When did you start creating under the name Wolf Boy?
Wolf Boy is a thing I started back on the summer of 2016.
During that time, I had an Indie band called The Jondoes, but I really wanted to do a totally different thing, so I had the idea of doing a solo project with a more bassy toned sound. Some kinda chill music with loads of chorus in either the guitars or the drums – “slow dank jammin” music as I like to call it.
I didn’t have any ideas for my nickname so I thought of my actual name – José Lobo. Lobo means Wolf in Portuguese so I just linked that with Boy ’cause I still see myself as kind of a kid who needs to grow a bit to understand life.
Tell us about your signature hat.
I was in the centre of town of Porto (my hometown, in Portugal) with some friends, and I saw some cool plain hats inside a shop. I entered the shop, picked up a green one, and went away. I didn’t think much about it.
The next thing I did was pick up the hat, smash a piece of fabric against it, write my name on it in the messiest way possible, and there ya go, I had my own logo and my own hat.
Who are your musical influences?
Well, like some people my age, the music genre I prefer changes week by week which influences what my musical influences will be.
Right now my music influences range from Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile – two beautiful people that inspire my philosophy of life and my approach to writing melodies for both voice and guitar – to a chill master called Michael Franks.
Two other artists that influence me hugely are Conan Mockasin and Mac Demarco – two beautiful and lovely boys that I hope to meet one day.
What can you tell us about 33 And A Half?
“33 And A Half” is an album that mostly speaks about my development on that age and a lot of the stuff that went through my mind – friends, party, alcohol, and my girl. It describes perfectly how I managed my relation with every single one of those.
I started to write some things in my bedroom, but at the time my main instrument was the bass. I didn’t have other instruments so I started investing on some like a guitar and drums, as well as some production material.
The album starts off a very bluesy rock with the song Wolf Face, then falls into Loneliness Gone – a deep chill romantic song I did with my girlfriend.
After that, a melancholic interlude connects that music with Full Bottle Bottle Fool which is a deep and chill tune about my relationship with wine and alcohol and about how I was going to miss my friends when I’d go to university.
Before the last song On a Quest transcends a bit from that mellow vibe into a more pumped song. It all ends up with kind of a prog psychedelic instrumental that basically translates how my head functions on a daily basis.
Describe your writing process.
The songs in “33 and a Half“ were written separately in different times, from August 2016 until July/ August 2017.
It took me a whole year because I was still in school, I was in another band (The Jondoes), and I always try to make things in the best way possible although I wouldn’t consider myself a perfectionist.
More or less all the songs were written in 4 to 5 months. I chose to write some more after that and record all of them so that I could choose which ones would end up in the EP.
During the writing process I tried to approach and play with various styles and genres, so I ended up with songs that ranged from more electronic psychedelic tunes to very chilled ones. I tried to gather the ones that fit best together and found my own genre. The EP shows that perfectly.
How did you come up with the name for your EP?
Probably the most boring fact about this album, but I called it “33 and a Half” because whenever anyone asks me something I don’t know I simply answer “33.” It has become a number that sticks with me since I say it all the time when my friends are around (because they all get mad at me when I say it). I combined it with “and a Half” because if it would’ve been just 33 it would’ve been too predictable.
What are you favorite songs off of the EP?
I especially like 2 songs in this album – Loneliness Gone and Full Bottle Bottle Fool. They have a huge meaning behind them that’s why I connected them with an interlude and made them extra special.
At the end of Loneliness Gone I decided to say “It is a bottle of wineeee” and record the interlude that comes right after (Overdriven Melancholic Tune) which was originally going to be part of Loneliness Gone.
Full Bottle Bottle Fool presents some more random things like constant drops of water that have a tone of delay on them and in the beginning of the song in which I inserted a bottle being filled up.
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