What happens when you mix metalcore and pop punk? You get a modern classic rock band, of course, named Joyous Wolf. They’re from Southern California with a wide mix of influences, ranging from their parents, their own musical tastes, what’s popular and mainstream. They have taken rock music back to basics and are making passionate, blues based modern classic rock.
The guys had a chance to play at this year’s Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Anyone who had the chance to catch their set was drawn in immediately. They got the whole crowd into it.. Nick was throwing some James Brown dance moves over some thick, heavy music. I got a chance to talk to Joyous Wolf band members, Nick Reese, the singer and Blake Allard, the guitarist.
The Rockpit: I did a little research before I saw you play. I found out that you’re from Southern California, I expected a skater or surf punk sound. How did you guys get away from that?
Joyous Wolf (Nick & Blake): Oh Gawd, please spare me. Age. I don’t know when bands start, but we played through high school and went through our phases. We’re the kind of people that are never satisfied with the music we’re listening too. We listen to it and then a month later we’re totally bored and have to listen to something totally new.
We played in two the biggest genres for a long time and it’s finally dissipating. The trends are moving on. It was metalcore and pop punk and we both don’t do that anymore (a little self-deprecating laugh.) We did it. We learned a lot. We got our angst out. We get it out in new ways now.
The Rockpit: I read that your dad played classic rock
Nick: Both our parents played it. We both came up with a lot of classic rock from the late 60s and early 70s. Also a lot of blues.
Blake: My dad taught me everything I know about the blues. He gave me the foundation and I went to the moon with it.
The Rockpit: I can see your roots, where you’re coming from, but you’ve made it your own, made it modern, made it young again. That’s where I come from with music and I can see it. (To Nick) With the dancing I can see a bit of James Brown, Joe Cocker.
Nick: I have no problem saying 100 percent that. I do it because he’s gone. Prince is gone. Michael Jackson is gone. Who does it now, a few rappers. You seen The T.A.M.I Show when James Brown came out and it was a rock n’ roll show. For it not to come back, for me, that would be weird. And I just love to dance.
The Rockpit: It was great watching you because you guys looked like you were having a blast. I don’t know how many people were there, but had there only been 2 people, you would’ve played just as hard. That’s the way it seemed to me.
Joyous Wolf: We have played for 2 people before. A year ago we did. Then we played the big stage for KLOS radio station and that was the first time we played to a big crowd. We knocked it out. The crowd loved us. We realized we could do this. Now a year later, here we are.
The Rockpit: You can see your authenticity. When you got everyone to put their hands up and then sustain it. A lot of bigger bands have trouble with that. Everyone clapped for almost the whole song.
Joyous Wolf: I think it’s scare tactics. If I yell at you loud enough maybe you do it. Also, it’s really cool because we don’t have an record out yet. So, people aren’t exactly singing along with our songs or knowing what to expect. We thrive off the unpredictability of ourselves.
The Rockpit: You’ve come up in the modern age when music has changed. Before you would wait for an album or cd, now people are getting away from that.
Joyous Wolf: It’s not true. It’s the embodiment of what the culture wants to believe. Media portrays it that way, but it’s not. We went to Wisconsin. People love music there. They LOVE it. When it comes to town, the whole damn town is ready to go. We played Sonic Boom festival and everyone in the city was there. We stopped to get our van worked worked on and 2 guys there were going. At the hotel, the concierge and all the receptionists were going. We put them on our guestlist, VIP.
The only difference is the industry changed, the music didn’t change. People didn’t change. The industry started to rely so much on singles. Singles were always important, but I don’t like bands unless they can make a solid group of songs. Not one song that they’ll spam 100 millions times to make sure that you not never think about them again. It works obviously because my hatred only gets more intense as I hear certain songs get played over and over.
We love albums. We listen to the album. When we put an album on, we do not stop. When we put TOOL – Anema on. It’s on. It’s not coming off. We don’t put on 25 singles in the van. When we play 10,000 Days or…what was Primus’ first album? Our bass player and drummer would kill us because they would know it immediately or Superunknown by Soundgarden.
