The Wild Wolves is a New York City indie-pop band led by frontman James Anthony Wolff, an American composer born in 1982 who graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy and subsequently received a Bachelor’s in Music Composition from Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.
Influences include Radiohead, Coldplay, Keen, The Shins, Spoon, Postal Service, The Anniversary, The Cure, The Flaming Lips, Beach Boys, among others.
The Wild Wolves discography consists of five full length albums. Eyes Like Stars represents the best-in-class selections of early-era live studio recordings. The King of Clouds represent mid-era recordings that feature the introduction of electronic string sections. Cascading Hearts represents the culmination of his indie-rock orchestral album recording efforts with a 19-person orchestral ensemble. The Weight of Shadows represents the mid-era mature studio recordings with polished and refined thematic motifs. Finally, Signs and Signals represent the late-era studio recording efforts, and is anticipated to be released in late 2023 or early 2024.
Congrats on the release of your debut album! “Eyes Like Stars” is incredible! What is the meaning behind the name of the album? What can listeners expect?
Thanks! The meaning behind the album name is relatively straight forward. I have always been fascinated by the incredible macroscopic complexities of the world, and how they are a microcosm to the universe around us. The human eye is one such example, not just that the iris is roughly spherical to that of a star, but in those eyes are regions akin to the solar coronas, each unique, and that to me is truly wild.
Also, there is a similar perhaps more subtle reference in the word “stars” itself. If someone were to read my biography, they might happen across my many commercial space companies. I have had a passion for space development that has long eclipsed my music career. I had co-founded companies such as Deep Space Industries, headquartered at NASA, Ames, and later acquired by Bradford Space, and other companies like Orbital Assembly Corporation, which developed a unique in-space manufacturing technology, and Space Initiatives, which has previously won Air Force AFWERX contracts, and many others.
Finally, it was chosen as it best evokes the mood of the album. What I mean by this is that the album is characterized by love songs, songs of unrequited love, longing for love, the empty loneliness of the loveless. Each song on the album is, in its own way, an exploration of the concept, and I think that the beauty of the eye, in its own way, so too resonates with the concept of love, and embodies and represents the concept of love in comparing your beloved to the very heavens above.
Thus, while the name may be succinct in its brevity, it carries a deep underlying meaning to me, and I felt it best conveyed the spirit and ethos of the album itself. I would also note that the album artwork is also deeply meaningful to me. I had gone through dozens, if not hundreds of different album artwork concepts, using photoshop, using services like Canva, I could not settle on anything. In fact, that was the last element that required completion, I spent months finding the right artwork, I was never satisfied. Then, I began experimenting with AI generative artwork, I used dozens of website and apps. Through that process of experimentation I came across a “line” of narrative-based generative artwork, and as I began to refine my complex queries, paragraphs of descriptive detailing, I was able to achieve the perfect output. The final selection was delivered in a batch of approximately 10 images, this one was my favorite, just so subtly different then its cohort, and with just a small bit of further positioning, and artistic freedom in choosing the black title banner and text placement, I finally felt as though I had achieved the artwork I had so diligently conceptualized. On the small matter of publicity, I just so happen to be selling the artwork on the band website as merchandise and apparel. I hope that the artwork is appreciated as much as the audio.
How did you come up with the band name, The Wild Wolves?
The meaning of the name is deeply personal to me. It is meant to reference that period of my life where I was, quite wild, devoting myself to a seemingly unattainable career in music. In retrospect, it was truly a wild period from which the music of the catalog was first conceptualized. Also, rather un-ironically, it was a wild proposition to have believed I could sustain myself through a career in music. In that way, it was a wild, wild period of my life. What I mean by that, well, the somewhat feral sleeping on the floor of converted school buses used for touring, the somewhat-feral starvation and getting paid for shows in beer tickets, the abject idealism involved in thinking a music career was at all possible, the very idea of an indie-rock musician, it felt like, was a wild rejection of a well-defined career in a corporate-capitalist country with shallow values and nepotistic hierarchies. To me, I could think of no better adjective, especially in comparison to my career transition into corporate law, which by all accounts is exceedingly non-wild.
Then, there is also the fact that my last name is Wolff, and so, a band name that references wolves feels like a serendipitous selection entitled to by blood and sweat. That I had then went on the USPTO and realized that no one had ever claimed the title, felt so surprising to me that I knew the stars had aligned, and that it was meant to be. Now, I may not be as wild as in my youth, but it serves to me as a reminder of the pure idealism that I once held, that I should give all effort to finish the catalog and release the remainder of the work, and someday, if I ever take to the stage again, that the raw energy and excitement for that unrivaled feeling of the rush of a live performance that will always exist outside of space and time, as analogous to its putative concept, a wild wolf, howling at the moon, trying to change the world with songs and words, singing its heart out in a cacophony of sound, the joy of living in the moment as a wild and free creature of the night.
You are a well-versed, classically trained musician. How do you think that your education and background have helped you as an indie-pop artist? Has it hindered you in any way?
Thank you for noticing. Indeed, I think my education was a crucial element which gave me the foundation of abilities needed to become an indie-pop artist. The ability to write in a neo-romantic melodic style, to compose complex harmonic progressions utilizing counterpoint music theory, the ability to write for multiple instruments, these were all deeply ingrained into me throughout my musical studies. My first formal lessons came through the Syracuse University music theory department while I was in middle school, then I matriculated to Interlochen Arts Academy, and then to Peabody Conservatory for a degree in music composition. At each step, while composing neo-romantic chamber music I would also write indie-pop songs. Growing up I greatly admired the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, the Beatles, and others, though my primary interests were in the romantic and post-romantic “classical” pedigrees. Once in college, at Peabody, I was exposed to more modern music, quickly falling into admiration of bands like Flaming Lips, Radiohead, Cold Play, and others.
