EMQ’s with HORNED WOLF

EMQ’s with HORNED WOLF

Hi everyone. Welcome to another EMQs interview, this time with Kansas USA based Progressive Sludge Metal band, Horned Wolf. Huge thanks to them all for taking part. 

What is your name, what do you play and can you tell us a little bit about the history of the band?

The band was formed by our guitar player (Don) in 2015. He knew all the members of the band and pulled them together. It started out with the intent to be a Pallbearer meets Deafheaven kind of thing, but once we all started playing together we just let it rip and what came out was pure Horned Wolf.

How did you come up with your band name? 

Don: It was one I had been kicking around for a while. I love werewolves and satanic imagery so I wanted to combine them. In my mind a wolf with horns was the ultimate blend of occult imagery. Plus it sounded like a name that should have been used already. To my surprise at the time if you were to google Horned Wolf there was almost nothing anywhere on the internet. Certainly none of the silly anime horned wolf’s you find everywhere now.

What Country/Region are you from and what is the Metal/Rock scene like there?

We are from the Lawrence and Kansas City area. Which is in the Midwest in the United States. Our scene is thriving right now but needs just a little help to take off.

What is your latest release? (Album, EP, Single, Video)

We just released a single and a music video for our song “Become Like They Are” which is the title track to our debut LP that will be coming out in the summer.

Who have been your greatest influences?

Justin: I take a lot of influence from bands like Mastodon, The Sword and Kvelertak. 

Don: Black Sabbath, In Flames, Woods of Ypres, Cursive, Opeth

David: I started my first band almost immediately after seeing my friend’s older brother’s band play at a local all ages venue when I was 14. So, I’d have to say the kids playing in bands in Topeka, Lawrence, and Kansas City in the local music scene I grew up in. 

Sav: Vocally, the bands and artists that inspired me the most? Brody Dalle (when I was a kid I used to scream into a pillow to sound like her) Otep, Gojira, Alice in chains, Deftones and the list goes on and on and on.

Dan: Again Bear vs. Shark, Hot Water Music, Slabdragger. Before that the Fall of Troy and At the Drive In and Coheed and Cambria were big in my formation.

What first got you into music?

Sav: I grew up playing music because of my family. My grandparents met because grandma tried out for his band. She was embarrassed because the first try-out she had her hair curlers in and thought the guitarist (my papa Richie) was cute. So her first practice, she dolled herself up! She sang and (before her hip replacement) played the drums. They performed locally and got married, so fast forward to playing in bands and me singing in the family band. I’ve always wanted to sing and play guitar, my grandpa Richie really instilled it into me. And when he passed, I got his custom guitar.

Don: My brother is an incredible guitar player. He is nine years older than me so I grew up seeing him play in bands. He plays Blues and mostly made money in cover bands. Some early memories were finding tapes of Body Count, MDC, and Black Sabbath that someone had left at our house. I am not sure I had a light bulb moment. I just know that when I played guitar I didn’t feel as awful or alone. It was the first time I found something that seemed like it was meant to be.

Justin: A family friend of mine (Ryan Spencer Cook, Ace Frehley band guitarist, former Gene Simmons Group guitarist) showed me my first chords when I was 6. I believe he taught me the song Tubthumping by Chumbawuba. I have been hooked since then. I saw how (for lack of better words) cool he was and knew I wanted to be in the industry.

David: My sister is 7 years older than me and I lived vicariously through her musical preferences as a young kid. She listened to a variety of music, but in the late 80’s and early 90’s Heavy Metal was popular and she was into bands like Poison, Def Leppard, Motley Crüe, and Metallica, while simultaneously being into pop music like New Kids on the Block, Tiffany, and Madonna. Naturally, I liked everything she liked because she was the coolest person I knew, but my absolute favorites were Madonna’s ‘Like a Prayer’ and Metallica’s ‘One’. The video for ‘One’ was the most amazing and Metal thing I’d ever seen at the time and I could not get enough of the part of the song where it goes from ballad to Thrash. I’ve been obsessed with Heavy Metal ever since (and yes, I still love Madonna). 

