Chelsea Wolfe has a super power – she can destroy and rebuild your entire emotional constitution in the space of a single song. Her ice-like voice slices through scary seas of reverb, with cryptic lyrics as splintered life rafts of hope. A half decade into her career, Wolfe has already handled horror-noise (2011’s Apokalypsis), dark folk (2012’s Unknown Rooms) and ghost-industrial dance music (last year’s Pain is Beauty), to devastating effect. -Cristina Black (LA Weekly) See full list here
Last month, LA-based folk metal chanteuse, Chelsea Wolfe, made her film debut with the release of Lone, an hour-long short film that bridges the divide between music video and short film. The surrealist/expressionist flick was directed by Mark Pellington, best known for directing Pearl Jam’s music video for “Jeremy” as well as videos for Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, INXS, and Michael Jackson, and a handful of feature length films. Utilizing tracks from Wolfe’s 2013 record, Pain Is Beauty, the film visually explores the themes introduced on this album, which according to Pellington are “nature, sexuality, memory, mortality, forgiveness, love, innocence, fragility, violence, and beauty.”
Currently the film is not available to stream online, but curious fans can buy a USB key either online or at the Chelsea Wolfe merch booth. Currently on tour with Eels, Wolfe will be in Seattle this Saturday night playing an acoustic set at the Moore. I caught up with Wolfe on Monday night to learn more about Lone and her recent experiences on this spring tour.
What kind of film experience did you have going into making Lone? I’d done a little bit of soundtrack work and a couple music videos here and there, but other than that I hadn’t really done a project like this before.
Tell me about working with Mark Pellington. What were some of the more profound lessons you gleaned from working with him? I’d never really been pushed hard by a director before. That was actually a good new experience for me. The first day of filming, we were originally just going to do a music video for “The Waves Have Come” and he built this space to shoot in. The first day on set we started filming and instantly he was yelling at me and being very intense. Not yelling in a bad way, just to get me to feel the emotion of the song, to remember how I felt when I wrote it, urging me to really feel it and to get into it and giving me directions and things to envision while I was singing. That was really intense. The first take was a little overwhelming because there’s so many people on set watching you do this performance and I’m kind of a shy person. It was a little strange at first, but I immediately realized that that’s actually a really cool thing. Something I really grew to like about (Pellington) is how in the moment he can be. As soon as the cameras start rolling, he’s in control and he just guides you on this path. It worked out really well. I think we made a good team in the end.
What necessitated the film? What were you able to successfully express or communicate via the film that was missing from the record? I don’t know that it was something that was missing from the record. As we were doing this music video, (Pellington) wanted to listen to the whole album together and realized that it was becoming something kind of cathartic and inspiring for him. He wanted to do a film based on five of the songs, so we expanded it from there. A lot of it was his vision. There was definitely back and forth between what each of us felt comfortable with and what symbols we wanted to have represented in the film, and even then I think they mean different things to each of us, but that’s kind of cool because we wanted to leave it a bit open to interpretation. It’s this very surreal dream world where each character represents something like shame or guilt or forward motion or memories. It just kind of came together naturally, from the music video to a short film.
How was the process of soundtracking the film different from your usual songwriting process? Were there any takeaways you’ll apply to your songwriting in the future? One of my bandmates, Benjamin, is kind of a coconspirator on this project in many ways when it comes to the electronic songs and things like that because he’s really good at remixing. What we did for the additional soundtrack beyond the songs that were already recorded on the album is he kind of broke down a lot of the elements of the different songs and reworked them into new pieces as well as writing some new stuff for it. A lot of it was almost remixes of the strings in a certain song or just the synths of something and it brought it to a new emotional place.
You’re on the last leg of your spring tour. What have been some of the most memorable dates you’ve played so far? This particular tour with the Eels is an acoustic one and pretty much all of the venues have been seated, which is a challenge. It’s something I’ve done before on my own headlining tour. It’s a totally different energy—I kind of forgot. It’s this totally different intimacy and this new challenge when people are seated. I think that the best show for this tour was actually the Denver show because there was actually an area, like a pit or whatever you wanna call it, where people could stand. I could really feel a higher energy from that just because I had been playing all of these seated shows. All of a sudden everybody was in my face and it actually felt really good, so that was a really good show. Last night we played at the Apollo theater in Harlem in New York and that was also really great just because it’s such a historical building. It’s so beautiful and you can kind of feel the history of it when you’re in it. We had a really good time there.
Why acoustic sets this tour? What made you wanna do that? We’d just gotten off this rock ‘n’ roll tour with Queens of the Stone Age and we found out that Eels were doing it in a more stripped down style of upright bass and slide guitar and things like that. We just wanted to feed into that a little bit. I also was craving to do some acoustic stuff again, which might have been a curse because now that I’m doing it, I just want to go back to rock ‘n’ roll. It’s like the grass is always greener, you know what I mean? It’s cool to be able to do both things, and so we’re doing it—getting through it.