The Rockpit: That goes back to your classic rock roots. Back in the day bands didn’t release singles. Singles became a by product. Rock bands made albums.
Blake: They just happened. They could make a band. Now that is the band and they have to remake that song a million times. I know for a fact because I’ve seen it at the beginning of this tour, the young kids are there for the music. They aren’t there for anything else. Why would they stand in 100 degree weather and watch me
Nick: Shake my butt on the stage. And pay $15 for a hotdog and $9 bottle of water. You have to have some serious passion. That’s why we’re doing this. We’re nobody. We’re the smallest, unknown band on the main stage. We give it all we got because we want to prove to every kid out there that picks up an instrument or aspires to sing, that they can do it. Go make music. Go make the music you want to make.
That’s our mission. “Make the music you want to make.”
The Rockpit: It’s really fun talking to you because you’re answering the questions I want to ask before they’re even asked. It really shows your passion about your music. When I do interviews, I want to get to the deeper things, especially from a fan’s and musician’s viewpoint. This isn’t TEENBEAT. I don’t want to know your favorite color. Or who your favorite muppet is. I want to know why you got into music. What drives you now. What advice you have for the next group of musicians. Hopefully, from this point, you’re going to be their James Brown, their Cream, their Prince.
Joyous Wolf: Now instead of having to go to the store, buy a record, pull it out of the sleeve, set up the thing (record player), put the arm down, then the needle breaks.(All laugh knowingly) We just watched the Corey Taylor Youtube thing because we met him, like 3 times now. We’ve become acquaintances now. He’s a really nice guy. He is the coolest guy.
The Rockpit: The way the music industry in now, I discover a lot of music that I would’ve never discovered before. It allows me to know about and see smallers bands when they come to town. And that’s what I want, for more people to get out to live shows. That’s the experience.
Joyous Wolf: That’s what we want. We were talking to one of the guys from Black Maps. He said in his hometown of Columbus, Ohio, they have a great local scene. Everyone goes to shows. We looked at him like he was from Jupiter. Back home in Orange county, no one goes to shows. It’s just these sceney-hoppers. They’re not there for any other reason then to be out.
You want to know some crookery? The scene there is pay-to-play. And it’s awful.
The Rockpit: I’m from Detroit, MI and they have the pay-to-play thing too. And it really hurts the scene. It takes the pressure off the booker to find good, talented bands.
Joyous Wolf: It’s not good for inspiration either. It causes too much pressure. It breaks down the music you try to write. It’s such a toxic environment. And you just do it because you don’t know any better. You believe anything they tell you. Also, what other choice do you have. They’re the doorkeepers. Either you have to bite the bullet and really believe in what you love and do. Or give up because you’re not in the right environment and haven’t been given the right opportunities. We’ve been fortunate enough to do that and get the opportunities too.
When we first joined together we did a couple of those pay-to-play shows. And then we’re like, NO, we aren’t going to do that ever again. The next show is not going to be a pay-to-play show. We’re going to be a real band. The advice to these kids is, just keep at it. If you’re going to do this, play a show every two months. All your friends will get sick of going all the time. Plan it, promote it hard. Have one good show instead of seven bad ones. Make it count.
That’s what we did. We made sure we got the best gig we could get. We kept meeting people and getting better gigs. That’s how we met this band right here. I’m going to give them a shout-out, Of Limbo out of Southern California. Their album Nicotine is on Spotify. They had established themselves in Long Beach, California. They saw us play one time and asked us to come play with them. To this day, they’re the only band that has been like our best friends at every step of the road. We got on to TKO booking because of them, so we’re paying it forward.
The Rockpit: What’s coming up for Joyous Wolf, tour, festivals,?
Joyous Wolf: October 7th Rock Allegiance, October 21st Aftershock, back in California. We’ve got a lot of other plans in the works. We’re getting out there, so other young rock bands can follow. We’re getting tired of hearing the same five bands. If you’re listening, get out there. SAVE US.
The Rockpit: Sounds great! Thank you for taking some time to chat with us today. Best of luck with everything.
