At 13, Patrick Wolf didn't want to be a rock star. Instead, he was content to revel with a "motley crew of freaks and performance artists" called Minty. From that to the Atari pop music of Masion Crimineaux, Wolf has always been making quirky sounds, but now at 21, Patrick unveils his unique musical coming-of-age with the album, Wind in the Wires, and though he may look like an innocent sheep, when you hear this album you will know this Wolf has teeth!

Interview by Max Michaels

Hey it's Max from Movement.
Hello, how are you?

I'm good, how are you doing?
I'm alright.  Just umm interviews,

You sound a little winded.
Yeah, I've just been cooking lunch as well, so.

Good deal. Well, I appreciate you taking the time to do some stuff for us. You've been doing a lot of big interviews in England haven't you?
Yeah, it's been pretty crazy.  I went to Milan and did 11 interviews in one day, TV and bits and pieces. 

It's a pleasant change.

A pleasant change?
Well, it was quite quiet before and I just like to live very extremely and I like to feel exhausted by music.

Awesome.  You got named "one to watch" off your first album.  Is there a lot of pressure in trying to do a follow-up?
Not really, it was kind of my survival instinct after the whole first record hype to make another one.

That's good. How extensively did you tour for that first album?
It was off and on. It was toured in the states for two weeks.  But then, I don't know, it seemed like a long period of time because Faith and Industry released Lycanthropy in England and it had a lot of hype, then died a bit. There was no money from that record label to push it any further. So basically, me and my manager ended up meeting Tom, from Tom Lab, who licensed the album again a year later and--no, maybe it was a half year later—and it got a second lease on life and I was able to tour.

What was the break that got you your first album?  What was the turning point between growing up doing music?
How do you mean?

To where you actually got signed, when you got a manager and all that kind of stuff…what was the process?
I think the most important thing was meeting Jill, my manager and press lady in England.  We just kind of became a team.  She has many years experience in the industry and she could see I was having problems with my first label.

What was your first label?
Faith and Industry. She just kind of put out a very warm and strong hand, and said, ‘I believe in what your doing and I'll be behind you’  It was really nice, so I got to focus extremely on the creative and life stuff and she's kind of helping me a lot with the business. She's like the business brain of Patrick Wolf.

Good deal, how did you get signed to the first label?
I didn't get signed; I signed away my first album to them. I was in Paris with a group called Masion Crimineaux and I was singing songs. And Khristian--That starts with a K--heard me singing and he asked me to bring, well we both lived in London but we met in Paris, so when [I was] back in London if I had any stuff, any singing, we'll have a band. So I have been working on it for ages. Masion Crimineaux is like a side project.  I really didn't feel that like my stuff was ready for the world.

What kind of stuff were you doing with the band?
It was like really absurd Atari pop music.  It was total chaos, you know,really funny, yet really having fun, yet serious at the same time. Like we were really bad taste and very trashy.  But then really well programmed white noise almost, our biggest hero was Stockhausen at the time so we really like going for that absurd German geometric humor.

You were in the pop-art collective called Minty, is that correct?
It was a group called Minty was a part of the group called the Offset from London.  It was in memory of a performance artist called Lee Bowery, who died of AIDS on New Years Eve I think sometime in the late 90's, no, no, yeah mid 90's, and this guy Matthew ended up making kind of a performance art collective of people from London  and I was 13 at the time. 

It was kind of a real motley crew of freaks and performance artists; I don't know it was really a good thing to do at that age because it set me free from wanting to be in an indie band or o be a rock and roll star. I kind of saw behind the curtain and saw that there is something a bit more fantastic to do in life then to join a four piece band.

Fantastic.  When you were growing up you said you had turbulent teenage years…You said that the bullying in your schools was so bad that you actually had to change schools. What was going on?

It was being 6'4 playing the violin. I think one summer I came back from a summer of playing with a group, kind of a very scary John Waters drag queen doing Yoko Ono covers and with um, I dyed my hair red or pink or something and then I don't know, it was just those crazy years.  I came back from some holiday and everything, just kind of; I just realized that I was just total square peg in a round hole.  Things just spun out of control really.  We ended up suing the school for damages and all the rest, but you know it's sort of in the past is all.  My turbulent years.

Did you win?
Yeah, Of course. I wouldn't go into that kind of bullshit if I thought I wouldn't get something out of it.

Alright.  What most inspires you?
That's a real open ended question really.  I think just mainly the idea of creating the next thing really.  And just ways keeping my eyes open for the next creation really.

Is it hard for you to stick to one thing?  Do you jump around to a lot of different things?
Yeah, it varied like a train of progress.  Like one thing inspires the next thing really.  So the first record the reaction to that was Wind in the Wires. And then now I really out venting that dark shadowy place I'm very much inspired to go into the sunshine Technicolor place.

What been your biggest challenge so far?
I think I'm trying to balance the business or career aspect, which is also kind of mixing in with the theme of coming from a boy into a man or trying to get independence and, financial independence and kind of creative independence at the same time so one doesn't pollute the other.  And this whole idea of growing up  and being totally self sufficient  but not in a way that you’re boring or mundane or you know that paying the bills means that you lose your child, or you lose your passion for life really.  So that's kind of been my biggest thing in the past few years.

Finding that balance?
Yep.

And are you finding it alright?
Oh yeah.  Sure. I'm living in a really gorgeous little cottage on the out skirts of London.  Living in a very nice place right now, very creative as well with my feet firmly on the ground.  So, I'm very happy.

So what are your live stage shows like? What are you planning for this tour?
Stage shows are like, kind of touch and go really because it depends on how things take off or what kind of side shows I'm going to be playing.  And it's kind of very, I think it's start quite basic and then hopefully by the mid year I'll be asking to get some string players and I'm working with a drummer and actually trying to keep a very live element to it so that I'm actually interested in the live show because playing along with a lap top is really, it's like death to me.

Did you play everything on the album?
Yeah, kind of by default.  No one else would write with me, I'm too
difficult.

What would be your ideal stage show?
Well I think for this album it would be really gorgeous to have like…. I'm working with a drummer right now so it's nice to have that, but I would really like to replicate, no, no, not to replicate strength of the songs live, so that they really can come across with the same power.  But then not to make a complete photo copy of the album you know, maybe to exchange the synthesized parts with the string quartet.  Just something very strong, but very unique. Hopefully with some film and stuff.  You never know.  See what kind of budget falls into my hands.

Have you toured with other bands before?
No, I have never hopped on the bus with anyone.  I've kind of guested with a couple bands.  I've played viola for Hidden Cameras for two shows.  Chicks on Speed I did the same, played viola, when they were supported the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  So yeah, I just cameo appearances here and there.

Is there a band you would like to open for or have a dream of opening for you?
I'd like to get in the loop really with meeting another artist because it's been a bit of a solitary journey up until now.  Hopefully this album can, you know other people hear that I'm a human being I can give through confrontation, I'm a nice boy so….you never know, I mean it's always a fantasy to work with someone like PJ Harvey or I don't know, let's see what happens really

Is it what you have expected sort of doing all this?  Like when you thought about it were you like, 'I can't wait to do interviews".
No, I don't think I ever thought I 'I can't wait to do interviews,' [more like]  'God, what am I gonna say?'  It's been a baptism of fire really this week, so I'm becoming more eloquent as to what I want to talk about.  It's good. I really enjoy the challenge.

Is there anything you wanted to talk about, but no one has asked you yet?
You know my brain such a casserole of everything I've said in the last week.

Find out more about Patrick, watch videos, and hear music at...
www.patrickwolf.com