How do you feel the acoustic sets are different from your rock performances in terms of emotional tonality? Honestly they’re both pretty emotional for me in the way that I try to be there in the song and in the moment and feel it, not just sing it but relate to it—not just repeat something that I’ve done before. I try to give it a little of a new life. With the acoustic sets you can hear a pin drop and everything is very minimal and very long and spread out. There’s all of this space when we do that set. Sometimes it can be a little scary. I think the rock ‘n’ roll set is, I don’t want to say easier, but it’s easier to be confident, I think. It’s easy to let go and move around and with the acoustic set, it’s more about stillness and feeling every little uncomfortable moment.
You seem to play a ton of shows around here. Tell me a little about your relationship with Seattle. TJ Cowgill from King Dude and I are good friends and have been for a long time and make music together sometimes. I just really love Seattle in general. I don’t know if I can actually explain why, it’s just beautiful and green. When you drive into the city, it’s kind of magical. I’ve just always loved it up there. I love Oregon and I love Washington State, I love the West Coast in general, so it’s kind of a relief. Usually Seattle’s one of the first West Coast dates on a US tour, so you kind of feel like you’re home a little bit.
Chelsea Wolfe opens for Eels at the Moore Theatre on Saturday, June 7.
On le pressentait depuis sa récente signature chez Sargent House, il faut se rendre maintenant à l’évidence : celle qui reprenait Burzum dans son coin est devenue une véritable icône en l’espace de quatre albums. Sans jamais tomber dans le compromis, la musicienne de Sacramento a pourtant réussi la prouesse de mettre d’accord indie-rockers et chantres de l’underground, qu’on pensait encore irréconciliables il y a peu. Si Pain Is Beauty, le dernier album en date, parait plus accessible de prime abord, le mystère qui auréole le personnage reste quant à lui intact. On a cherché à en savoir plus, on s’est retrouvés à discuter de chiffons, de bravoure et de Wardruna.
2013 a l’air d’avoir été une année sacrément intense pour toi… C.W : 2013 a été une avalanche de tournées, et il y a bien sûr eu le dernier album, Pain Is Beauty. On a vraiment bossé dur, j’ai l’impression de n’avoir fait que ça de l’année en fait…
En parlant de tournées, vous avez surtout partagé l’affiche avec des groupes plus “metal”, comme Russian Circles ou Queens Of The Stone Age plus récemment. Ça a changé quoi pour toi ? C’est définitivement une autre expérience quand tu tournes avec un groupe comme Russian Circles. Leur public diffère du nôtre parce qu’il est beaucoup plus masculin, ce qui est plutôt cool. Ça a donné une autre ambiance aux dernières tournées. Chaque concert était un challenge à remporter, un combat pour gagner l’approbation des fans de Russian Circles.
Ah oui, ça passait par jouer plus fort par exemple? Pas forcément non, on joue déjà très fort quoi qu’il en soit. C’est plus une question de se “perdre” un peu plus dans nos morceaux. Ca ne veut pas dire que je cesse d’être moi-même, je ne vais pas arrêter d’être ce que je suis pour plaire à une typologie particulière de public. C’est juste que parfois, je sens que l’énergie dans une salle est différente, et je me laisse emporter par celle-ci.
En parlant de public, vous êtes un des rares groupes à faire l’unanimité entre un public plutôt branché metal et une autre branche orientée indie-rock, un peu comme Deafheaven. Comment tu positionnes ta démarche là dedans ? Comme je te disais, je n’écrirai jamais un album dans l’optique de séduire un type particulier d’auditeurs ou de toucher le public le plus large possible. En fait, je ne fais que suivre mes instincts et voir où la musique peut me mener quand je compose. Quand le disque est terminé, je peux enfin me poser et regarder ce que ça donne, comment ça sonne. Pain Is Beauty, par exemple, brasse pas mal de styles, mais la plupart de mes disques étaient déjà comme ça. Sûrement parce que j’aime plein de choses différentes – du metal, de la country, du rock’n’roll – et que ces inspirations finissent par filtrer à travers que je fais. Plusieurs tranches d’auditeurs peuvent s’y retrouver et je trouve ça plutôt cool. C’est assez plaisant de voir l’éclectisme de mon public évoluer en quelques années. Ça me touche beaucoup d’y retrouver des personnes d’âges et de backgrounds aussi variés.
Effectivement , cette diversité rend ta musique difficile à définir. J’ai lu pas mal de tentatives assez maladroites de la faire rentrer dans des cases, du genre « goth folk », « doom folk » ou « dark rock ». Comment tu définirais Chelsea Wolfe, toi ? J’aime bien dire que ma musique est bipolaire, à personnalités multiples. J’adore connaître toutes les versions d’une même histoire. Je veux montrer le côté obscur comme le côté lumineux. Même si typiquement, j’ai tendance à vouloir chanter à propos de choses très sombres, j’essaie toujours d’injecter un peu d’espoir là-dedans, que cela soit avec la mélodie ou la façon dont je vais faire sonner ma voix. J’aime les contrastes dans ces sonorités. Parfois, j’appelle ça de la « reality-music », parce que j’écris à propos de choses qui se passent dans monde, ou des trucs qui arrivent à mes amis. Des choses réelles à partir desquelles j’écris mes propres histoires, à distance.
