Woodford band Hunting For Wolves are still searching for their sound

The outfit is made up of 24-year-old Donnie Craig, who sings lead vocals and plays the guitar, Rob Flack, 21, on guitar, 29-year-old backing vocalist and drummer Alex Tuthill and youngest member, Michael Pocock, 19, who is also a backing vocalist and bass player.

Donnie explains how he formed Hunting For Wolves after putting out a request for band members on a search forum and why the group has discovered ear protection is a musician's best friend…

Can you tell me about the band – why did you choose to name your EP Romulus?

The name Romulus derived from a song that we wrote. We wanted to find a name that conveyed some relation to our band name, so we thought about the story of Romulus and Remus and how they were raised by wolves. So a natural concept for us was to name our debut EP Romulus and the next EP, which we are recording now, would be called Remus.

You describe your music as completely DIY…

When it came to recording our music for release, one of the pitfalls we faced was budget. We had been fortunate to have a garage space to use for practising that was costing us nothing, but we didn't have much of a budget to record with. A lot of venues these days won't book you unless you have some recordings, so we looked into how we could go about doing it on a shoestring. We bought an audio interface, microphones and software and then produced, mixed, mastered and distributed the EP ourselves.

How did the band get together?

Rob and I originally started writing and jamming together in October 2015 and met via a band member search forum. Alex joined the band in January this year and Michael completed the line up in March, which is when we decided on a name and properly started the band.

Are you all from Woodford?

Rob is originally from South Woodford but his family moved to New Zealand when he was six-years-old. He returned to Woodford when he was 18 and enjoys playing music and football. Alex is from Colchester but moved to Woodford only a few months ago, though he enjoyed going to gigs and playing in various bands when he was growing up. Michael has spent his whole life in Romford and enjoys skateboarding and going to the cinema with friends. I'm originally from Maryland, in Leytonstone but have spent the majority of my life in South Woodford where I was in many bands and enjoyed spending time with friends.

What music were you inspired by growing up?

Alex definitely was inspired by a heavier rock sound when he was growing up, which included bands like Slipknot and Parkway Drive. Rob grew up listening to hard rock such as Foo Fighters and Linkin Park. Michael first got into the pop punk scene with bands like My Chemical Romance and I grew up listening to bands like Alexisonfire, Funeral For A Friend and Panic! At The Disco. However we are all really big Red Hot Chili Peppers fans, which in subtle ways comes through in our music.

Do you come from musical families?

Rob's dad is in an anarcho-punk band called Liberty and is the vocalist of the group. My dad is a musician and plays a variety of instruments.

Where did you all study?

I went to Forest School, in Walthamstow before going on to study at the University of Essex and the University of Westminster. Alex studied at the University of Portsmouth. Michael went to Shenfield High School and Rob studied at Howick, in New Zealand.

Have you been in other bands in the past?

Rob and Michael have actually been in a couple of bands together in the past that are no longer around. Alex has been in a few bands and so have I.

What have you all learnt most about being a musician so far?

There are probably three things we've learnt so far. Practice makes perfect, you make friends for life and ear protection is a musician's best friend.

Hunting For Wolves' EP Romulus can be purchased on iTunes, Google Play and Amazon MP3.

By Rachel Russell