While at Peabody I also transitioned from writing post-modern music into minimalist and post-minimalist works. One of my proudest achievements in school was negotiating the rights to conduct and perform excerpts of Phillip Glass’ Einstein of the Beach, which I co-programmed with a post-minimalist ballet I had composed, at the time it was the largest ensemble performance I had written. This natural transition, into post-minimalism, was well leveraged as I continued into my exploration of more modern-compositional paradigms, eventually forming my first indie-pop band, the Motion Commotion. That was in my sophomore year, and shortly after we received a record and touring deal with Piermont Records, which I rushed into, leaving my conservatory degree unfinished in favor of a rather disastrous touring era which harkened to the very best of Spinal Tap. I later returned to complete my degree, but not before satiating my wanderlust and growing both my mental horizon and my spirit.
In retrospect, if it hindered me in any way, it would have been that I felt, perhaps rightly, a deep connection to the art of music, and the drive to build a career, that many of those in my bands just did not share nor perhaps had a capacity to share. In my career I have gone through a startling wide array of bandmates. If not said already, I think building a band is somewhat similar to trying to build a castle in the sand. So many of my bandmates just could not commit to touring, or commit to taking the time to practice, they did not have the dedication or the ambition to sign with a major, content to playing weekend gigs at local bars. Some could not read sheet music, some could not memorize material. It was, at times, frustrating, and it really felt at times like one of the loneliest occupations I could have chosen. I was so dedicated, to practicing, to writing, I missed so much of my time, and being so utterly broke I could only haplessly look on at others who could begin and sustain personal relationships, or others who would give up and work a regular job, giving up on the dream. I thought I would never give up, that if I just preserved enough that I too would break into the industry and become successful. Sadly, that never occurred, and it was a humbling experience, and through so many of the years I would just occasionally return to the rough recordings and elements of my catalog, wondering whether, if ever, I would finish the music and release the albums. Now, nearly twenty years later after my first record deal, I made, of all things, a new years resolution to rededicate myself to releasing the catalog. I can confidently say that because of the classical training I received, and the world-class institutions and the caliber of the teachers, that I believe my music stands the test of time, and that it is worthy of major label interest, that it is a legacy that I can now leave to my children and to the world.
When did you first realize that you wanted to be a musician? Has your environment/family upbringing influenced you in that decision?
From a very early age I first realized I wanted to be a musician. Among my earliest most cherished memories were the hot summer nights of Skaneateles lake where I loved to improvise music on the old upright piano my family had at our farmhouse growing up, this was before I could learned staff writing, and I would write the names of the chords I was improvising, next to the sketches of my spaceships. My mother would take me to the Syracuse Symphony, and I voraciously consumed classical music, emulating the likes of Brahms and Tchaikovsky. Growing up in elementary school I first began playing the viola and the alto-saxophone, competing in All-State and performing at school performances and talent shows. I quickly realized that music was among my favorite subjects, especially playing in the middle school jazz band. Around this time, my first music teacher, Ms. Veverka, recognized an innate talent and supported me with after-school lessons.
From there she recommended that I study at Syracuse University for music theory, and I also studied at Ithaca College with a wonderful violist. After a few years of these studies I was presented with the option to dedicate me efforts fully, and I withdrew from public school and I was homeschooled. There my dear mother, who dedicated herself to my training, would oversee my six-hour per day viola practice regimen, my Calvert School homeschool studies, and all of my extracurricular activities like the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra. Thanks to those efforts from my mother, and her tireless support and advocacy, I was accepted into Interlochen Arts Academy, one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the world. I received my high school degree in 2000 and thereafter matriculated at Johns Hopkins, Peabody Conservatory to study under grammy-winning composer Thomas Maw, an iconic neo-romantic orchestral composer.
What is on the horizon for The Wild Wolves? Any aspirations for playing live shows?
Most immediately I need to complete the remainder of the catalog. The next two albums are currently in mastering. Another is nearing completion, and another is in production, anticipated to be completed by the end of the year. These are all full length albums, and together they represent the compendium of my catalog. I selected each of the tracks on each of the albums based on chronology and aesthetic similarity. I actually had more songs but I chose what I felt were the two or three weakest tracks from each album and removed them. Perhaps I will rework them in the future to release them in a future sixth album, or perhaps I will return to writing new material. I don’t immediately foresee that as I have a busy career as a corporate attorney. Similarly, I do not anticipate playing live shows, I did that in my twenties, I toured extensively, and all of those efforts were but castles in the sand, proverbially washed away by the tides of time. However, if the offer presented itself, if I received major label endorsement, if I received a major tour offer, or a stadium performance opportunity then I would reevaluate my options. Similarly, I have an electronic instrumental DJ set pulled from some of my album material that I have performed in the past.
If you weren’t a musician, what else do you think you’d be doing?
Well, I think if I wasn’t a musician I would become a high-powered corporate attorney in NYC. Fortunately, I already tested that hypothesis, I preserved through law school, with an arts degree background no less, and I was able to pass the bar and develop a rewarding, if not stressful, career. Similarly, if I was not a musician, I would be an astronaut. Well, in that way I was close, being fortunate to cofound and work with some of the most leading edge commercial space startups in the industry, touring the country at space conference speaking engagements, and contributing to space development. In a way, I find my current career very rewarding, and I would not have pursued it if not for the trials and tribulations of my music career. For example, trying to create and run a band is very similar to a startup company, there are significantly leverageable skill sets, understanding contracts, managing team members, protecting ip, leading. I would say having been a musician helped me in developing my career.