Interview: WOLVES sink their teeth into Los Angeles

Los Angeles is a graveyard of tortured souls. Thousands who lost their way are left discarded along Hollywood Boulevard, shells of their former selves, the past only a distant memory. When the blistered sun rises on a new day, thousands more pour into the streets to take their place. Rinse and repeat. Marc Avery, Sean Carney and Rockwell Sands nearly collapsed from the industry’s brute force ⎯⎯ but as fate would have it, there was a much greater destiny to be had. “We all found each other right as we hit the tipping point, and the band came together fortuitously,” Marc writes in an email. It was an act of godly capacity, that these three would meet under tenuous circumstances, and after the first writing session, WOLVES, as they’re called, were born.

“Animal,” a dark-alley, purple-hued, ravenous club banger, was the bellwether of their power. “Got an appetite for the pleasure and pain,” lead vocalist Avery sings, a smirk curling his lips. The track then erupts in kaleidoscopic proportions, skating between pop, rock and R&B with a sashay. The three minute rave is the culmination of years of blood, sweat and tears pounding on concrete. “This project is such a positive release for all three of us, but it was undoubtedly born out of frustration,” Avery tells B-Sides & Badlands. Each player sacrificed a part of himself, working menial jobs to pay the rent, in order to arrive at this moment. On the side, they often wrote and produced for others, never feeling creatively satisfied or even able to quench their thirst. “This is a struggle for songwriters everywhere,” he adds.

“You kind of do whatever you can to keep the lights on, and sometimes, it makes this strange city even stranger,” says Avery, who worked as a door-to-door roofing and home improvement salesmen, often trudging “through the sweltering valley in the middle of summer,” as he recalls. One time, he got bite by a dog. But it’s all part of the journey. Meanwhile, Carney drove for Uber and Lyft ⎯⎯ “and experienced some crazy shit behind the wheel” ⎯⎯ and Sands currently spends his nights at a pole-dancing gig. “All of this definitely makes us hungrier to succeed, but the music we make is really just a combination of all the stuff we grew up listening to. As Rocky always says, ‘There are only two types of songs in the world: a good song and a bad song.’ We just follow our gut and whatever comes out, comes out.”

Where “Animal” barrels out of the speakers with a primal verve, the trio’s just-pressed new single “Black Lingerie” slides between the fingertips. “Loving you is my addiction,” Avery coos, flexing his carnal ambitions. “I know your body like a melody / I know you like it when the lights go down / I’m going to play you like a symphony…”

It’s between the flutter of vulnerability and sexual electricity that Avery unleashes a smooth but relentless performance. “The best music is vulnerable, right? The most powerful connections are made when you let somebody in, and you’re at your most vulnerable with them,” he says. “[This song] celebrates that moment.”

Both tunes are just the primer for a body of work, currently being ironed out. Below, Avery and Sands discuss transforming into a wolf pack, reclaiming destiny and pushing the boundaries.

Wolves are not only majestic but they elicit images of blood thirst. Is that an apt description of how you approach your music?

Avery: For sure! We’re out for blood, and we’re here to go for the jugular. If you’re not the lead wolf in the pack, the view never changes — you’re always staring at another wolf’s ass!

What was the moment when you realized you needed to regain your destiny?

Avery: We realized we had to see this project through when we all first got in the room together to write. “Animal” ended up being the first song we ever wrote together, and we knew we’d be stupid if we didn’t ride the lightning.

Do you believe we all have a role to play in a greater story?

Avery: Of course! The amazing thing about music is its ability to bring people together. Only music can do that — it’s the language of the soul. If WOLVES is here to do one thing, we’re here to bring more people together. The world needs to be brought together now more than ever. We’re a perfect example of that. All three of us are of different backgrounds, and celebrating our differences is the very thing that makes us unique.

How did that energy and resolve influence those first sessions back in late 2016?

Sands: Honestly, we don’t really think about that kind of stuff when we write. We just stay in the moment and try to make the best music we possibly can without overthinking. That’s how you make shitty songs.

“Black Lingerie” is obviously very sexual, but there is also an earnest intimacy about it, especially in your vocal. Was that a conscious approach?

Sands: Thanks for saying that! Marc sings this song like he’s singing to the sexiest woman ever. He delivers the vocal like he’s staring right into her piercing green eyes. If memory serves us correctly, we turned off the lights, lit up some tantric candles, and put a picture of Logan Browning in the booth with him. If you don’t know who she is, look her up. You’re welcome.

“Animal” deals in deep-rooted, in-your-face ferociousness. Does that theme seem to weave into more of your other work?

Sands: Yes and no. A lot of songs we haven’t released yet are more emotional and poignant than “Animal” and “Black Lingerie,” but we wanted to come out of the gate with those two. Life is best lived ferociously, and we named ourselves WOLVES after all. We have to live up to it.

How do you take those tendencies and push the envelope without coming across as one note?

Avery: We really try to mix up our sound as much as possible. We have a wide musical background between the three of us, and Sean and Rocky play every instrument known to man. All of our songs are definitely “in your face,” but we try to keep it interesting by balancing different instrumentation, genres, production style and exciting melodies, of course.

What are some musical tones and textures you plan to explore down the road?

Well, today we sat in a park with acoustic guitars, a hand drum and a bottle of whiskey to see what we could come up with. We’re always diving down different rabbit holes to find the treasure, and nothing’s ever off limits. Except polka. Fuck polka.

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