2024 is the year of the dog – Fat Dog, that is. After big European and American tours, multiple festival appearances, and a hit debut album dropping in September, the London postpunk band touch down in Cardiff for a headline show at Clwb Ifor Bach. Joshua Williams caught up with saxophone and keyboard extraordinaire Morgan Wallace to get the lowdown on what to expect.
“It feels like two chunks of a year,” Fat Dog’s Morgan Wallace says, talking about the London group’s wild 2024 so far. “It all changed when the album came out. We went to America for the first time in March, we went on Jools Holland – I feel like if you travel too much you sort of lose your send of what year it is and everything that’s happened.
“Glastonbury was quite crazy. We saw Charli XCX and got backstage because we had the correct pass… but we shouldn’t have been there. It was all celebrities like Paul Mescal, and we’re just there!”
No more than half an hour before we’re due to chat, with Wallace and other members backstage in Hamburg, there’s some Fat Dog drama too, with drummer Johnny Hutch announcing his departure from the band on Instagram due to difficulties touring. Wallace, though, has nothing but praise for her now-former bandmate. “Johnny is a good lifelong friend of mine and I have nothing but love and respect for him. He’s one of the best drummers I’ve ever heard and I love playing with him.”
The reaction to the band’s debut album Woof. has been “overwhelming,” in Wallace’s words. “Within two days, there was a huge amount of opinions, and you’re like ‘this is very intense’. It’s also really nice because a lot of the crowd know the words – it’s a good feeling when you’re onstage and can see everyone singing along.”
The band themselves have a reputation for chaotic live shows, so is that what Cardiff has to look forward to? Asked what ticketholders for this sold-out gig are in for, Wallace admits, “Chaos, I would say! We’re gigging every day at the moment, so you become tight without choosing to be. You’re just doing the same thing every day and it becomes very ingrained. I think that’s kind of a good thing. If you’re that tight through practice, then you can choose to be a bit more chaotic and the whole gig’s not gonna fall apart.”
There’s also a Welsh connection for Fat Dog – Wallace has some Welsh family members including her aunt and uncle who she visits when she can. “Also I’m called Morgan and everything in Wales is called Morgan like Morgan Arcade!”
There’s some songs which have taken on a new life live, such as Wallace’s favourite to play, Wither. “Live, it’s a bit different from the album, so seeing people react differently is great. We sort of got our audience from being a live band, so there’s never been an audience of people that heard us online first. It’s kinda like we got a whole new influx of people that discovered us online and then come see us live second – which I think is quite strange.”
As for touring, Wallace’s least favourite thing is “running out of clean washing! It seems to happen so quickly. My most favourite thing on this tour for the first time ever we’ve used washing machines in venues! When we hit a venue that has a washing machine, I just chill in the washing machine room and smell the dryers which is really nice. The low points are when I’ve got no clean underwear!”
Fat Dog play Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff on Sun 17 Nov.
Tickets: £15 (sold out). Info: here
Woof. is out now via Domino. Info: here
words JOSHUA WILLIAMS
