“I’m certain the last time I was at this bar, I got thrown out” grins Amy Wills clearly pleased with her rebellious streak. “I came with the boys from the band and they’re too polite to say anything but we were promised free shots and I really wanted them!” She laughs. “I mean it’s not too much to ask for is it?”

Meeting on the outskirts of Manchester in a quirky minimalist pub we are left waiting 40 minutes for Amy Wills to arrive, fashionably late as predicted. It appears the 24 year old University of Bristol graduate had begun her drinking prematurely when she declares (slightly too loudly) “I’m so sorry, I ran into Danielle (friend and singer of HAIM) she’s always trying to get me drunk!” Well it’s fair to say, front woman of Thrills is certainly able to make an entrance, especially when she’s dressed this stylishly, wearing dark blue cigarette pants that any girl would kill to be able to pull off, black leather boots and her trademark leather jacket.

‘BASS’ were first introduced to Amy’s infectiously charming personality back in 2011 when we were lucky enough to be invited to their first gig at London’s XOYO. It was the bands incredible stage presence, Amy’s powerful voice and her Jonny pierce-esque dance moves that really captured us and left us longing for more than the 13 songs they’d played even after their second encore. “That night was so mad; I think it was actually one of my favourite gigs. It was the first time I could actually see how far we’d come. How much progress we’d made.” There’s no denying that it certainly is a big step up from their Bristol flat where they used to hold the majority of their gigs, with audiences of just their friends all cooped into their living room “I don’t even think anyone wanted to listen to us, we just invited them round and forced them to listen.” She laughs. “We were only starting out then. I don’t think at this time we were even serious about Thrills.” But they were set for success from the moment they started; even managing to get the likes of Justin Young (lead singer of The Vaccines) and Alexa Chung to attend their first New York gig. When BASS heard the rumour that Alexa had been there we questioned her about it when she came in for an interview for our February issue, she told us “I loved Thrills the moment I heard them, ‘Days’ is always on repeat, Its one of my favourite songs right now” when we told Amy about her response she looked amazed replying “really? She said that about us? I’m such a fan of hers, I’m so happy Alexa likes us” Well I think it’s fair to say that having Alexa Chung show appreciations to your band when you’re just at the beginning of your career can’t EVER be a bad thing.

Thrills first came on the scene when they released their biggest hit to date it gained attention due to its combination of dramatic synths and catchy riffs contrasting with its emotional down beat lyrics. The album which was then released later in the fall of 2011 had four hit singles from it, they were also voted number 3 best album of that year by XFM “I couldn’t even believe it, that year was so crazy for us”

What BASS really wanted to know was how insane Thrills fans must be, as we all know Amy has created some quite interesting lyrics and their music isn’t at all conventional so surely their fans must follow these traits? “I get asked the questions quite a lot actually and I always say no but everyone seems to insist that we must have” Amy spends a few minutes thinking before recalling one night in Manchester when they were given t-shirts with their faces printed on by a girl who was waiting at the stage door. “Everyone said that was strange. I thought it was sweet.” She laughs “I don’t know… Maybe I’m the insane one?”

Emily Grimshaw