SOURCE – Wolfbrigade have always moved between the urgency of crust punk and the weight of extreme metal. On Howl from Underground, which specific influences from heavy music played the greatest role in expanding the band’s sonic identity without compromising its punk essence?
Johan Erken (Bass) – We’re inspired by all kinds of things, but rarely by heavy music when we’re writing Wolfbrigade songs. If we look outside the band for ideas, we tend to look as far away from our own genre as possible.
For this record, we had one folder packed with riffs and another full of lyrics. Then we met up in our studio and started cutting, pasting and piecing songs together. Most of the time, all five of us were there, so every song passed through five different filters. With that process, it ends up sounding like Wolfbrigade anyway. I guess we’re the framework. But there are no rules about what we can bring into it. We make the music we feel like making.
SOURCE – At a time when many modern productions are heavily edited and quantised, what was the band’s approach to preserving the raw, organic energy that characterises crust punk?
Micke Dahl (Vocals) – Recording Kill to Live reminded us how much happens when we play together instead of building a song one track at a time. So, for Howl from Underground, we set up in the same room and recorded as a band. The tempo moves, people react to each other, and sometimes the best part of a take is something nobody planned. Lawrence understood what we were after. We wanted him to capture us playing, not tidy away everything that makes it feel alive.
SOURCE – Wolfbrigade have always addressed social, political and existential issues. Which concerns facing the world today come through most strongly on Howl from Underground?
Johan Erken (Bass) – While working on the record, we started talking about what Lycanthro Punk has meant to us all these years. Those conversations turned into a text called Notes on Failed Domestication, which became the starting point for the album.
It’s about the ways we’re taught to tame ourselves. To fit in, keep our heads down and mistake obedience for a good life. The wolf has always represented the part of us that resists that. That’s the thread running through the record, even though the songs approach it from different angles.
SOURCE – Does the album format remain central to Wolfbrigade, or do you believe the market is moving towards a model increasingly based on singles and fragmented releases?
Micke Dahl (Vocals) – We think in albums. The songs belong together, and the artwork and the physical record are part of it. What direction the market is moving in doesn’t really enter into our decisions. We operated outside it in the ’90s, and we still do. We make a record when we have a record to make.
Johan Erken (Bass) – Yeah, I don’t think anyone in our scene has a finger in the air trying to work out what the market wants, haha. People do this because they’re passionate about it. And Metal Blade have been great to work with. They give us the freedom to make the music we want and help us do it under good conditions.
SOURCE – Do you notice significant differences between your relationship with today’s fans and the one you had during the years when demo tapes, fanzines and physical correspondence were the main means of communication within the underground scene?
Micke Dahl (Vocals) – For us, the connection with our audience has always happened at shows. That’s where we meet, in the music and the energy in the room. How people find out about a band has changed, sure, but that part hasn’t.
SOURCE – As a band rooted in underground culture, how do you view the transformation of music consumption, with algorithm-driven playlists and streaming platforms now playing such a significant role in the discovery of new artists?
Johan Erken (Bass) – Hasn’t there always been some kind of mainstream noise driven by commercial interests? Before, it was radio and MTV. The old ways of finding music are still there alongside the new ones. Micke and I look up record shops whenever we play in another city. I also find music through blogs, mixtapes and books about bands, then look them up online and listen right away. Streaming is another way to dig. We’re looking for good, weird underground music, and any way of finding it is great.
SOURCE – After decades of activity, how do you define success today: global reach, career stability, artistic freedom, or the ability to continue inspiring the underground scene?
Micke Dahl (Vocals) – That the five of us still want to get together, write music, make records and play shows after all these years. That’s the fucking thing. We still want to do it, and we get to do it on our own terms.
SOURCE – If a young musician discovered Wolfbrigade through Howl from Underground and asked which philosophy has kept the band active and relevant for so many years, what would your answer be?
Micke Dahl (Vocals) – I don’t know if we’ve had a philosophy, really, haha. We’ve just kept making the music we want to hear with people we want to play with. Everyone brings different ideas, and we still get curious about what happens when we put them together. If I had any advice, it would be to find your own people and not spend too much time worrying about whether you’re relevant.
Johan Erken (Bass) – Yeah, make sure they’re your friends. You might end up spending half your life stuck in a van with them, haha.
Photo Credit: Therese Öhrvall
Contacts:
Video:
- NOTE ABOUT AI USE IN THIS DOCUMENT
This document has been thoroughly reviewed and corrected for spelling, grammar, and syntax errors using advanced, AI-powered proofreading tools. The system is designed to analyze and enhance the text while preserving its original tone and meaning in accordance with standard English conventions.
The proofreading process included the identification and correction of typographical errors, sentence structure issues, and punctuation inconsistencies. The document has been refined to meet the highest standards of grammar, spelling, and readability.