“ « J’aime bien dire que ma musique est bipolaire, à personnalités multiples. J’adore connaître toutes les versions d’une même histoire. Je veux montrer le côté obscur comme le côté lumineux. » ”
En parlant de contrastes, on a du mal à t’imaginer vivre dans une ville comme Los Angeles. On te verrait plus dans un endroit moins “peuplé”, plus isolé. Qu’est-ce que te plait dans cette ville ? Je trouve que L.A. a ses propre ténébres, des ténèbre scintillants et étranges. C’est à la fois rayonnant et crade… Et entre ses habitants et la nature qui encercle la ville, il y a de quoi y puiser de l’inspiration. En fait j’ai aussi décidé de m’y installer pour avancer dans mon boulot, histoire d’ être entourée de gens motivés. J’ai rencontré les gens de Sargent House (son label et management ndlr) peu après y avoir emménagé, ce qui a été plutôt incroyable. Mais tu as raison, je trouve L.A. un peu surpeuplée et je me suis depuis exilée dans les montagnes environnantes, à une heure de la ville. J’y ai retrouvé une certaine paix, de la tranquilité et surtout, une nouvelle énergie.
Il y pas mal de labels et de groupes orientés « musique obscure » qui émergent de Californie en ce moment. Je pense au label DAIS, ou encore The Flenser. Tu as l’impression de faire partie de cette scène ? Non, je n’ai jamais appartenu à une quelconque « scène ». Honnêtement, je suis plutôt du genre solitaire et je n’en ai jamais vraiment ressenti le besoin. Ça vient sûement du fait que lorsque j’étais plus jeune et que je vivais en Californie du Nord, j’ai un peu essayé de faire partie de ce genre de cercle, sans trop de succès. Je ne me suis jamais sentie vraiment intégrée, j’étais une étrangère pour eux. Du coup je me suis résolue à faire mon propre truc dans mon coin. Un chemin que je poursuis depuis. Ça ne me pose aucun problème, je n’en garde aucune amertume… J’ai mon groupe à mes côtés, avec qui ça se passe très bien. Et puis j’ai aussi dans mon entourage quelques musiciens avec qui le courant passe plutôt bien, des mecs comme King Dude, Russian Circles ou Queens Of The Stone Age…
Est-ce que c’est cette solitude qui t’as amenée à la musique, et plus précisément vers une écriture assez sombre ? J’écris depuis que je suis très jeune, à commencer par des poèmes et des histoires. Quand j’étais gamine, mon père faisait de la country. À force de le voir dans son studio répéter et enregistrer, j’ai fini par lui demander de m’aider à enregistrer des chansons que j’avais écrites. J’avais neuf ans et je n’ai pas arrêté d’écrire depuis. Ce n’est qu’à partir de la vingtaine que j’ai commencé à m’investir totalement dans la musique. Mais dans mes jeunes années, j’étais déjà à même de comprendre la réalité et sa mélancolie. J’ai très vite été encline à mettre des mots dessus, en partant du constat que pour chaque chose magnifique de ce monde, il y avait quelque part un contrepoint horrible. C’est assez moche, mais c’est la vérité. C’est cette forme d’honnêteté qui m’a initialement amenée à écrire ma musique.
“ «Dans mes jeunes années, j’étais déjà à même de comprendre la réalité et sa mélancolie. J’ai très vite été encline à mettre des mots dessus, en partant du constat que pour chaque chose magnifique de ce monde, il y avait quelque part un contrepoint horrible. C’est assez moche, mais c’est la vérité. » ”
La première fois que je t’aie vue jouer, tu étais seule sur scène avec Ben Chisholm (membre à part entière du groupe, co-procducteur, qui officie en solo sous le nom de Revelator, ndlr), toute voilée. C’était très sombre et mystérieux. J’ai l’impression que tu révèles beaucoup plus de choses maintenant, tu n’hésites plus à te montrer. Qu’est ce qui est à l’origine de cette mutation ? Quand j’ai commencé à jouer de la musique sérieusement ou « professionnellement » – appelle ça comme tu veux-, je ne me sentais vraiment pas à l’aise avec l’idée de devoir monter sur scène et de faire face à un public. Ça m’a pris beaucoup de temps avant de pouvoir le faire et il m’arrive toujours d’avoir le trac. J’adore composer, enregistrer, mais j’ai un problème avec les concerts. Encore maintenant, ce n’est pas quelque chose que je fais naturellement. Dans un premier temps, j’étais donc voilée et me recouvrais intégralement de noir. Une façon enfantine de me sentir invisible et d’être assez à l’aise pour jouer devant des gens, en quelque sorte. Mais je savais qu’un jour je devrais prendre mon courage à deux mains et dépasser cette angoisse. Alors j’ai commencé à m’intéresser à la mode et avec l’aide de Jenni Hensler, on s’est mise à rechercher des créateurs et des tenues. Histoire de trouver la façon dont je pouvais m’habiller pour créer un personnage qui m’autoriserait à vraiment me laisser aller sur scène. La progression a été lente, mais je voulais marquer le coup avec cet album, être plus téméraire. Parce que Pain Is Beauty parle d’un processus de guérison, de la démarche de surpasser les choses les plus douloureuses ou les plus atroces. Personnellement, ça passait aussi par montrer mon visage, sur scène comme sur les pochettes de mes disques.
