Phil Wolvin 
Hi Matilda thanks for making the time to talk to us. Last year, you released two singles, an EP, had your own tour and other live performances, including playing in LA, as well as a TV appearance. What was your highlight of 2025?
Oh my gosh, I really love all of that. I’m going to say my highlight was my tour, which I did in April, where we sold out London, played in Manchester and played in Birmingham. I think that was my highlight because it was the first time I was playing with my band, who I’ve continued to work with and we’ve got an amazing show lined up for London on the 11th of April. I feel like we really get each other and they really make my music shine. So yeah, having that experience, being able to play with the band for the first time was incredible. Then also selling out the London show was crazy. That’s something I never really expected when we started the idea of going on tour. It took over my April but to go to all these amazing places and perform in front of loads of different audiences was great. I think a lot of people have continued to support me from that as well. I feel like people have jumped on the journey a little bit and onwards and upwards in 2026.
How did you put the band together?
I worked with Patch Chiverton, who is my guitarist and MD. We did an acoustic show together at the Ned, that was Jodie Bryant’s New Music Monday. We worked together on the acoustic set for that, just a half an hour set and we really got on well. I felt like he really understood my vision and I pitched the idea that I was thinking about doing a tour. Especially because I got funding from Youth Music and Help Musicians, to do a tour. I sort of pitched the idea to him and said “would you be on board?” He said “absolutely”, he put me in touch with my lovely bassist Liv (she’s an artist herself. She goes by Peafloom) and my drummer Ed Hendry. We really gelled. Liv does my backing vocals as well. We went on tour, played a few festivals over the summer and now we’ve got the London show and hopefully a lot more shows as well, this year. I think I’m really lucky to have met such talented musicians, done the tour, and hopefully we’ll continue to play together for a very long time.
Which artists did you listen to growing up? What were your influences?
I was such an indie rock girl. My parents were massive indie rock fans, so I grew up listening to Oasis, Radiohead, Stone Roses, the Killers, Keane and bands like that, so I have that really like rocky sort of upbringing in terms of music. Then when I started to develop a bit more of a pop taste, my first pop artist that I really liked was Ellie Goulding and I did a cover of Your Song, which is the first song that I ever tried to sing in public. I’m from Tamworth, and it was a show at Tamworth Assembly Rooms. Then I went down a more popular route with my last EP. Now I want to bring it back a little bit to how I fell in love with music growing up.
You’re jumping straight into 2026 with a new single. What can you tell us about Valentine?
I was thinking about releasing it around Valentine’s Day but then I thought, well, it’s a bit more about messy relationships and going for the wrong person. But then the sort of like love element to it is a bit more like self-love and self-realisation. Just coming to terms with the fact that, actually, you’re channelling all of your energy into the wrong person and that you need to be channelling it into yourself. So that’s the idea behind Valentine. I wrote it in August in Manchester, actually, I write a lot more music in Manchester. I feel like this one is sort of going down the Olivia Rodrigo route. I was played on the Radio 1, ‘For fans of Olivia Rodrigo’ Show, which was such a compliment to my song Ruin Our Friendship. I feel like I ran with that a little bit with these new releases but I think Valentine especially has that indie pop influence. We spoke about Oasis and obviously the summer of 2025, I was writing my music in Manchester. I saw Oasis twice. I feel like there really is an Oasis / Stone Roses feel to the guitar and the drums in this one. It’s very exciting, it merges all of my interests and genres in music all into one. I’m really, really happy with it and I hope everyone else likes it too.
Is this the kind of song you were intending to write?
Yeah, I do like to write angsty songs. I find it a lot easier to write angsty songs than I do to write a positive, happy-go-lucky song. I feel it was, sort of, I had a memory or, like, a vision of how exhausting it feels. To be constantly channelling your energy into the wrong relationship and the wrong person, and this is an ode to that. I think Sunday Girl the EP was quite about self-realisation and sort of like, sacking someone off when they’re no good for you anymore. So, I felt like that is the tone of Valentine. I thought I quite like the juxtaposition of a song being called Valentine but about a wrong Valentine.
That’s amazing. You said you started writing in August, what were the steps from there?
