VIDEO PREMIERE: WOLF! feat. Scott Metzger ‘Unspeakable Things/Tomahawk Chop’ (INTERVIEW)

A band with the name “Wolf” in it has recently become as commonplace as a new Starbucks opening. But naming a trio after a certain Mr. Winston Wolfe from the classic Tarantino film Pulp Fiction? Well just like the Harvey Keitel played smooth operator who “fixed” Jules’ and Vincent’s accident , this Brooklyn based trio WOLF! clearly has a flair for quick composing with lasting impressions.

Fronted by guitarist Scott Metzger known for his lead ax skills with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Phil Lesh & Friends, Nicole Atkins and his former band Rana, is one of the scene’s most versatile and well versed players. Bassist Jon Shaw has anchored the bottom end for Cass McCombs, Shakey Graves and Sharon van Etten among many others and drummer Taylor Floreth emerged from New York’s Collective School of Music and has since played shows with blues innovator Bill Sims Jr., guitarists Jim Campilongo and Avi Bortnickand singer/songwriter Kelli Scarr.

Wolf! goes for a loungey dive bar soundtrack tone on their second album 1-800-WOLF! (released 10/14 via Royal Potato Family), and the heart of the trio lays within the prementioned Tanrantino sounds – Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dogs soundtracks – ranging from spaghetti Westerns to 70’s soul classics to blaxploitation. Brooklyn isn’t short of musicians and another jazz trio certainly isn’t much needed, but WOLF! has managed to create a statement that never goes bandwagon but instead lead bull.

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Our early stuff was kind of contained,” Metzger says. “As the years have gone by, we’ve learned to represent more influences. We can introduce a noise aspect or free jazz elements. We’ve become a lot less about guitar solos. In the beginning, we saw the guitar as the voice that was leading us. Now we’re more about creating arrangements on the spot as opposed to melody/solo/melody. I’m not thinking, ‘OK, I’m gonna solo now.’ It’s more like, ‘Let me compose a cool part for where a solo would traditionally go.’”

1-800-WOLF!, features tracks recorded in one afternoon at Marco Benevento’s studio in Woodstock and the rest over three days at The Creamery Studio in Brooklyn. Each song was written in true WOLF! fashion, before audiences at gigs, with the exceptions of “Furry Freedom,” was was improvised and recorded in one take at the studio, and “You’re No Longer My Friend, My Friend,” a Buddy-Holly-Meets-Pulp-Fiction composition that Metzger admits to writing after watching an old kung-fu film titled Lady Snowblood.

Glide is thrilled to premiere the video for the live jam of “Unspeakable Things” (WOLF!’s mashup of “Hot Tamale Baby” by Buckwheat Zydeco, “Twist and Shout” (The Beatles version), and “Sabotage” (The Beastie Boys)) into their song “Tomahawk Chop” from the new record. Glide also got to chat some with Metzger and get his thoughts on this vibrant project.

 

 

You’ve played with some of the more explosive improvisational live rock bands while the other two guys have played with more studio renowned artists. How did you come to collaborate with Jon and Taylor?

We were all friends before the band, which is really important, and I always thought they were both very musical dudes. We came to be as sort of a unit backing up various singers around town. We’d bring a really specific thing to the gigs we’d do. At some point it felt like we became a gang and that’s still at the heart of the attitude we have. That was how the seeds of the band were planted.

WOLF! sounds tastefully vintage but at same time is equally explosive and kind of ferocious – how have you managed to engage but also provide a sense of expect the unexpected?

 Thanks – that’s a nice compliment. There’s a lot of interacting going on up there and when there’s only three guys in the band, any one guy’s idea at anytime can push the whole thing into a new direction. I think the key is that all three of us are good listeners, respect what the other guys are doing, and have become very open to things changing on a dime with little or no warning. That’s the best shit.

wolfcoverYou seem to hold back some on the album when in many instances you can just rip away – as a guitarist where do you find the balance between letting the song rule vs your guitar?

 I’ve always loved those old guitar band records – the Ventures, The Shadows, Dick Dale. Those records are NOT about flashy solos. They’re about memorable melodies played in a way that focuses on getting the mood of the song across. We were definitely going for that kind of approach in the studio. Live is a completely different story – anything goes…

Lots of your work is defined by 70’s and 80’s guitar rock but WOLF! has a very 60’s loungey type feel to it – what exactly did you have in mind when starting the band in terms of sound and theme, and has it gone where you thought it would?

 That’s easy. Quentin Tarantino soundtrack. All three of us are big movie fans, and his films in particular. I think that’s at the heart of this band. Yeah, I think we’re on a path of discovering what the band really is, and the new album is a big step in that direction compared to the first one. That’s all you can really hope for from record to record, progress towards a vision for the band.

Having played so much Grateful Dead material of late with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead- what has that brought forth to WOLF! in terms of spontaneity?

A lot, a lot. Those gigs are teaching me the importance of not repeating ideas often, looking at the entire night as one big piece of music, and how to keep the energy moving forward and not let things sit and become predictable for very long. That’s just a few things – I’m learning so much.

Your vocals with Joe Russo’s Almost Dead have gotten quite strong and impactful- do you plan on doing more singing with more bands and how did you manage to develop your singing voice?

The short answer is yes. I’m slowly getting more comfortable being out front doing vocals and I’d like to explore that more. I don’t consider myself a vocalist, though – I’m a guitar player first. Always will be. When I realized how much I’d be singing with JRAD, I freaked out. I took some vocal lessons just to learn projection and breathing – really basic type stuff. It’s really just something that I’ve worked REALLY hard on and spent a ton of time on to get to where I am now with it.

There’s no shortage of bands with “Wolf” in their band name- how did you decide on “WOLF!”?

 Ha, it’s true. There’s about 50 Nordic black metal bands called WOLF, plus it seems like a new hip, young band is popping up with “wolf” in their name everyday. It’s simple with us – we took it from Harvey Keitel’s character in Pulp Fiction – Winston Wolfe. We put the exclamation point on there just because we thought it looked cool, which we still do.

You seem to be a guy of many musical influences- it would probably take a long time to sum ’em all up but who are you present day most influential artists?  

Ha, yeah, we don’t have that kinda time, ha. As we’re talking I’m listening to Duke Ellington’s ‘Far East Suite.’ There’s a lot of ‘jazz’ on these days – Chris Potter and Tom Harrell in particular. Also a lot of what I guess people call ‘noise rock’ – The Boredoms, Hair Police, groups like that. 70’s era Miles Davis never gets old to me. Any Miles Davis for that matter. Too much to get into here…

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