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It hasn’t been an easy journey from troubled child prodigy through to the release of third album ‘The Magic Position’ but Patrick Wolf has come through it to produce his finest work to date. Ducking darts and struggling to be heard over the bellowing Arsenal 97-98 Champions DVD in the typical north London boozer, Gigwise meets up with the man who could probably master the bag pipes in under ten minutes if challenged.
“Where’s your red nose?” asks one of the pot bellied ‘The Power’ wannabees to Patrick as we change tables to avoid any unwanted new body piercings. Standing at 6’4” with bright red hair, yellow shirt with gold bow tie, tartan waist coat, too short tight jeans and pale blue platforms it is easy to see what the fellow is getting at. “What like a reindeer? It’s not Christmas now” comes the reply leaving the man dumbfounded. You just know that Patrick has had to deal with these kinds of taunts all his life and as a result has developed a quick wit that leaves his assailant unsure whether to feel put out or not long enough for him to make his departure.
You see Patrick Wolf has always felt the bullies’ wrath; so much so it forced him to change school several times. But this was also the force that drove him on. “That destruction in your life makes you want to create something.” He candidly admits. “When you are given a minus I want to make a positive to prove myself and be the best I could be. For me that wasn’t playing rugby or being good at maths, it was writing music. So from being somebody who just played other peoples music, be it on the violin, as a choirboy or on the piano I decided that I wanted to make my own.”
Leaving home at 15 to go on a weird and wonderful music adventure Wolf was spotted in Paris by electronic maestro Kristian Robinson who went on to produce his first record. It has been nearly five years since debut album ‘Lycanthropy’ was released to critical acclaim but failed to reflect this through commercial sales. Patrick says “back then I had really thrown my whole life up for it., I sacrificed family, money, anything just to get the record out. Then I thought I was gonna be this huge star, which was never the intention for making the music, but because I had a great confidence in what I did as an eighteen year old. I then had the initial disappointment after getting critical acclaim. That disappointment, and I was disappointed with success of Lycanthropy, made me immediately think ‘well what am I gonna do?’ So I went out on the road for three or four years and I slowly built up, in a very traditional way, a fan base so that now when I release a song it is received by enough people that I feel really happy with.”
This development of a core following has put him in a position to sign to Loog Records, an off-shoot of Polydor in a move that has left him delighted “I guess my careerist or ambition for my music has just appeared now, which just leaves me with the job of making music that I am really proud of. But I think I could only be at this point having gone down the route I have. It is such a hard thing to explain to a new musician but you have to earn a certain amount of power and if you can get that power as a performer you don’t have to go and beg to people, you can set the terms in your favour. I can do all the artwork, choose all the video people and that is how it is take it or leave it and I wouldn’t have signed to a major label if I couldn’t.”
On his debut album Wolf showcased his amazing talent as a musician, wildly changing styles and focus in an attempt to avoid being pigeon holed after only one release. Whilst ‘Lycanthropy’ was humorous and fun, the mood of follow up ‘Wind in the Wires’ is reflected by what he describes as “a very dark period”.
Whilst making the album Wolf was hospitalised after falling down a flight and putting his arm through a window. In a bizarre coincidence his neighbour was burgled via a broken window leading to his arrest on suspicion of the crime. Patrick feels very strongly that the emotions of the time should be reflected in his work but is glad to say that ‘The Magic Position’ was recorded in much happier times “This album is a product of my emotions from touring for the last two years, going to America, laughing non stop for a year and a half, falling in love, getting drunk and going to the fairground and just having a good time.”
It is all too tempting to go all tabloid paper and suggest clichés declaring that Patrick is ‘hungry like the’ but you do sense a calmness and confidence that he knows he produced an album that will be a success. “If my music does well it does well, if it doesn’t then at least I am really proud of it. I will always be making music just for the creative impulse.” He muses. Not a bad place to be in I think you will agree?
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