“ « La progression a été lente, mais je voulais marquer le coup avec cet album, être plus téméraire. Parce que Pain Is Beauty parle d’un processus de guérison, de la démarche de surpasser les choses les plus douloureuses ou les plus atroces. » ”
On fait souvent référence à toi en tant qu’icône, ce qui finalement fait de toi quelqu’un d’assez exposé. Comment gères-tu ça du coup, au vu des angoisses exprimées précédemment? Oh je ne sais pas. Je n’arrive pas à me projeter moi-même au travers du prisme des autres. J’ai assez de haine envers moi-même pour m’occuper toute une vie (rires).
Pour revenir à cette notion d’apparat, elle me semble très importante dans ton projet. Comment y prends-tu part ? C’est toi qui crée tes costumes ? J’ai eu la chance de rentrer en contact avec beaucoup de gens adorables et talentueux, des créateurs avec des histoires passionnantes et une esthétique incroyable. Je suis extrêmenent reconnaissante de porter leurs tenues. J’ai précédemment mentionné ma styliste Jenni Hensler, c’est avec elle que je conçois certaines des pièces que je porte sur scène.
C’est aussi elle qui a bossé sur l’artwork de Pain Is Beauty ? Non, en fait ça c’était mon idée à la base et elle m’a aidée à trouver des robes vintage pour cette pochette. Je voulais vraiment porter une robe rouge sur cette photo, une robe avec un caractère prononcé. L’artwork a été ensuite mis en forme par Trevor Hernandez, qui avait déjà fait pas mal de choses pour Tom Waits dans le passé. J’ai longuement hésité entre la couleur et le noir et le blanc pour cette photo, et mon ami TJ Cowgill (King Dude, ndlr) m’a aidé à à trancher. Il m’a dit sans hésiter d’opter pour les couleurs, ce que j’ai fait. C’est quelqu’un que je consulte beaucoup, surtout quand je dois faire ce genre de choix. Il gère la marque de fringues Actual Pain, alors c’est dans ses cordes. Nous avons également perfectionné ensemble les derniers éléments de cet artwork.
King Dude et toi avez en effet beaucoup collaborés ensemble, peux-tu me parler un peu de cette rencontre ? On s’est rencontrés quand j’ai sorti mon premier album The Grime And The Glow. Nous avons partagé une affiche à Los Angeles et j’ai tout de suite accroché à sa musique et sa voix. Nous sommes devenus très vite amis, et ce depuis que j’ai commencé à prendre mon projet au sérieux. On a enregistré quelques trucs ensemble depuis, comme cet EP sorti sur Sargent House où chacun joue une chanson écrite par l’autre. Ou encore plus récemment sur son label, Not Just Religious Music. On est tous les deux très occupés mais c’est quelqu’un avec qui j’essaie de passer du temps et faire de la musique ensemble, au moins plusieurs fois dans l’année.
Vous avez en commun cette esthéthique liée aux sciences occultes, même si ce n’est pas quelque chose de littéralement exprimé dans tes chansons. Ce sont des choses que tu pratiques personnellement ? Non. C’est quelque chose qu’on me demande souvent, peut-être parce que j’étais un temps sur le label Pendu, dont l’esthétique était majoritairement basée là-dessus. Mais moi je ne suis pas là-dedans. Je suis plus branchée “old cult movies” en fait. Je tire principalement mon inspiration visuelle des films de Bergman et de Lars Von Trier également
Je t’ai découverte avec ta reprise de Burzum, que j’avais beaucoup aimée. Le Black Metal fait-il encore partie des choses que tu écoutes ? Je ne connais pas trop de nouveaux groupes de Black à part Deafheaven, que j’aime beaucoup. Un de mes groupes favoris reste pourtant Gorgoroth, période Gaahl. J’aime beaucoup son nouveau groupe aussi, Wardruna. Une sorte de folk-music traditionnelle norvégienne avec une nouvelle approche. C’est très beau, je l’écoute souvent.
Et toi, comment vois-tu ton évolution ? Déjà je veux continuer à essayer des nouvelles choses et à tourner encore avec des configurations variées. Dans l’absolu j’aimerais être assez courageuse pour envisager une tournée solo. On reviendra en Europe cet été sinon. Et puis j’ai un film qui sort bientôt, réalisé par Mark Pellington. Ça s’appelle Lone. C’est un clip qui s’est transformé en un film d’une heure. On y retrouve des chansons de Pain is Beauty et une bande-son que j’ai composé avec Ben Chisholm. Et bien sûr j’écris toujours, alors peut-être qu’un album pourrait voir le jour au printemps prochain.
Chelsea Wolfe sera en tournée en Europe cet été, retrouvez toutes ces dates sur la page dédiée du site de Sargent House. Le film Lone quant à lui est sorti depuis quelques semaines, il s’achète sur une clé USB par là.
Un grand merci à l’über-talentueuse Juliette Bates pour la photo centrale de Chelsea. Allez donc faire un tour sur son site par ici.
