Name: João Vieira aka Wolf Manhattan
Nationality: Portuguese
Occupation: Musician, composer, producer
Current release: Wolf Manhattan's debut album Wolf Manhattan is out now.
Recommendation:
Art book: Marcel Dzama: Pink Moon
Music: Anadol: Felicita

If you enjoyed this Wolf Manhattan interview and would like to stay up to date with the project, visit him on Instagram.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I have quite a cinematic approach, I listen to the words and picture them in my head, as if I was reading a book. I’ve done that since I was a kid. Sometimes, if I listen to a song first in a special moment of my life, it inevitably takes me back to that time and place when I hear it again.

If I take time to listen to a full album from beginning to end, I tend to close my eyes, the same happens when I sing.

What were your very first steps in music like - and how do you rate gains made through experience versus the naiveté of those first steps?

I have older siblings, so I got into the good stuff from a very early age (eight).

I used to do compilation tapes of their records, stuff like David Bowie, The Stranglers, Joe Jackson, the B-52s, the Ramones: those were the first records I remember playing over and over again and are the records that influence me to this day.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music meant to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

I was a skateboarder at that age till later in my twenties, so I heard a lot of new bands from skateboarding films. That's how I found out about Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr and others. I was also into a lot of darker stuff like Joy Division, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Pixies.

But it was only until the first time I travelled to London on my own, that I found out about many more bands that are still massive influences for me. I would spend my days in records shops.

Nowadays i don’t worry so much about new bands, I know a lot of what's going on in the indie rock scene but it doesn’t have the same impact on me.  Also, I don't feel the need to know it all the way I used to.

I have been a DJ for many years, playing from leftfield disco, punk rock to house and techno. Between that and writing music, I just don’t have as much time to explore new music as I used to. But I still get excited when I discover new or old artists that excite me.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools and how have they shaped your perspective on music?

Listening to a lot of records, seeing thousands of shows, running club nights, doing DJ sets, hanging out at record shops and discovering new music from friends. You gather all this information and that’s how I make music. I would say that finding the right people to make music with is really important and a game changer. If the chemistry is there, you’re sorted.

Although I've been studying music theory lately, I chose to do it later in life so it wouldn’t interfere with my natural approach to the creative process when I started.

But talking about tools: I’ve started on the guitar, played a Fender Jaguar all my life, then I found Synthesizers and drum machines, Roland Juno 6,  SH101, TR808 and TR707, Microkorg, Xoxbox and I started getting onto the electronic music. Lately I've been composing on a Gibson Guitar ES125 from the 50s for this new project.

[Read our feature on the Roland Juno 60]
[Read our feature on the Roland Juno 106]

I like to play with real instruments, so I’m not so much of a fan of plug-ins. I use all kinds of analog stuff, I like to do things in real time. The sound you get from an analog synth is like a good vocal take in the studio, you might never get another take that will sound so good again.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

I like to start a project from scratch, it's not just about the music, it's the whole concept and identity of the project. I have a graphic design degree and designed record covers and other stuff. I like to create something out of nothing and keep adding layers and ideas, that's what excites me.

I still enjoy the process of writing and recording. It's a great feeling where you are alienated from the rest of the world. Like when I was a kid in my room listening to my compilation tapes and reading comic books. The feeling is still there, it hasn’t changed, so I keep doing it.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

Yes, absolutely. I can totally hear it as a whole, without paying attention to the kick drum or the reverb on the vocals or whatever, I think that's the way to do it. I never noticed how weird the snare sounds on Bowie’s Low album till I read about the process of how they did it. I regret reading about it because now it just stands out when I hear the album!



I define my sound as a lo-fi warm analog sound. I decided to limit myself to 3 or 4 instruments only: Viscount Intercontinental UFO 61 (organ sounds and drum machine), Gibson ES 125 (1950’s), Gibson acoustic guitar LG-1 (1966).

I am always searching for a very specific sound, in the Wolf Manhattan album I wanted it to sound like it was made in an old 70’s recording studio but with a modern sound (not retro). I really wanted for people to connect with it in a special way.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I love nature but I'm more of a city person, so I would go for the sound of a busy city: cars, traffic, sirens, people talking, music coming out from different shops, cars or whatever. All that noise that makes the city alive. It’s inspiring.

I can almost hear the soundtrack in the back of my head. It's cinematic, I know it's crazy, but for me it's musical and inspirational.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

I do both: lo-fi garage pop one minute songs with strong melodies and pop hooks as well as leftfield house and disco seven minute tracks. I just let myself go and I let  the song lead the way.

It has to be natural, there are no rules. I feel the need to express myself in different ways,  that’s why I have several projects and I have to respect the identity of each one of them.

From symphonies and traditional verse/chorus-songs to linear techno tracks and free jazz, there are myriads ways to structure a piece of music. Which approaches work best for you – and why?

When I'm writing club music like house, leftfield disco or darkwave, it is quite mathematical. So I will follow the song bars and structure a song that way, because it works like that (taking out and adding layers of sounds and instruments). I normally start with a bassline and a beat and drop some vocals on it. If I feel there’s something there, I work on it, then I let it rest for a few days and hear it again to decide if it's a keeper.



For Wolf Manhattan, I write the song on a guitar or piano in a very traditional way, starting with a verse. I normally name the songs with the opening words for the first verse and I use that as the theme for the song.

Once the song structure is done, I start adding layers of vocal harmonies and arrangements.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

For this project, I had to work very hard and it took me years to decide how to put out these songs. I will try to make it short, but the process was this:

I started with the music, got around 20 to 25 songs written on guitar and piano and recorded some demos. Did a mood board with cut outs from all kinds of different artists, from illustrators to fashion designers, musicians to performers, bands, visual artists and graphic novels …

I did a lot of research: went to art exhibitions, clubs, movies, live shows, theatre, dance shows. I presented the project to directors, photographers, illustrators, graphic and fashion designers, puppeteers, theatre stage directors and so on … The brainstorming brought forward more ideas and made me give up on others. I then created an alter ego, a stage persona and a whole story behind the music (with and actual published book titled “The Story of Wolf” to go along with it).

Once the album was recorded, I spent some time in the studio looking for the right sound that could back up the whole story and respect the identity of the whole project. It was fun.

Sometimes, science and art converge in unexpected ways. Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Not really. I just experiment a lot in the studio.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Making music makes me happy, and that has a huge impact on my everyday life. It’s what I chose to do, but the downside is that it is very unstable financially and it can be frustrating at times.

I learnt a lot from other people’s music. You can travel in time and understand different cultures, different ways of living and understand human nature. I found a lot of great books through music. I travelled to a lot of places because of music.

Music made such an impact in my life, that it molded my life to what it is now. And yes, we can learn about life by understanding music on a deeper level.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Yes I do think it is different. You can feel emotions from all kind of things: the smell of coffee, visiting a place or seeing an object that reminds you of someone or of a time of your life.

Music is probably the most immediate, but all creative arts have the same function in the end, to make you feel something, to connect.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

For many years, I couldn't hear “Summer babe” by Pavement. It’s just too painful for no particular reason.



I just think it defines an era, a time of my life.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I think what I would like to see is musicians getting a fairer revenue share from streaming services and touring. It’s just too hard nowadays to make a living from music. Very few artists can actually do it as their main ocupation.

I'm quite disappointed with the way things are going. There’s 120.000 songs being released daily on streaming platforms. It's just too much, it's like plastic in the ocean.