Caught up with local Northumberland singer/songwriter Wulfe Adams at the Commissioners Quay in Blyth last night. We talked about his thoughts on music, politics, AI and beyond plus his up and coming EP which he is in the process of recording ready for release in the coming months.
Following his Easter Monday live session on Koast Radio's Unleased show with DJ Caz Thompson, we asked Wulfe if he’d like to be the guinea pig for our new format Music Grilll blog and, as he’s never one to turn down a challenge, he was happy to oblige!
Wulfe Adams: I come from Wallasey on Merseyside. Originally it was in Cheshire but now it’s part of Merseyside. It’s a bit like Gateshead is to Newcastle in terms of it’s just across the river from Liverpool.
MG: So you go over on the ferry? The ferry across the Mersey?
WA: It is, that’s exactly where it is (laughs) I’ve been across the Mersey on that ferry more times than I care to think of!
MG: So how long have been together? (oops – band question!!)
WA: As a band? I’ve never been together (laughs) I’m completely out of it!! No, I think I’ve been a bass player slightly longer than I’ve had teeth so…….
WA: Before this project I was involved with a band called Blue D13SEL as their musical director and bass player. That came to an end in August 2018 with a rather good gig at the O2 Academy in Newcastle organised by Clemmy Scotswood. It was rather excellent night but I had to move on at that point and decided to start working on much more of my own original material, working with my wife, Kath, on lyrics and putting together our own original material and some new arrangements of some relatively well known tracks, so that’s where we are at the minute.
MG: When and where was your first ever solo gig?
WA: As Wulfe, my first full solo gig would have been down at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead - probably a couple of years ago - for a private party, an engagement party in fact but prior to that as sort of solo, I played various folk clubs and acoustic sessions probably for 10 years or that kind of timeline.
MG: (another band question fell in the mix!) Who is the biggest hog in the band?
WA: That would be me, even if I was in a band it would still be me and given that I am the band it’s all me! So we’ve got a band of pigs! (laughs)
WA: *Much hmmmming and scratching of head* Such an unfair question!! Who would be supporting me? I genuinely dare not answer that question I’d offend so many people! (laughs) As for the rider, world peace!
MG: A bowl of world peace?
WA: (Laughs) Yes, I’ll have a large box of world peace please!
MG: What do you think of cover songs and which one(s) do/would you do?
WA: I think with covers it’s important to invest yourself in the song or invest the song in yourself. Just playing what somebody else has played is not really the ethos that we should be trying to achieve, this is about creativity, this is about originality and so when I’ve played covers I’ve always tried to a greater and lesser extent, depending on what the track is, to try and imbue it with something different and a different way of playing it, maybe occasionally introducing new lyrics if I think they’re appropriate or playing it a different style. I quite like playing cover tracks because there’s some very good music out there.
MG: Do you find it stretches yourself musically?
WA: It can do because it might not necessarily be a style I’d play myself. For example we did a version of James Bay’s Hold Back The River and the guitar line actually worked quite nicely on the bass and there was a sort of challenge to making that work. I think it changed the nature of the track just enough so that people recognised it and enjoyed it for what it originally was but just placed it into a slightly different sonic spectrum.
MG: How do you feel about politics in music?
WA: I think in all honesty politics is everything and there is no aspect of human life that isn’t in politics. Politics decides how we agree to live with each other and how we function within that agreement. Music could easily be seen as a microcosm of that framework and I think its important as a statement of whatever we do that we should not be afraid of reflecting our opinion of politics, what’s happening in the world, why we’re doing what we’re doing and why we shouldn’t be doing what we’re doing. All these things are really an important statement by any art form and music in its own right has a part to play in that.
WA: As a sound engineer, I’m interested in the technology behind sound, the history of music, how it’s come to its current form and where it might go next. There’s a lot of very interesting material going on with the inception of artificial intelligence. I heard a recent interview with a well-known jazz guitarist. They’d used some of his material to teach an AI and he was hearing his own material coming back to him through the AI but then it did something different that he wouldn’t have thought of and so he adopted that and then reintroduced that and there’s a very interesting growth potential there. Having said that, there is also some negativity in the context, and this is back into politics, with certain attitudes within the music industry, we could easily see a situation where they felt they could maybe do away with the musician under those circumstances and that’s something that we need to be very aware of, keep an eye on, you know? Interesting, very, very interesting times moving forward.
MG: Who is your all time musical legend and why?
WA: Oh so many….pick one? I’m literally tossing a coin at the moment but it would have to be a three headed coin (laughs). It would be between Peter Gabriel and Dave Gilmour versus Roger Waters. Roger Waters, I’ll say he can be very aggressive and very earthy in his approach to politics. I respect that and I find it very refreshing but Dave Gilmour’s ability with the guitar, his lyricism with the guitar is just unending but Peter Gabriel’s lyrics are to die for and his ability to move through different genres and offer some very, very deep and meaningful material within those songs is astounding. All three, sorry I can’t make a decision on one.
MG: What advice would you give to the you of 10 years ago?
WA: JFDI! Just do it. Because at the end of the day music is at the core of everything that happens and you’ve got to make it happen. As simple as that. Don’t second guess yourself. Just get on with it.
MG: How do you prepare mentally for a gig?
WA: Just make sure that I’ve practised hard. I think the truth of the matter is there comes a point where you’ve got to feel comfortable with what you’re going to play - that’s obvious - but then there comes a point equally where you’ve almost got to get your mind off it. I do suffer from nerves and anxiety before getting up on stage. I think anybody who doesn’t isn’t living in the real world and I don’t think I’d ever like that to go away but in terms of preparation it’s just making sure that everything that can be done has been done before putting a foot on the stage, really as simple as that!
MG: What have you got in the pipeline over the next few months?
WA: What we’re basically going to do is pull together 4 tracks and push that out as an EP. We’ll do a launch and invite some people to enjoy and participate and get some marketing done as part of that process. The timelines are all pretty tight at the minute with various other projects that are going on in the world but get some more radio shows put in, there’s going to be some bits and pieces of live stuff to facilitate that and then ultimately get this material out as a CD and principally electronic digital deployment. There’s a whole world out there who can listen to what where doing so let’s give them the opportunity to do that.
MG: Ambitions?
WA: On the back of the EP we’ll be pushing forward with an album and really keeping moving that kind of material forward over time but then expanding that out into some new project lines that I’m thinking about. I mean there’s some concept album material which I’d like to explore and really expand my range out into more electronic and ambient material.
Thanks so much for that Wulfe. Great to see you and looking forward to that launch party/gig!
(Since the interview we’ve heard from Wulfe and that’s likely to be in June or July. We’ll keep you posted as to when that will be once we have a date).
All Photos (c) Clemmy Scotswood