Yeah, I’ve worked with my producer since 2018/19, we started working together in Newcastle under Lyme. We just used to put our own spin on covers and then COVID happened and we went our separate ways. We later came back into contact and then wrote Sunday Girl EP. Now we have gone on to Valentine and another single that we’ve got coming up. Both of those are part of the new EP project. So yeah, we both have the vision, we know what sort of sound we want to go for and then yeah, the lyric ideas flow from there. I think, we tend to focus on a sound and an idea that we want to encapsulate. Then the theme runs from there.
It sounds like you kind of bring an idea and you both work on it together?
Yeah, so when I did the Sunday Girl EP, that was more like me coming with the narratives that I wanted to run with, but because we loved the sound so much. Especially with, your bangers like Sunday Girl and Ruin Our Friendship, like the really poppy ones, and then All That I Want which is sort of a bit more mellow, and we knew we wanted to channel that into this next project. It was easier to start with the sound and start with how we want it to flow from that EP. Then we went back and thought, OK, what do you actually want to write about? What substance do you want to write about?
You’ve got a headline show coming up in London in April. How are the preparations going?
Good, very good. We’ve got quite a lot of exciting things planned for this show. It’s taking it up another level from the tour because it’s just a one off show and it’s at The Grace, which is a venue I’ve wanted to play for a very long time. It’s a gorgeous venue, a lot of amazing artists have played there. We really wanted to make this extra special. We did some great covers on tour last year. We did a Sam Fender version of Revolving Door by Tate McRae, again, merging the Indie and pop sounds that I really wanted to encapsulate. We also we did Come Together, by The Beatles, which I also performed at B Town. Also, we did a Sabrina Carpenter cover, so that’s how we tour and I want to hone in on the pop sound, but also do our own spin on some more rocky songs. There’s a lot of ideas flowing about at the minute. It’s all very exciting. Obviously, I’ve got Valentine, which will probably be the first performance of that and then hopefully a few of the secret songs that are not released yet.
Oh, sounds good. You’ve performed in some massive venues and smaller grassroots venues. What’s the challenges going between those different places?
That’s a really good question. I think performing in grassroots venues or smaller venues where you can literally see everyone’s faces and emotions and what they’re thinking and feeling. You can literally feel it on stage. I love that because I feel that you can really interact with these audiences. When you sort of get a really authentic vibe of people, are they enjoying this? What songs are going down well? Then I’m just trying to think of the bigger venue that I’ve played recently, probably Pub In The Park over summer, which is a big festival stage. Everyone’s spread out and you’ve got to really work the stage and you’re running back and forth, back and forth. You have to over exaggerate your performance almost because you’re trying to perform to people right in front of you and the people who are like feet away, and those right at the back. Yeah, I think I love performing at both for different reasons but it’s the same sort of show, but perhaps maybe more steps being done at the bigger shows.
You’ve got a really demanding job. So, how do you balance that day job and finding time to write and record and practise and all the other stuff. How do you find that time and balance?
I’m still trying to find that sweet spot because obviously as I’ve grown up, I did a law degree at Oxford. So, I need to lean into that as well as my passion, which is music. Last year, like you said earlier, it all kicked off for me with Love Island, Radio One, Spotify Fresh Fires and the TV appearance. It all just kicked off and it was amazing, it was everything I’d ever wanted but it meant that I had to learn how to balance my time and I’m still learning. Still trying my hardest at both and it’s almost like it’s my Hannah Montana moment. I find when I come back from work, then I end up being able to do my writing and recording and performance. I’m still learning to balance, but I sort of like living at 100 mph with everything. It suits me at the minute, but I wish I had more hours of the day, definitely.
What other plans have you got for 2026?
Releasing more new music, which is exciting. Obviously, we’ve got Valentine coming out this week. I hope to have another single as well around about the same time as my London show. I’m in some exciting conversations about festivals for this summer, so hopefully I get back on the festival circuit again. At the minute, my brain is just completely focused on this London headline and just making that the best show we possibly can. Hopefully a lot more releases, a lot more working with great people, playing with my band, and yeah, just getting the music out there for everyone.
Matilda Pratt can be found here Instagram
Tickets for the Headline show in London can be found here Matilda Pratt | London, The Grace at The Grace, London on 11th Apr | Fatsoma
Main Pictures Charlie Instagram
Btown Pictures by Chelsea Miles Instagram & Luka Wyman Instagram
Colin