Dan: My Dad loves music (for better or worse I found out when I got older, he has some pretty questionable loves) and got my brother and I into it at a young age. In second grade I was listening to the Offspring, Mighty Mighty Bosstones and Beastie Boys at the same time as Backstreet Boys and Hanson. Around middle school is when I really started to get INTO music with bands like Metallica, Blink 182, the Hives, System of a Down, Radiohead, just anything I could get my hands on. Then I discovered the Clash and the Misfits and it was punk rock only for the next decade. Coming out of my punk-coma I discovered I actually like when the musicians really try to be good at what they do. Enter Metal.

If you could collaborate with a current band or musician who would it be?

Don: Pallbearer, Khemmis, Spirit Adrift. I think any of those would be amazing.

David: James Dewees, formerly of Coalesce, the Get Up Kids, Reggie and the Full Effect, etc. Specifically, James Dewees on keys, not James Dewees on drums. 

Sav: I would absolutely love to feature with Otep, if I can only choose one (I choose my number one because otherwise I’d go in forever).

Dan: Spelljammer, Slomatics, or Sumac. 

Justin: The Darkness, Kvelertak, or Spirit Adrift

If you could play any festival in the world, which would you choose and why? 

Basically any European Metal festival. 

What’s the weirdest gift you have ever received from a fan?

No one has ever given us gifts. So there is really nothing we can think of. Maybe that will change soon!

If you had one message for your fans, what would it be?

Be Kind and Be Inclusive.

If you could bring one rock star back from the dead, who would it be?

Don: This is super tough and there are some very obvious answers but I am going to side step them and say David Gold from Woods of Ypres. He had so much more to give. 

David: Obviously, Ronnie James Dio. 

What do you enjoy the most about being a musician? And what do you hate?

We love playing music. The creative outlet and connecting with people is one of the best feelings. Moving heavy stuff sucks so probably that. 

If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

That money makes bands not music.

Name one of your all-time favourite albums?

David: Functioning on Impatience by Coalesce. 

Don: Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True by Fair to Midland

What’s best? Vinyl, Cassettes, CDs, or Downloads?

David: I don’t have a specific preference, really. I just got into collecting vinyl and that is fun because I like having a physical copy of the record and seeing the art as more than a small image from a streaming service on my phone. But I also immensely appreciate the convenience of having almost literally all music ever recorded available on a small supercomputer that fits comfortably in my pocket. I find the resurgence of cassette popularity hilarious, but I own a few cassettes and will likely buy more in the future. I rarely listen to CD’s anymore and have uploaded my old CD collection to a cloud so I can access it anywhere I have internet. Which, honestly, wasn’t even necessary since most of the CDs I owned are readily available on most streaming services with the exception of a few smaller local band’s CDs. 

Don: I love it all. I have a ton of records and CDs. I use Spotify constantly. But I will say sitting down and putting on a vinyl while sipping some whiskey is a top shelf good time!

What’s the best gig that you have played to date?

Our first show with our vocalist Sav. It was in our home town and also our first show in 2 years. It was so good it made it as the #1 cool thing from bands in our city for 2021.

If you weren’t a musician, what else would you be doing?

Art of some nature for sure.

Which five people would you invite to a dinner party?

Don: Layne Staley, Bill Hicks, Freddy Mercury, Robin Williams, Lemmy

David: Probably people I know so I don’t have to awkwardly sit around with famous strangers. I have only met a handful of famous people I admire and all I’ve ever managed to say is something lame like “I like your music” and then nervously run off. 

What’s next for the band?

Another single here before too long and our debut LP in the summer!

What Social Media/Website links do you use to get your music out to people?

All of them. https://linktr.ee/hornedwolf

Jaffa Cakes? Are they a cake or a biscuit?

Since it has a sponge cake base we would say cake but we’ll also defer to whatever Mary Berry from the Great British Baking Show says on this one. 

Thank you for your time. Is there anything else that you would like to add?
Thank you for these thoughtful questions. They were fun to answer. Cheers!

Disclaimer: This interview is solely the property of Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this interview, unless you have the strict permission of said party. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.