September 2013 marked the release of Sacramento native Chelsea Wolfe‘s fourth studio album, Pain Is Beauty. The album, widely considered her best to date, lives up to its name: Gorgeously introspective and alluringly moody, the gothic rocker’s heady distortions and droning production emote as effectively as her astute lyricism. Wolfe has compared the album’s narrative to that of a forest fire. Despite the destruction of trying times, such tribulations ultimately allow for personal growth.
Such emotionally complex work allows for a slew of interpretations, which is where Wolfe has shone brightest in 2014. Lone, an experimental short film by filmmaker Mark Pellington, acts as a surreal adaptation of Pain Is Beauty and was just released in full last month. The singer is also mid-tour with Eels; she’s playing an exclusively acoustic set. The tour comes through New York this Sunday at the historic Apollo Theater. Wolfe had a lot to say about translating her work to such diverse mediums, working with Pellington, and prepping for summer excursions through Europe.
BENJAMIN LINDSAY: So tell me a bit about your upcoming show at the Apollo with Eels. Have you done an acoustic tour of this magnitude before?
CHELSEA WOLFE: Yeah, I mean, I don’t really know how many people the Apollo holds, so I don’t know. But I read it’s a really nice theater, so that’s good. We did an acoustic tour last January, and I haven’t really done anything like that since, so it’s something new. It’s a weird challenge to be in touch with such an intimate space, you know, you can hear every note. It’s a new challenge, but it’s fun, too.
LINDSAY: Yeah, of course. As you said, it’s a challenge—it’s a major change of pace from your general sound. Why do you think Pain Is Beauty is especially conducive to this acoustic translation?
WOLFE: Well, I don’t know that it’s conducive naturally, but we definitely wanted to try it. We’re also playing a couple songs from Unknown Rooms.
LINDSAY: What’s the reception of the whole thing been thus far? I know you’re in the middle of the tour right now.
WOLFE: Well, this particular tour has kind of been a strange match, in my opinion. I think I realized that the first night. I’m not sure that their fans, the Eels fans, are into what we’re doing. But, you know, that’s okay. I also feel a little weird about having our fans spend so much on a ticket; it’s something weird opening for other bands, you know? Especially when it is just such a strange match musically and mood-wise.
LINDSAY: Do you find that your acoustic set is winning over some Eels fans? You say that it feels like a weird match, but are people still being receptive to it all?
WOLFE: Yeah, for sure. I mean, we definitely get some people coming up to us after the show each night saying they’d never heard us and they appreciated the music, but, I don’t know, maybe it’s just all in my head. But there’s just a general vibe in my head that it’s not really going over that well with most of their fans. I think they like to be entertained, and sometimes my music is more about stillness and about remembering the heavier parts of life. So maybe they’re not so entertained with that.
LINDSAY: That honestly didn’t really cross my mind, but that is a pretty odd match—they are probably going there for a little different vibes for a live setting, but as long as you’re happy with it.
WOLFE: Exactly. Especially because it’s fun playing these songs still and I’m just, as you said, doing my thing.
LINDSAY: As far as your relationship with Mark Pellington—I had the opportunity to watch Lone, and I was curious just how all of that came about.
WOLFE: Well, Mark and my manager, Cathy Pellow, are old friends. [Mark] wanted to listen to the whole album together, and he was eventually inspired to do this whole film based on five of the songs from the album, and it became something bigger than a music video, and then, yeah, it’s kind of this surreal emotional journey that Mark takes you on. And the sounds—we also did some original sound tracking to go between the songs.
LINDSAY: Yeah, it clocks in at just under an hour. It really goes above and beyond the standard music video, to say the least. Why did you want to take on such an endeavor? Is that what you were setting out to do with Mark, or did that just kind of happen organically?
WOLFE: Yeah, we were originally just gonna do one music video for one song, and it was kind of his vision to do more. And it was good for me, too. I was into it, and we did a lot of back and forth with what we felt comfortable with and not, but once we were on set and filming, it was definitely his vision; you could tell he was in charge once he’s on set. He’s a very intense director, but it was really, really great experience for me, and I learned a lot.
LINDSAY: Would you consider doing it again for future LPs?
WOLFE: I don’t know, I mean, I think for the future I’d like to try something different and do different views for each song instead of something that ties everything together.
LINDSAY: At this point, Pain Is Beauty has been out for a little while. Since its debut, it’s been really acclaimed as sort of a career best for you. Is it at all daunting to have to outdo yourself with each record? Do you even read the reviews?
WOLFE: I read the reviews sometimes, but I don’t let it really affect the next album because, for me, when I approach an album, it’s usually coming to me pretty naturally. It’s not like I set out, like, “Okay, I’m going to write an album this month.” It’s more like I’m just always writing songs and eventually I start to realize that a group of songs sort of fits together, and I go from there in putting together the album and themes and artwork and things like that. So, yeah, I don’t feel like I have to outdo myself; I just want to make an album that I really like and that I feel proud of. And I’m always excited to make the next album because I definitely get sick of my work the second it gets out there.
