Joyous Wolf is a rising band with a modern classic rock sound consisting of Nick Reese, singer; Blake Allard, guitar; Greg Braccio, bass; Robert Sodaro, drums. The classic rock sound has really caught on these days, there are a few bands out there that emulate the sound, but Joyous Wolf has made it their own. You can hear the classic rock influences without saying that it’s such and such song and if want classic rock with a new modern sound, Joyous Wolf is the band for you.
We got to talk to Joyous Wolf at Rock on the Range and got right to catching with them following our our previous chat at Louder than Life in 2017 (read here). We got to talk to the whole band this time, which was cool as they’re a funny bunch of guys and they’re quite gracious too as you’ll see from a little incident that included a funny experience with the guys from Foo Fighters.
The Rockpit: What’s been happening since Louder than Life?
Joyous Wolf: We got signed to Roadrunner Records. We’ve been on the road quite a bit. We’ve done some big festivals.
TRP: Watching your set this time, it’s heavier without being hard or aggressive. Thicker is a better word.
JW: Thicker, we like that. Sludgy is what we’re feeling.
TRP: Nick, you’re like a preacher at a tent revival getting ready to take us to the promised land.
JW (Nick): CRAZY!
TRP: Nick, when you came out into the crowd you accidently bumped a girl.
JW (Nick): I just brushed by. I didn’t hurt, but I wanted to apologize. I don’t want to invade anyone’s space. I wanted her to know I was sorry.
TRP: Other fans saw it and that you apologized. They were very impressed by your actions. You made some fans appreciate the band even more. To quote them, “That’s so f*cking cool.”
JW (Nick): I don’t want end up like others who didn’t apologize.
TRP: What about that big guy that kicked a photographer in the face?
JW (All): Hmmm, we plead the fifth.
TRP: What else has happened since you were signed, shows, road stories?
JW: We did Louder than Life, Rock Allegiance, Aftershock, Shiprocked. We played some shows with Black Map. It was cool at Rock Allegiance. Well, it’s wasn’t cool that Marilyn Manson got hurt, but because of it, we got to play later in the day. Gojira got to headline that stage. They killed it. They brought it. It was a highlight because we’re on the same label as them. We did Shiprocked. It was an experience.
TRP: Tell about Shiprocked. What did you take away it?
JW: (Nick) We saw Corey Taylor again. We also meet Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal at Aftershock. We opened up for them really early for a KLOS radio station back home in California.
(Nick) I was already doing my stage show, but I told him watching him prance around in these orange boots, it was a big thing for me because he was so comfortable on stage.
(Blake) We also met Dave Grohl, Josh Homme, Taylor Hawkins, and Pat Smear. We went to the same high school as Taylor Hawkins. Taylor told us to keep the good word. For guys in bands that big to be as cool and approachable as they were was cool. Showed me how I want to be.
(Nick) We didn’t even approach them. Pat Smear was there and I didn’t want them to forget me, I did some stupid things. He went over and got Dave. We just started talking about stuff. Robert wasn’t there.
(Robert) I was recovering. I had hurt my legs.
(Nick) I got Dave to make him a video, I said just say something and it got a lot of attention.
TRP: Dave Grohl made you a personal video. How cool is that!
(Robert) He said, “Don’t be a pussy.”
TRP: I can shake the pussy’s hand? I’m mean if Dave Grohl calls you a pussy, you got to own that.
(Robert) I do own it. If someone as big as him says it, you have to own it.
(Nick) We watch Queens of the Stone Age and Foo Fighters from sidestage, seeing them for the first time and it was unbelievable. They’re at a level of being so good at what they do, the self-reflection is, “I have a long way to go before I can consider myself a small speck of a peer to them”
(Blake) And then we saw TOOL and they took it to another level.
(Nick) I was sidestage. Watching Danny play drums having 4 guys waiting for something to go wrong, he broke the snare drum 3 times during the show. He has a little one set-up for that and you can’t even tell that’s going on. They were unbelievable tight, there is no other way to be playing that type of music.
(Blake) You have 4 guys, no tracks, doing everything themselves. It’s just WOW.
TRP: Seeing you guys appreciate that makes me want the best for you, I love the music. I remember Mountainman from Louder than Life and the new songs.
(Nick & Blake) For you, they’re all new songs. Mountainman is our only song we have out. The songs we played were “Holy Driver,” and the newest one is “Witch Doctor.” We’re really proud of these.
TRP: Thank you for talking with me. I’ll be spreading the Joyous Wolf gospel.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by TM Photography
