Interview With Wulfer
With her recent project I Love My TV, Wulfer continues to transform her music by detailing one’s personal feelings in social situations not just through her album releases, but also through powerful live performances.
Questions For Wulfer
Q: Who or what was your biggest influence(s) when getting into music?
Wulfer: When I was getting into music and guitar, my biggest influences were often the other players
around me. Seeing a kid play a chord in this sort of way, sing in this way, use this tuning, stuff
like that. I wanted to be able to keep up. And watching my peers perform always felt life
changing.
Q: Growing up in Philadelphia and now being based in NYC, how have these environments
shaped your musical mindset and style?
Wulfer: Honestly having spent pretty much all of my adult performing years in Boston, I feel like that’s the only city I can really speak on yet. I was definitely influenced by all the DIY shows I would see – lots of emo, shoegaze, and punk stuff in basements that taught me what a good live set looks like. So many of the bands around me were really into noise, ambiance, and wall-of-sound type stuff which majorly influenced the live Wulfer set. It also left me with sort of a DIY mindset.
Q: What was your biggest drive when creating your debut EP Wulfer?
Wulfer: I think my biggest drive was really just feeling the need to make something that could have as much meaning as the music that I love.
Q: When writing, what usually comes first for you? A lyrical idea, a guitar part, or a specific
emotion?
Wulfer: It’s often the guitar part first for me, but every song is different and sometimes the music and lyrics come together. But I’ve definitely had guitar parts that existed without lyrics for a long time, and vice versa.
Q: To add on, when you’re writing do you think about documenting your own experience or
creating something that others can step into.
Wulfer: I guess it’s sort of a mix. I definitely tap into my own life when writing, but not everything I write is about me or from my own perspective either.
Q: Do you ever find it challenging to revisit certain emotions once they’re locked into a
song?
Wulfer: Songs can definitely take me back to places I’ve been when I’m performing them, but not in a way I dislike. Honestly, I think I can understand my feelings better when they’re in a song. They feel at least a little tangible that way, and separated from me. It can be strange to have all these windows back in time out there existing, but like you said, they’re locked in a song and I think that’s really cool to access when I want. I honestly really enjoy listening to old recordings.
Q: When performing live, how do you feel about playing these intimate songs towards a live
audience?
Wulfer: I had a hard time with it at first, but now I just try to think about the audience as little as possible. It’s definitely tougher when I’m playing for a crowd that’s not really expecting that vibe. But as long as I focus on enjoying what I’m doing up there and having fun with my band, I don’t think about it so much. And I just trust that it’s gonna resonate with who it will resonate with.
Q: How does your relationship differ with one of your songs once it’s performed live
compared to when it is a recorded piece?
Wulfer: Pretty much all of my songs existed as finished recordings before I started performing them live, and they’re two very different things in my head. I feel like the recorded versions are the songs as they’re truly supposed to be, and then the live versions are sort of loud, live interpretations. I don’t try to make the live versions sound exactly like the recordings, I like to see what they turn in to. I think that’s more fun for the audience too, if they’re already familiar.
Q: With your debut EP, has the listener response influenced your writing style for your
upcoming project I Love My TV?
Wulfer: I think it motivated me to continue writing, but didn’t necessarily inform the writing style.
Q: Finally, what excites you the most about where this next chapter of music could lead?
Wulfer: I just feel excited about the possibility of a little more exposure. All I can ask for is to be heard
really. I’m hoping this next chapter could lead to a lot more live show opportunities too, maybe a
tour or something. I’m mostly just relieved to finally have these songs out!
Featured Image Credit: Alex Ilyadis