LINDSAY: I mean, you’ve been working on it for such a long time that by the time it’s finally out…
WOLFE: Yeah, exactly.
LINDSAY: And it also must freshen it up a bit with the acoustic tour and different interpretations of your music.
WOLFE: Yeah, for sure.
LINDSAY: Now you’ve obviously done shows in New York before, but you live in California, right? Do you prefer the East Coast or West Coast?
WOLFE: Well, I’ve always loved California; I’ll probably always live here on the West Coast, at least long-term. But I do love coming to New York. The energy is totally different, and I always have a lot of fun there. I always end up staying up all night! I look at my friends, like, “How do you guys do this every day?” But, yeah, I love California. I used to live in northern California but now I live about an hour north of Los Angeles in the mountains and it’s really beautiful down there, too.
LINDSAY: Yeah! I actually lived in Los Angeles for bit, but really all of Southern California is just gorgeous. You say that you’re out an about each time you’re in New York. Do you have anything in particular that’s your favorite thing to do in the city?
WOLFE: I don’t know, I always like it when people take me to bars or clubs or something.
LINDSAY: Now just looking to the future—obviously you’re a bit busy right now—do you have anything exciting in the works? Any plans for the summer?
WOLFE: Well, I’m kind of excited to get home from the tour because I have a lot of new stuff that I’m working on. Basically, we’ll just do editing for a month and then we’re going on tour in Europe, doing some festivals. But just going home and then going on tour pretty quickly after this. We’ve got some beautiful spots, I’m looking forward to it.
CATCH CHELSEA WOLFE OPENING FOR EELS THIS SUNDAY, JUNE 1 AT THE APOLLO. FOR MORE ON THE ARTIST, VISIT HER WEBSITE.
In less than a month, Under the Radar is headed to Canada to check out the Sled Island Festival. As per our tradition, we’ll be running mixtapes from some of the artists performing at the festival. The first in our series is from singer/songwriter Chelsea Wolfe. She gave the Broadcast, Fka Twigs, and Fuck Buttons-featuring mix the ambitious title, FLYING IS A TIMELESS LIMBO AFTER WHICH A NEW REALITY IS CREATED. Says Wolfe, her song choices were inspired by “tour & travel / the forest & the field / the hotels & the wheels / the task & the insanity / the beauty in the chaos / never sleep.”
Listen to the mix below. You can also revisit our interview with Wolfe here. For those headed to Canada, Chelsea Wolfe is playing Sled Island on June 19th – SEE ALL CHELSEA WOLFE TOUR DATES HERE
Chelsea Wolfe Mixtape: BEAK “I KNOW” ZOMBY “DIGITAL FAUNA” FKA TWIGS “HOW’S THAT” FUCK BUTTONS “THE RED WING” GORGOROTH “OF ICE AND MOVEMENT” KATASTROPHY WIFE “SWEETHEART” QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE “AVON” BROADCAST “HAWK”
Following on from her incredible 2013 opus ‘Pain Is Beauty’, the inimitable Chelsea Wolfe has teamed up with director Mark Pellington to release an accompanying feature-length film entitled ‘Lone’ – but is it as good as the album? We sent Joy Shannon to find out…
The prolific and genre-defying songstress Chelsea Wolfe has crafted a mesmerizing long-format film called ‘Lone’ with renowned director Mark Pellington, best known for his striking music video for Pearl Jam’s ‘Jeremy’ and his work with artists including U2, Nine Inch Nails and the Foo Fighters. Inspired by the themes of Wolfe’s haunting 2013 album ‘Pain Is Beauty’, the nearly 60-minute film speaks to the sweeping themes of “nature, sexuality, memory, mortality, forgiveness, love, innocence, fragility, violence and beauty”, according to director Pellington. For ‘Lone’, songs from ‘Pain Is Beauty’ are set within a sweeping, extended soundtrack by Wolfe and collaborator Ben Chisholm.
Both surrealistic and expressionistic, Lone crafts a barren landscape and eerie cast of characters which seem to coexist in the tangled halls of someone’s haunted memories. Wolfe’s music weaves throughout, at times desolate and tense and, at other times, erupting into ferociously layering builds of apocalyptic imagery. Like Edvard Munch’s painting ‘The Scream’, this is an emotional landscape where the turmoil of the human figures, the chimera, and the very land itself are intricately entwined, and even when Wolfe’s music finds a temporary calm, the land itself seems to be silently screaming. In essence, this is a surrealistic, psychological horror film, which confronts a barrage of difficult issues in the most visually beautiful way imaginable.
Wolfe recently told the Asbury Park Press that she wanted to bring “the macro and the micro to the film — the largeness and wildness of the world.” For example, ‘Lone’ uses footage from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which Wolfe has expressed helped to inspire her song ‘The Waves Have Come’. Of this Wolfe explained: “We wanted to combine our original footage with old stock footage of vintage home videos, raw wildlife and natural disasters. Each clip and character carries an emotion, shame, guilt, personality, death.”
