EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Emily Wolfe Is Building Her Own Lane in Modern Rock

By: Tracy Heck

​Q: You are supporting Yungblud on some dates in May and have some more shows after that.
What can people expect from your set?
A: Oh man, just a rush for sure! It’s high energy! It’s a 3-piece. I have a bass player and a
drummer and we play loud and fast and it’s a lot of fun.

Q: How do you think you’ll fit with Yungblud?
A: People have told me that it will be great. I feel like there’s a lot of cross over between our
sounds. He’s definitely brought rock back to the forefront and has exploded onto the scene. I’ve
been rock forever so it’s exciting to be on a bill with him. I’m stoked to watch his set and The
Warning too. That will be great.

Q: What have you taken from your tours with other established acts?
A: I feel like the biggest thing I’ve taken is just that it’s really, really hard work and the people
who survive it are super driven. It’s a lot of travel obviously and you’re constantly going and
pouring your heart out every night. It’s been cool to watch people that I admire do that and I
think the biggest thing is probably just how much energy and drive and passion it takes to tour.

Q; And you have some festivals coming up. Do you prefer those or the smaller venues?
A: Gosh, I love playing a big show, but I prefer playing a real kind of sweaty rock show in a
dirty club. Those are my favorites!

Q: How did your new song “Lips” come together?
A: So I wrote it with Jesse Hughes from Eagles of Death Metal and I’ve been a fan of them
forever. I’ve seen his band play for years whenever they came through Austin. Yeah, so the label
set up a session for us to see what would happen and “Lips” came out of that. It was great!
He’s so cool to watch in the studio. He’s the opposite of me so it was cool to learn from someone
who was coming at this from a completely different way. He has a great drive and he’s very
flamboyant and bombastic. I’m more reserved in my daily life. I do try to pull that out in live
performances and kind of turn it up to the next level. It was a blast.

Q: It definitely has a seventies/eighties vibe. Was that a conscious choice?
A: No, not at all. I had no idea what to expect. I think we just kind of sat down and wanted to
write something that was really catchy and something that was authentic to both of us, but I kept
hearing this song everywhere. It’s actually a Eddie Money song, “Take Me Home Tonight,” and
that was kind of the original inspiration. I was like man, I want to write something like that! I
wanted to write a classic song.  Then, Jesse brought his desert vibe to it. I brought the Pat Benatar so it wax just a natural thing.

Q: And there’s been talk about you working with Tool's Adam Jones. Is collaborating something you want to do more of in the future?
A: For sure, yeah, definitely. It’a lot of fun, especially when I’m writing with people I can learn a
lot from. So yeah, I would love to. Adam and I have jammed and we’re buddies so I think we
will collaborate in the future sometime soon.

Q: If you could collaborate with one person who would it be?
A: Man, let me think! I feel like I would want to work with Josh Homme from Queens of A
Stone Age or Nancy Wilson from Heart.

Q: When is the new album coming?
A: So we’re going to be releasing singles on a steady pace throughout the next year or so. So it’a
different format than a full record. So it’ll be singles waterfalled together.
​
Q: And what do you want people to know about your music?
A: Man, I think I want them to know that my catalogue can kind of be all over the map, but the
new stuff is definitely a lot more focused. I’m excited that it’s kind of chiseled down to this one
sound that I’m chasing. So yeah, there’s a back catalogue and definitely something for
everybody, but this new chapter is straight ahead rock.