CHELSEA WOLFE on Rock Overdose: “Most of the time, reality is a dark place”

When it comes to dark music -whether it be gothic rock, neofolk, electro or even metal- Chelsea Wolfe has produced some of the finest offerings in the past few years. We met up with the L.A. based singer/songwriter for what turned out to be a quite revealing discussion.


Rock Overdose: Hello miss Wolfe, we are delighted to feature you in our webpages.

Chelsea Wolfe: Hello, thanks for having me.

 

Rock Overdose: When trying to describe your music, words like “dark” ot “sombre” pop up. What is it that makes you write this type of songs? Were you always drawn to the more “gloomy” stuff, whether it be music, or movies or anything?

Chelsea Wolfe: I have always been drawn to honesty, reality, and contrasts.. And most of the time, reality is a dark place. I am curious to know the two sides to every story - which I think is really the opposite of a lot of people. A lot of people want things sugar-coated for them, or they just want to read a quick headline and believe it regardless of the truth or falseness behind it. I want to dive into the whole story and find out the reality of any given situation. At the same time I can really be an idealist and escapist and sometimes will give a happier ending to a sad story in order to cope with it.

 

Rock Overdose: I may have just described your music as dark, but you seem to constantly invent new ways of presenting it. How important is it to keep evolving and enriching your sound as an artist?

Chelsea Wolfe: I think it’s important to follow your own vision and not allow what other artists are doing or what music is popular at the moment affect your creative process. That is the only way to evolve and find your path.

 

Rock Overdose: I know that you come from a musical family and that you've been exposed to music early on, but what was that defining moment when you were growing up that you said “Ok, I want to pursue music as a career”?

Chelsea Wolfe: I didn’t really think about it when I was a kid - music was just a part of my life. I knew at a young age that I wanted to write, but I thought I’d be a poet! When I learned to record music I started setting my poems to music and writing songs instead. When I was in my early 20’s enough friends who heard me playing or recording at home convinced me to start playing shows. It took me a good few years to get the courage to really pursue it on my own. I never thought I was a good enough guitar player or performer to play music as a career, but what I learned is that experience is the best teacher and you just have to keep playing shows in order to overcome your insecurities and become a better performer.

Rock Overdose: Last year I witnessed your unique collaboration with Converge at Roadburn. How did your participation to the “Blood Moon” shows come about? Were you at all skeptical when the guys invited you to join them, given that your music is quite different than theirs?

Chelsea Wolfe: They had actually asked my bandmate Ben Chisholm to collaborate with them on that project first, to play keyboard and work on electronics for some new versions of Converge songs for European shows. When I heard that I kinda went, ohh I want to go, but didn’t say anything. Then they asked Ben if he’d reach out to me to come sing and play acoustic guitar for the project as well, so I happily did. I know our music is different but Ben was actually really inspired by them when he was younger so I’m sure some inspiration from them has crept into our band in a way!



Rock Overdose: Speaking of collaborations, you're no stranger to them, having collaborated with the likes of Russian Circles and King Dude. I'm sure you've had other offers that you turned down. What are your criteria when choosing to work with another artist? Is there any particular band or musician that you would like to write music with, in the future?

Chelsea Wolfe: I’ve said “yes” to a lot of collaborations in fact! But 90% of them have not come out yet.. these things take time. If someone asks me to collaborate I’ll listen to the ideas that they have and if I instantly have ideas to contribute or get excited about it, I’ll do the collaboration. Sometimes I just don’t get inspired by a collaboration or don’t have time for it because of my own tours or albums so I don’t end up doing those. There are a lot of artists I’d love to collaborate with! Flying Lotus, Tricky, Sunn O))), Massive Attack..



Rock Overdose: If I'm not mistaken you directed the “Hypnos” video, which is a first for you in that area. I was wondering if you've had any kind of let's say “formal” training on directing. What struck me was this recurring image of you holding a snake. Is there a certain symbolism behind it?

Chelsea Wolfe: No, I’m self-taught in basically everything I do. I used to make videos for my friends and I using whatever shitty editing software I could find.. I think my Vimeo page is still out there somewhere. I’ve dabbled in photo and video stuff over the years, and I wanted to create a dreamy but simple video to present with Hypnos. I gathered a bunch of creative friends and visual artists, had the local snake rescue organization bring some beautiful pythons for me to hang out with, and we filmed for a day. I had a vision of holding the snakes in a protective and caring way, like a mother or a lover, lost in a dark dream.



Rock Overdose: It's been two years since the release of “Abyss”. Have you been working on some new music for a follow-up? Should we expect it in the near future?

Chelsea Wolfe: Yes, I’ve been working on new songs since then, and just finished recording a new album. I hope to release it later this year.

 

Rock Overdose: On April 29, you'll be playing here in Athens. What can we expect from a Chelsea Wolfe concert and what do you think you'll find here, in the furthest part of Europe?

Chelsea Wolfe: I’ve never been to Greece but have been fascinated with Greek mythology for a long time. I really look forward to playing there for the first time!


 

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