really sounds like a three piece a lot more than our previous EPs, and that's something we really wanted to come across. We wanted it to sound very live, and for it to sound like drums, bass, guitar and vocals in a room all together, and you can really pick apart the sections, rather than it being layers upon layers. I think that's something I'm really, really happy with, and something that came across.
LUNA: How are you feeling in this current era of your career and what does the upcoming year look like that you would like to share with Luna?
HOTWAX: It's both exciting and a little scary. This is our first proper headline tour, something we've never really done before. Playing our album from start to finish on the in-store tour will be a thrilling but slightly nerve-wracking experience. But overall, it feels amazing to have new music out—it feels much more current to us than our two EPs.
Photography Credit: Jude Harrison