In the end, this film feels like it allows viewers to boldly traverse the conceptual roads that Wolfe took to concoct the richly layered imagery on ‘Pain Is Beauty’. It feels like both a meditation on memory, reconciliation, and man’s relationship to nature and to each other through the extremes of love and violence, as well as a meditation on the process of creation itself- whether it be through natural processes or through the artistic mediums. Mirroring Wolfe’s genre-defying music, this film would be equally at home at an art museum or art house theatre. No matter the context, this film stunningly features the intricate thought process behind Wolfe’s work.
‘Lone’ is not yet released online, but right now fans can purchase it on a special USB key at Wolfe’s merch store here. Additionally, fans can get a preview of ‘Lone’ through Wolfe’s video for ‘Feral Love’, which features excerpts from the film, or check out the official trailer below…
Starting tonight, Friday May 16th Chelsea Wolfe goes from rock to unplugged. With only one day off between her rock tour with Queens of the Stone Age Chelsea Wolfe meets up in Austin today with The Eels to begin an all acoustic with strings tour.
THE EELS & CHELSEA WOLFE (Acoustic w/ Strings Sets) 2014 May 16 – Austin, TX @ The Paramount Theatre May 17 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues May 19 – Dallas, TX@ AT&T Performing Arts Center May 21 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre May 23 – Saint Louis, MO @ The Sheldon Concert Hall May 24 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre May 25 – St Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theatre May 27 – Toronto, ON @ Wintergarden Theater May 28 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theater May 29 – Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center May 30 – Glenside, PA @ The Keswick Theatre May 31 – Washington D.C., DC @ Lincoln Theatre Jun 1 – New York, NY @ Apollo Theater Jun 3 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre Jun 4 – Madison, WI @ Barrymore Theatre Jun 7 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theater Jun 8 – Portland, OR @ The Aladdin Theater Jun 10 – San Francisco, CA @ Palace of Fine Arts Jun 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Orpheum Theater
CHELSEA WOLFE– CANADA 2014 Jun 19 – Calgary, AB @ SLED ISLAND Jun 21 – Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl
CHELSEA WOLFE – EUROPE 2014 (Rock sets) Jul 25 – Barcelos, Portugal @ Milhoes de Festa Jul 29 – Toulouse, France @ Le Metronum Jul 30 – Milano, Italy @ Magnolia Jul 31- Munchen, Germany @ Feierwerk Aug 2 – Katowice, Poland @ OFF Festival Aug 3 – Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol * Aug 4 – Vienna, Austria @ Arena * Aug 5 – Sebenik, Slovenia @ SuperUho Festival Aug 7 – Budapest, Hungary @ A38 Ship Aug 9 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Wasn’t Born To Follow Festival Aug 10 – Hannover, Germany @ Cafe Glocksee Aug 11 – Groningen, Netherlands @ Simplon Aug 12 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ MelkWeg Aug 13 – Brussels, Belgium @ Le Brass Aug 14 – Luxembourg, (LU) @ Congés Annulés Aug 15 – London, (UK) @ The Excel Centre – Jabberwocky Festival Aug 16 – Manchester, (UK) @ ATP Presents at Gorilla *
The singularly intense singer/songwriter, whose work combines everything from folk to metal with electronic soundscapes, recently drew on music and lyrics from her 2013 album “Pain is Beauty” to craft the dreamlike and darkly beautiful new film “Lone.”
Directed by Baltimore native Mark Pellington, whose music video credits include Bruce Springsteen’s “Lonesome Day” and “Girls in Their Summer Clothes” as well as Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” and U2’s “One,” the 50-minute film is now available via USB drive on Wolfe’s website.
Wolfe, a California native with upcoming shows Friday, May 30, at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, Pa. and Sunday, June 1, at New York City’s Apollo Theater, recently took the time for an email interview to discuss “Lone.”
Q:Did you always intend to create a visual component to “Pain is Beauty,” or is “Lone” more a creation made in response to the music?
A: “Lone” as a film is something that Mark Pellington visualized. We were originally going to just do a music video for the song “The Waves Have Come,” but as we met to talk over things, he was inspired to do a longer film using five songs from “Pain is Beauty,” which wasn’t out yet at the time. It’s definitely a response to the music and the emotions within the songs.
Q:What do you believe makes Mark Pellington’s visual style a good fit for the sound of the “Pain is Beauty” tracks?
A: He’s able to create a very frantic, beautiful vibe and translate things in a dark and interesting way. I love his work, and he is also a great person.
Q:When creating the structure and imagery for the film, did you and Mark discuss any common reference points, such as films or paintings?
A: Mark asked me what came to mind when I thought of the music. For me, there was a constant forward motion, like horses running. Also, reflections of memory and dreams, the color red, blurred reality, healing and overcoming. But I left a lot of it open for his interpretation as well. Q:Mark has called the film “a sight and sound exploration into the themes of nature, sexuality, memory, mortality, forgiveness, love, innocence, fragility, violence and beauty.” Would you agree with that statement, and how much did you and he consciously discuss these themes while working on “Lone”?
A: I would agree, yes. We worked closely together during the process of planning the film, but once he was filming it became his world. He was the master over this surreal universe.
Q:You said in a past interview that “The Waves Have Come” was originally inspired by footage of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. How does it feel to see the song now paired in the film with scenes of destruction, both natural and man-made?
