Rock duo The Wolfmen are Marco Pirroni (of Adam and the Ants fame) and Chris Constantinou. M caught up with the band’s vocalist Chris.
The new album, Married to the Eiffel Tower, was produced by Steve Musters. Has that taken you in a different direction to your Alan Moulder-produced debut?
Alan Moulder did a brilliant job mixing our first album Modernity Killed Every Night. He is a genius. The new album seems to have ended up going in a different direction than the last album.
Post Production and mixing are by Courtney-Taylor-Taylor (of the Dandy Warhol’s) and Jacob Portrait (Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters). How did this come about?
A mate of ours introduced us to Courtney when The Dandy’s were playing in London. We gave him some of our tracks to take back with him to Portland. Courtney and Jacob are quite radical in the way they work so the difference between the tracks we sent them and what came back was totally different and unexpected.
Sinead O’Connor duets with you on the track Jackie, is it my birthday? Did you write it with Sinead in mind?
No, this track had a former life and was called Posing as an Angel. I wrote this song ten years ago and recorded and performed it with my former band Jackie OnAssid. I sang the song to Marco and Steve and they really liked it. We are co-writing songs with Sinead for her new album and I thought her voice would work really well on this. We sent her the song and she loved it.
What is the favourite song you have composed so far?
Cecilie from the first album, which was released as a single, and Cat Green Eyes from the new album which will be our next single.
You also collaborated with Daler Mehndi (India’s biggest pop star)?
For us this was a major step into the unknown and has opened up a whole new market to us. The first track we worked on was called Do Naina. We were sent some demos and just took Daler’s voice to work with and then wrote and arranged music around it in a western style. It occurred to us that we should get a translation of the lyric and then just started calling it Two Eyes. This track had a digital release and got massive critical acclaim and support from Radio 1 and XFM. Stephen Pookfrom the BBC made a documentary of Daler's work with us, you can watch a clip on YouTube.
What other influences are there on your music?
I grew up listening to T Rex, Hendrix, Lou Reed, Cohen and Ska and Reggae. Marco was into Bowie and Roxy Music, so they must all be there somewhere in the mix.
What piece of advice would you offer to new aspiring musicians?
Not to listen to grown-ups too much. And never ever give up, no matter how tough it gets.
What did you spend your first royalty cheque on?
Buying drinks and curries for my friends probably
Find out more about The Wolfmen on their website.
The new album, Married to the Eiffel Tower, was produced by Steve Musters. Has that taken you in a different direction to your Alan Moulder-produced debut?
Alan Moulder did a brilliant job mixing our first album Modernity Killed Every Night. He is a genius. The new album seems to have ended up going in a different direction than the last album.
Post Production and mixing are by Courtney-Taylor-Taylor (of the Dandy Warhol’s) and Jacob Portrait (Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters). How did this come about?
A mate of ours introduced us to Courtney when The Dandy’s were playing in London. We gave him some of our tracks to take back with him to Portland. Courtney and Jacob are quite radical in the way they work so the difference between the tracks we sent them and what came back was totally different and unexpected.
Sinead O’Connor duets with you on the track Jackie, is it my birthday? Did you write it with Sinead in mind?
No, this track had a former life and was called Posing as an Angel. I wrote this song ten years ago and recorded and performed it with my former band Jackie OnAssid. I sang the song to Marco and Steve and they really liked it. We are co-writing songs with Sinead for her new album and I thought her voice would work really well on this. We sent her the song and she loved it.
What is the favourite song you have composed so far?
Cecilie from the first album, which was released as a single, and Cat Green Eyes from the new album which will be our next single.
You also collaborated with Daler Mehndi (India’s biggest pop star)?
For us this was a major step into the unknown and has opened up a whole new market to us. The first track we worked on was called Do Naina. We were sent some demos and just took Daler’s voice to work with and then wrote and arranged music around it in a western style. It occurred to us that we should get a translation of the lyric and then just started calling it Two Eyes. This track had a digital release and got massive critical acclaim and support from Radio 1 and XFM. Stephen Pookfrom the BBC made a documentary of Daler's work with us, you can watch a clip on YouTube.
What other influences are there on your music?
I grew up listening to T Rex, Hendrix, Lou Reed, Cohen and Ska and Reggae. Marco was into Bowie and Roxy Music, so they must all be there somewhere in the mix.
What piece of advice would you offer to new aspiring musicians?
Not to listen to grown-ups too much. And never ever give up, no matter how tough it gets.
What did you spend your first royalty cheque on?
Buying drinks and curries for my friends probably
Find out more about The Wolfmen on their website.
