Wolfclub: Leading the Pack | An Interview
Synthronicity: Lets face it, WOLF CLUB are fast becoming Goliaths on the Synth Scene and are well thought of in the Retro Spheres we know and love. The damn near perfect symbiosis between vocal and instrumental has been a favourite with their fans and I couldn't wait to get a chance to interview them on all things WOLF CLUB related..read on!
So, the name ‘WOLF CLUB’ instantly invokes imagery of pack or hunters, is that in essence the reason why you choose the name itself or is it something more profound?
A friend of mine actually came up with the band name. He said ‘How about Wolf Club because it sounds like Wolf CUB’. I thought that it would already have been taken because it immediately sounded familiar, which I liked, but it wasn’t so we used it.
What is your creative process like? On average how long does it take to lay down a track?
Usually I come up with a small piece of music, a synth melody, Arp, bass-line, Riff, and then build on it one piece at a time and layer it up till its nearly a completed piece of music, then I send it across to Chris for him to add some ideas. Sometimes he writes all the vocal parts to the song, melodies and lyrics, sometimes I write all the vocal parts, and then sometimes we work on the vocals together. It quite often varies. Once it’s finalized we have to decide if he is going to sing on the track, or if we send it to one of the many vocalists we have been lucky enough to work with. Usually from start to finish a track takes a week, but often we are working on multiple songs at once. Chris might be writing some vocals while I am mixing another track whilst at the same time a vocalist is recording her vocals somewhere in the world to send back to us. At any given moment we might be working on 4-5 tracks at once in different ways.
The aesthetics created for each release or promotion are quite simply works of Synth Art.
What are the thought processes behind the artwork? It certainly has the prolific Signal Noise
stamp all over it, do you have any input into the design or do you just let him do his thing?
All credit to the mighty Signal Noise. He was my favourite artist before he worked on our album covers, so we feel very fortunate to have him create the art for us. Usually I send a concept, a scene or visual idea I have, then all it’s all him creating the incredible stuff that he does. He sends over drafts and asks for input so it can be collaborative, but the final image is all down to his talent. Our favourite day of the year is when he sends across the finalized album cover.
How do you feel your sound has developed over time?
I hope we have got a little better over time in all aspects, at writing melodies, lyrics, producing. We’ve started to add more guitars recently because it adds a texture to the overall song that I really like, and maybe makes us a little different from the other great artists in the scene. We have some new vocalists we are working with, and some from the previous albums we are so happy to have on board again.
If you could open any show which artist/s would it be for? Why?
Chvrches, because they have a huge audience which would gain us more exposure, but also our sound is similar enough that hopefully the crowd wouldn’t be alienated and potentially enjoy our set. And as a fan I love their music.
Who are the bands/artists that have inspired WOLF CLUB through the years?
The Valerie Collective, College, Electric Youth, Anoraak. Also bands and artists like Glass Candy, The Chromatics, Timecop1983. Outside of synthwave - Justice, MSTRKRFT, Daft Punk, Chvrches, Madeon, guitar/indie bands like Sonic Youth, Explosions in the sky, Mogwai, Foals, Bloc Party. I think the first band I ever loved at the age of 11 was Nirvana, and their song dynamic of quiet / loud / quiet / loud, big chorus’s that have stuck with me, and is my favourite song structure, and one that we use a lot.
Electric Youth
In your entire Discography which track or album are you most proud of?
We have some new songs on unreleased records that we are proud of and looking forward to
getting out there. Out of our released discography I’d say Rebels and Rush. We wrote them
specifically for scenes in the film ‘Infamous’ to specified tempos, moods, and lyrics that reflected what the director wanted in each scene. It was a great experience, would love to do it again, but a lot of hard work under tight time-pressures, a lot of nights staying awake till 4 in the morning to finalize the songs.
If you could change anything about the industry what would it be?
It would be great if it was easier for more musicians to make a living for their music.
I’ve been very lucky to see you guys play live and am super excited to be hopefully able to
catch you again in Dublin Halloween Night #fingerscrossed. Do you have any gigs or tour
news for your fans in 2021?
We hope so. We had plans for a European tour before all of what has happened, happened. So much is unknown in terms of live events going forward, we will have to wait and see what happens in the future, but we are hopeful that we can play some more gigs in Europe and then maybe in the States.
What is a day off for WOLF CLUB like?
I can’t seem to ever entirely switch off from music, I like to do some sort of writing every day, even if it’s just writing a small part of a melody, a couple of lines of lyrics, a little bit of production. We both enjoy music, films, time with friends and family. As we were/are friends first, when we spend time together it’s often hard to completely switch off from music. But that’s ok, a lot of ideas come out of it.