Introducing HotWax, the 18-year-old grunge enthusiasts named after an unsung overdrive pedal and making ’90s alt-rock anthems for generation Z

Led by guitarist/vocalist Tallulah Sim-Savage, HotWax are tipped as one of the UK’s most exciting new bands. After a string of self-released singles and incendiary live shows, the trio recently landed a deal with Marathon Artists to unleash their debut EP, A Thousand Times.

The earliest compositions on the angsty five-track were penned when Tallulah was just 15 years old, yet they effervesce with the immediacy of a freshly caught brainwave. “We tried not to overthink things or be ridiculously perfect with everything we recorded,” explains the now-18-year-old musician.

Born and raised in the small but vibrant artistic community of Hastings, Tallulah’s journey towards becoming a swaggering punk-rock frontwoman with fierce fretboard skills to match has a touch of destiny about it. 

Her musical life began at eight years old, when – a country music fan in those days – she’d strum acoustic tunes in her bedroom. She credits a surprise gift from her mother as being “the thing that changed everything”. That gift was Hole’s Live Through This album.

A concoction of other “’90s influences”, Blondie and “watching female heavy musicians” fuelled the young player’s fascination with guitar-based catharsis, and she overcame shyness to pursue her rock ’n’ roll dream.

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Nowadays, she struts about the stage with the veteran confidence of her heroines and will always be seen with her Fender Jaguar, which she’s modified with a Bigsby and two P-90s in place of the “fizzy” stock humbuckers for a striking look and sound. 

Tallulah’s go-to pedal, and the inspiration for the band’s name, is the lesser-spotted Electro-Harmonix Hot Wax Dual Overdrive, which she combines with a pair of Fulltone OCDs. Why two? Well, there’s one “on the high-peak setting for the chorus bits” and another “on the low-peak setting for middle heaviness”.

On the EP, you’ll also hear the soul-shaking force of a Keeley Fuzz Bender and an Electro-Harmonix POG for adventures into multiple octaves.

Tallulahs’s instinct for crafting a unique sonic thumbprint also extends to the amp department where she chooses a Fender Excelsior – a now-discontinued, compact and modestly appointed tube amp that’s often actually favoured by harmonica players. “It just has a dark and light switch, and a volume,” she shrugs. “I love valve amps and I love the simplicity.”

• A Thousand Times is out now via Marathon Artists.