Interview: Alex Wolf III of IC BOI Talks About Their Single/Video "Howl" and "Smoke Alarm" EP
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“...This year will be all about getting my name out there, building more awareness of who I am like I am now. Just showing people that music doesn’t have to be the same old shit, you can ride your own wave and do you and there is value in that. And you don’t have to be afraid to make people feel things in this game. ”
Congratulations on the release of your single/video "Howl", as well as the EP "Smoke Alarm". Tell us about your creative process for the development of the EP's five tracks.
Thanks for the congratulations on “Howl”. This EP is meant to give the world a little taste of what we can bring to the table. Creatively we just like to vibe is the best way to describe it. I can play a lot of instruments - guitar, drums, violin, cello. And I've got the melodies and all the ideas for the actual musical piece, I've got a big ass journal filled with poetry. Bits of stuff and lyrics that I write down when I'm feeling those sad boy vibes or maybe if I had a few too many tokes or shots. And it's not like I need that stuff to make the music but I often find myself needing to get relaxed that way these days. Vices, vices I know bro but it works to help unleash and uninhbit my musical knowledge.
We will play these tracks I prepared and sit around goofing off, kinda fucking around getting laughs and just enjoying ourselves then at some point Nissa (my brother) starts rapping and it's like "Woah, man! That was really good" then we check to see what kind of harmonies we can create and what notes can accent his raps, and once he lays down the raps or I do we move on the the other part which is the more indie style rhythmic vocals. And that's easy because I have hundreds of recording of snippets of songs that pop into my head and give me little cadences here and there. Then as we record we have this guy Riley Engleman and he goes ahead and masters it all, levels it out while we are playing. And we do this just sitting in a room set up like a studio, all sorts of instruments and mics and synths laying around. It's a real chill environment that becomes fertile ground for creative mixes of the indie and the rap.
What led you to form the duo IC BOI, as opposed to both of you just creating music as solo artists?
As for what drove me to create the duo is I just have a LOT of drive. And I do solo music, I got signed by CSP music management and I kinda work with my brother when I can. He's a busy guy so sometimes we will work together and sometimes I just release music myself. But my solo stuff has a different kind of aura around it and all that.
I infuse the rap into my indie sensibilities but when I work with my brother to do that he brings those just straight rap sensibilities too it to give it that feeling. On my own I do rap in the songs but I might just release a straight indie song with good guitar and drums or I might take from my influences like the Breeders or Jimi Hendrix or the Beatles and I'm always finding a way to use those sensibilities, but make music that any kid or person who is into the current music scene can just pull up and be like "Aye I vibe with that" and "Damn this actually has me feeling things and it's deep and I like it" and those are my main goals is to make people have those thoughts.
So working with my brother to make sure this music was as accessible as possible is why I worked with him. To make sure it's got those hooks, those rhymes, those exact words to make people go to a certain place. Also, shout-out Wavves. I like rap and indie more than I can explain so I think for people like me who are classical trained musicians as well as beatmakers, it's natural to wanna find the best ways to mix those and see if there is some gold in there.
How do you deal with writer's block (if at all)?
I don’t deal with writer's block a lot man, and that ain't flexing or anything, it's just that I'm constantly having to suppress these musical thoughts and songs playing out in my head to the point where it be SUPER irritating and I gotta shut those voices up so when I'm ready to record the ideas just explode out of me, probably looking like a crackhead zooting around to different instruments and mics.
What are some things that inspire your creativity when working on new music?
What inspires me to write music can be a lot stuff. And I listen to a lot of stuff while I smoke to get in the zone. And it varies. Brockhampton, The Beatles, Breeders, Kendrick Lamar, Wavves, Sweetbabydaday (Little known guy but Bop Juice and Ls are some of my favorite songs right now), MF Doom, Tribe Called Quest, Childish Gambino, MGMT, even that song "Gymnopedia 1(?)" by the piano composer Satie. Anything that makes me feel emotional and connects that with the music will get me excited and pumped.
With the "Smoke Alarm" EP now released, what are some of your goals musically for the rest of 2020?
I've got some big goals for 2020. I recently got signed to music management and we are kinda in the process of getting me to labels, introducing me to big names and building the fan base and brand.
So in the next year that's really gonna be ramping up. Shout-out Christopher Starr over at CSP music group, he's the one kinda showing me what's up in the music industry and he has me going to Georgia soon for work with a really well known producer (I think Grammy nominated if I'm not wrong) and I've got some photoshoots with some well known photographers this year.
So this year will be all about getting my name out there, building more awareness of who I am like I am now. Just showing people that music doesn't have to be the same old shit, you can ride your own wave and do you and there is value in that. And you don't have to be afraid to make people feel things in this game.
Stream and Share “Smoke Alarm” on Spotify
Connect with IC BOI: Soundcloud