Interviews: Joyous Wolf
1. Congratulations on In Between! Looking back at the writing and recording process, what does this album represent for Joyous Wolf at this stage of your career?
Joyous Wolf: Thank you so much! It’s an amazing feeling to have such a long-awaited body of work finally come to fruition. This album means absolutely everything to us. Everything that we worked so hard for: to maintain our originality and the content of the music we believed in back then and continue to believe in today. We feel guided by the fact that these songs represent a new era for Joyous Wolf going forward, for new inspirations, and to be able to share with the world music that we have been wanting to share for the past five-plus years.
2. "Juniper" is the first taste of the new record. Why did you choose it as the lead single, and what do you feel it says about the overall direction of the album?
Joyous Wolf: We chose Juniper as the first taste of the new record because it felt like the most “in your face” experience of the album. Very exciting, attention-grabbing verses with a big chorus really made us want to rush out and share it with everyone as soon as possible. I think it shows the new direction of songwriting and captivation that we put so much time and effort into writing and performing these songs. We have been wanting this body of work to formally represent the band for such a long time, and the fact that it finally does now in the best possible format is everything we hoped it would be.
3. Your music blends hard rock, blues, soul, and alternative influences. How do you strike a balance between honoring classic rock traditions and creating something that feels fresh and distinctly Joyous Wolf?
Joyous Wolf: Honestly, there’s not a whole lot of effort put into that. The only thing that has effort put into it is to be as pure as possible while still maintaining a good song between the four of us members. Trying not to add too much or take away from the raw inspiration of the song, while still trying to be very musically creative and display the sense of chemistry and energy that everyone shares together in the band, from a songwriting and performance perspective, has thankfully always come very naturally thanks to every member’s respective intentions with music.
4. Coming from Orange County, California, how has the local music scene and the legacy of the Sunset Strip shaped your identity as a band?
Joyous Wolf: The Sunset Strip scene was probably one of the things that helped shape the band as much as possible. It really gave us the impression to have to work extremely consistently in order to be taken seriously and to prove to ourselves as musicians that we had a work ethic and intention that was constantly evolving and striving for things like international tours and festivals.
5. Fans often describe your live performances as incredibly energetic. Did you approach the songwriting on In Between with the stage in mind, or did some songs evolve into live anthems naturally?
Joyous Wolf: That’s a great question. I think that the feeling of being on stage is one that we unconsciously carry with us, and during the songwriting process we continually go back to that feeling as a cornerstone to compare a song to in order to make sure it “feels” good. With that being said, it’s never been like a bar to pass for us. If the song feels like a good song to us and it feels good in the room, that’s enough for us to collectively take it seriously and work on making it as best as we possibly can. We will definitely use the stage as a make-or-break chopping block for us for if a song works or not, but before that, we really just try to focus on the raw pieces of a song and if it feels good to play at first.
6. The album title, In Between, suggests themes of transition or uncertainty. What inspired the title, and how does it connect to the stories or emotions explored throughout the record?
Joyous Wolf: The title In Between is meant to take advantage of every circumstance you are put into. We have had so many things happen to us as a band where we have gone from one place to another and are constantly trying to get to the next, and while doing so, we start to rob ourselves of the moment we are currently experiencing. Constantly worrying about the future is an absolute robbery of the present. It is something that we have battled with a lot in the past and have made us such better people and musicians because of it. That being said, we believe this is a universally felt feeling whether you’re a musician or not, and it felt like such a great theme for the album to connect people directly to the heart of what our music is about: experiencing the moment purely and raw for what it is and not what has been or what will be, only what is.
7. You've drawn comparisons to bands like AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Cream, and Deep Purple, while also carving out your own sound. Which artists have had the biggest influence on this album specifically?
Joyous Wolf: Those comparisons are amazing and definitely something we appreciate and hold near and dear to our hearts. I think a lot of inspirations for this album have come from bands like Pink Floyd, Tool, Rival Sons, Queens of the Stone Age, and Muse. The reason is that for us, these bands best embody the rock album experience. Throughout listening to these bands, there is such a sense of continuity that connects an entire musical theme together that fans obsessively connect with, and we are those fans. Hearing an entire rock experience like what those bands have created is something on a pedestal that we have always aspired to deliver, in the off-chance that we are able to deliver something derived from what we have experienced from these legends.
8. The modern rock scene has seen a renewed appreciation for blues-inspired rock. Why do you think this style is resonating with audiences again, and where do you see Joyous Wolf fitting into that movement?
Joyous Wolf: I think that as new mediums of music get popular, the old ones become even stronger. A lot of what artists are forced to do nowadays is fit their music into a 15-second soundbite that hopefully goes viral. If this is something that is aligned with a modern-day artist’s music, then it works extremely well to their benefit. However, this isn’t usually a great vehicle for the rock album experience. Legendary albums like Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” or Tool’s “Lateralus” would be somewhat confusing on shuffle if you’ve listened to it front to back. It is an incredible, almost spiritual experience that, if given your full undivided attention, can be a complete out-of-body experience. Not saying that this is what In Between accomplishes, but it is definitely our first attempt at this format given what we have experienced and have loved so fondly about our favorite artists.
9. Having gone from playing local clubs to performing on international stages, what are some of the biggest lessons you've learned about yourselves as musicians and as a band?
Joyous Wolf: I think one of the biggest lessons we’ve learned is that you give the same amount of energy to a packed, sold-out room of 250 people that you give to the festival with tens of thousands of people. That energy is what got us to where we are, and it is exactly what makes us who we are. That raw, unrelenting passion is what rock music is all about, and it’s what makes playing any show worth it. It’s the whole reason why we play music in the first place, and not going out and giving it 110% would be a disservice to us and anyone in the audience.
10. With In Between arriving on August 21, what are you most excited for fans to experience—whether it's a particular song, the full album journey, or bringing these new tracks to life on stage?
Joyous Wolf: I’m definitely most excited about fans experiencing the full album front to back. But if I had to pick a track that I would be most excited for fans to experience, it would be The Mechanic. That song is so different from anything we’ve ever done as a band. It’s a lot longer, more harmonically interesting, and very gradual with its dynamic builds. As far as the album experience goes, I think that song is the most album-experience song we’ve made. With that being said, we could not be happier for everyone to discover our first full-length record “In Between,” and we hope that every bit of ourselves we put into the music is received and internalized by old and new fans.
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