Interview with Glenn Vanderwolf of Vanderwolf
By Mick Michaels
Cosmick View: Hello, Glenn! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with me, it's greatly appreciated.
CV: They say money makes
the world go 'round. That's no truer than in the music business. If money was
not a concern, with regards to your career as a musical artist, what would that
look like...what would you do differently?
Glenn Vanderwolf: MONEY?! Money may make the
world go 'round but there's not enough money in the greater part of the music
business for this to be true or for motivations to be driven by financial
reward. If you want to make money you'd be better off going into anything else!
Sure there are areas of this business that are driven by the largest-common-denominator.
There are people turning themselves from musicians or singers into social
media stars and influencers. But for those of us who are focused on
responding to our musical concerns, there is little hope of financial
reward. The mere goal of achieving enough recognition to become a
self-sustaining entity in which music-production can become ongoing is lofty
and unrealistic enough. If money were at a factor of zero…the only
thing that would change for me would be the amount of time and
investment in marketing and promotion.
CV: Many artists expel a
lot of energy trying to reinvent the wheel. Modern music gurus feel everything
in music has already been done. Others, however, disagree. Does working towards
reinventing the wheel in music a path even worth traveling in your opinion?
GV:
Yes there are many who believe that to be innovative and break new
''unproven'' musical ground is the only way forward. As for me, I prefer to be
innovative on my terms. I don't need to reinvent the wheel…if such a thing is
possible…I just need to answer my own obsessions and challenges with writing,
performing and recording music. That is satisfying enough for me and
in some cases will lead to ground that may be widely viewed as
innovative.
CV: Many critics also
feel music is not evolving; it’s maintaining a level that seems to appease the
lowest common denominator. Being an artist, do you agree with such a
sentiment? Is music stagnating?
GV:
No, I think there is plenty of experimental music being made just as there
always has been. I do think we've covered a lot of ground in the 20th century
but if you want to seek out people who think we've not gone far enough yet….there's
more to explore. In terms of pop music, hip hop and dance music,
production techniques…they continue to be an area where innovations take
place.
CV: If you were given
the opportunity to change places with any another artist, who would that be and
why?
GV:
Why not trade Billie Eilish. The music is good. She can have whatever she
wants for her live show. She's got a faithful collaborator in her brother.
They've got compellingly innovative pop music that has place the world at their
fingertips…the world is her oyster. And she's beautiful, so access to
recreational activities of a lascivious nature could potentially be robust and
varied. As long as we're trading places, she'll be rewarded with
anonymity, long curly locks, and excessive beard growth. And I'd get her tits.
We live in the same city so she'd need not to uproot and be away from friends
and family. I hope she'll water the house plants.
CV: If you could make
one change to the current music industry, what would that be and why? How do
you see that change greatly impacting artists as a whole?
GV:
Let's start by eliminating the criminal operation known as Spotify. Let’s
move to a ''Bandcamp'' model of artists selling directly to fans.
Streaming would be monetized in such a way that artists would set the price of
giving their music away. The Bandcamp model -- which needs much improvement in
terms of presentation, delivery, discovery, etc., would bring us back to fans
having a direct relationship with bands/artists who have music, personality and
a message that excites them.
CV: Do genre and sub
genre classifications pigeon-hole artists to some degree in your opinion; thus,
leaving them with limited potential audience awareness? Should an artist be
concerned or is that something more for the label executives to worry about?
GV:
Yes there is plenty of pigeon-holing but I think listeners are getting very
sophisticated about not allowing themselves to listen only in one genre. I
think one of the benefits of streaming has been that listeners take more
risks to explore other areas of music. Additionally, many people just want
to hear what's ''new'' across a wide range of genres. Personally, I'm in a
very precarious position as my music refuses to be genre specific.
Elements of blues, psychedelia, jazz, gospel, progressive rock, soul and
more enter in it.
CV: Do you feel that in
this day and age, an artist can freely cross musical genre/style lines without
the fear of being labeled a "sell out" or "bandwagon
jumper" in your opinion?
GV:
An artist can freely cross musical genre/style lines without the fear of
being labeled a "sell out", as long as she/he doesn't jump into
an obvious trend. Its only when said artist moves into a predictably
commercial area of music that one can be accused of such things. If Kanye's
next album is a progressive rock epic or if Nick Cave's Record is an industrial
noise-scape…no one will accuse them of such things. I think now is a great time
to genre-hop. Many have suggested that we are in a post-genre period of music.
I'm not sure that’s true but we do have things like an ''Oblique''
playlist on Spotify which tells you something about how we're appealing to
listener's curiosity about music without throwing them into a labeled bin.
We live in a time where there is a huge hip hop and country-music crossover.
The case can be made that genres don't matter anymore.
CV: More on a personal
note, how much has music changed your life? What does being an artist mean to
you? What have been the highlights?
GV:
Music is its own journey and its own reward. I cherish each time I wrote
something or discovered something musical that fascinates me -- that
pushes me to go on and discover more. I've performed great sets, in great
festivals for great audiences...that’s good too. But realizing musical ideas is
the big buzz for me.
CV: What can fans expect
to see coming from you in the near future?
GV:
I've recorded an album in LA that will be released early next year. I've
reunited with the original NYC drummer from Naked Sun and we've come up with an
album of sparkling tunes. We're also looking at performing live in the Autumn
which is both exciting and terrifying.
CV: Thanks again Glenn for taking the time to share with our readers. We wish you all the best and continued success.
Check out Vanderwolf at:
Official: www.vanderwolfmusic.com
Bandcamp: https://vanderwolf1.bandcamp.com/album/12-little-killers
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