A: I think it’s very emotional to see because it’s so real. I wanted to bring in the macro and the micro to the film — the largeness and wildness of the world. Something so far away, yet also, the effects on human lives and close-up look at families and love stories. We wanted to combine our original footage with old stock footage of vintage home videos, raw wildlife and natural disasters. Each clip and character carries an emotion, shame, guilt, personality, death. I am sort of the narrator throughout, guiding you on this journey through memory and dreams. Sometimes it’s hard to decipher what’s real and what is just a foggy remembrance.
Q:Several of the songs on “Pain is Beauty” seem to be inspired by nature, but they still have an electronic sound. Can you discuss juxtaposing the electronic sounds of the music with several wide-open landscape scenes in the film?
A: There was a time I was thinking about the possibility of a future without electricity, a return to primitive, and it made me want to take advantage of these instruments that need electricity to survive, need to be plugged in to make their sounds. About three to four years ago, I wanted to add an electronic music element to my band, and I met Ben Chisholm while on tour with another project he was in. He joined my band, and we found that we could write music well together. He is great with making electronic beats and working with old synths and taught me some things about it as well.
Q:The narrative running through and connecting the various vignettes in “Lone” is ambiguous and seems very open to interpretation. Do you believe there is any one “right” way to interpret the film, or are you curious to see what fans make of the work?
A: I prefer to leave things a bit open. Even Mark hasn’t fully told me what everything means to him, but he knows.
Q:Along with songs from “Pain is Beauty,” the film features original music by you and Ben Chisholm. How was the process of creating music specifically for the film different than creating music for one of your albums?
A: Ben took elements of the songs and additional new music to create the soundtrack. He also did the sound design for the film. I would record vocals, or he would record our violin player Andrea Calderon, and he’d remix them into new pieces for the film. He did a really beautiful job.
Chelsea Wolfe has just announced her headlining Summer tour dates and Festival plays in both Canada and Europe to take place immediately following her back to back USA support tours in May / June. Chelsea begins on May 5th in support of Queens Of The Stone Age playing a Rock/Electric set and then will meet up for an Acoustic with Strings set tour starting on May 16th as direct support to The EELS .
QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE // CHELSEA WOLFE 2014 May 5 – Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom May 6 – St. Paul, MN @ Roy Wilkins Auditorium May 7 – Milwaukee, WI @ Riverside Theater May 9 – Chicago, IL @ Aragon Ballroom – SOLD OUT May 10 -Maryland Heights, MO @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheater May 11 – Boone, IA @ Central Iowa Expo – KAZR 103.3FM LAZERFEST May 13- Kansas City, MO @ Starlight Theatre also w /PRIMUS May 14 – Tulsa, OK @ Brady Theater
THE EELS & CHELSEA WOLFE (Acoustic w/ Strings Sets) 2014 May 16 – Austin, TX @ The Paramount Theatre May 17 – Houston, TX @ House of Blues May 19 – Dallas, TX@ AT&T Performing Arts Center May 21 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre May 23 – Saint Louis, MO @ The Sheldon Concert Hall May 24 – Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre May 25 – St Paul, MN @ Fitzgerald Theatre May 27 – Toronto, ON @ Wintergarden Theater May 28 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theater May 29 – Boston, MA @ Berklee Performance Center May 30 – Glenside, PA @ The Keswick Theatre May 31 – Washington D.C., DC @ Lincoln Theatre Jun 1 – New York, NY @ Apollo Theater Jun 3 – Royal Oak, MI @ Royal Oak Music Theatre Jun 4 – Madison, WI @ Barrymore Theatre Jun 7 – Seattle, WA @ The Moore Theater Jun 8 – Portland, OR @ The Aladdin Theater Jun 10 – San Francisco, CA @ Palace of Fine Arts Jun 11 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Orpheum Theater
CHELSEA WOLFE– CANADA 2014 Jun 21 – Vancouver, BC @ Electric Owl Jun 18-22?? – Calgary, AB @ SLED ISLAND (date to be announced) CHELSEA WOLFE – EUROPE 2014 Jul 25 – Barcelos, Portugal @ Milhoes de Festa Jul 29 – Toulouse, France @ Le Metronum Jul 30 – Milano, Italy @ Magnolia Jul 31- Munchen, Germany @ Feierwerk Aug 2 – Katowice, Poland @ OFF Festival Aug 3 – Dresden, Germany @ Beatpol * Aug 4 – Vienna, Austria @ Arena * Aug 5 – Sebenik, Slovenia @ SuperUho Festival Aug 7 – Budapest, Hungary @ A38 Ship Aug 9 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Wasn’t Born To Follow Festival Aug 10 – Hannover, Germany @ Cafe Glocksee Aug 11 – Groningen, Netherlands @ Simplon Aug 12 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ MelkWeg Aug 13 – Brussels, Belgium @ Le Brass Aug 14 – Luxembourg, (LU) @ Congés Annulés Aug 15 – London, (UK) @ The Excel Centre – Jabberwocky Festival Aug 16 – Manchester, (UK) @ ATP Presents at Gorilla *
