From Wolves academy heartbreak to playing Glastonbury

As a teenager, Ryan Malcolm dreamed of one day playing for his beloved hometown team Wolves at Molineux.

But upon being released after years in the academy, he threw himself into music instead - a path that has taken him from the West Midlands indie scene to touring the world with Brit Award winners Wolf Alice.

Since then, the keyboard player has headlined festivals far and wide, performed at Glastonbury and even toured Europe, supporting Harry Styles.

On Sunday, five years after he was working in a factory during the pandemic, Malcolm will perform in front of 50,000 people at a Wolf Alice homecoming gig at London's Finsbury Park.

Looking back, the 38-year-old, originally from Bilston, Wolverhampton, said missing out on a career in football was the setback that ultimately pushed him towards music.

"I played for Wolves until I was about 15," Malcolm said. "I didn't get a scholarship so I was gutted about that. Then I went to Walsall for a bit and then Kidderminster.

"Every time, so many of the coaches would be annoyed at me for not being aggressive enough. Turns out I'm just a sensitive soul and music was for me!

"That rejection definitely helped me. It made me rehearse more than anyone, practise more than anyone. I always felt like if I got an opportunity, I should go for it."

Having stepped away from Birmingham band Superfood shortly before, Malcolm was just trying to find some regular income when bassist and close friend Theo Ellis got in touch to ask if he could help out on keyboards during rehearsals.

At the time, he was working long shifts at a prop-making factory and assumed he was just doing a quick favour for a friend.

"I needed a bit of regular income," he said. "I was working full-time doing quite hard labour.

"During lockdown, I sent Theo some music I'd made and he asked if I'd played keys on it - he basically asked me to come and play in rehearsal.

"I was completely naive to think that it was an audition. I thought they'd get a proper keyboard player in.

"I was quite buzzing because they said they'd give me some money at first. Then they asked if I wanted to join the live band and tour the world with them - it was quite surreal."

Months later, and Malcolm would find himself sitting behind his keyboards headlining Latitude Festival - a far cry from the intimate shows he been used to playing at Sunflower Lounge and The Rainbow in Birmingham.

It marked the beginning of a journey that has taken him from the Brit Awards stage to playing on Jools Holland in recent months.

"At Latitude, there were like 40,000 people out there and I was bricking it," he said. "I remember my hands were shaking behind the keys.

"My second show with the band was during the pandemic at an empty Glastonbury - we performed at the Stone Circle for the virtual Live at Worthy Farm show.

"Just being there with drones flying everywhere. Then to go the year after and do the Pyramid Stage - that was insane."

Malcolm, whose Superfood group supported Wolf Alice a decade ago, said being on tour with the band had been an "amazing" experience.

"[Wolf Alice are] my friends but I always look up to them," he said. "The way they carry themselves, what they've done with the band.

"They've shown me so much respect and given me loads of responsibility."

He said Sunday's Finsbury Park show would be a special moment after months on the road, with the venue just a short walk from his front door in London.

"This tour has been incredible, but so high pressure," he added. "Every other week it seemed to be the next thing - Jools Holland, then Glastonbury. It just doesn't stop. Now we've got Finsbury Park, which is huge as well.

"It's literally a 10-minute walk from my house, which is crazy. We've played the songs so much now and we're so locked in. I'm actually buzzing for it."

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