ABOUT

ABOUT THE BAND 

    The Wild Wolves is a New York City indie-pop band led by frontman James Anthony Wolff, an American composer born in 1982. Wolff graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy and subsequently received a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition from Peabody Conservatory. The band’s first songs were written in 2004, while Wolff was at Peabody, and the discography now spans over twenty years. During that time, Wolff has written and recorded a vast portfolio of unreleased compositions. Now, he has revisited these works, curating a discography of "best in class" songs that comprise five albums. Each album consecutively demonstrates his evolution as an artist from a live indie-rock sound, to more polished orchestral indie-rock recordings, and eventually to his late-era studio-quality sound. The first full length release, Eyes Like Stars, represents early-era compositions, revisited and recently completed. It is curated to represent the "best in class" compositions often featured in live setlists that had gained popularity amongst the small but dedicated fanbase who transcended the early iterations of the band. In that way, Eyes Like Stars is a tribute to those dedicated fans, and is a calling card for the aesthetic approach and characteristic sound developed by Wolff.

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ABOUT THE ARTIST

     Born in 1982 in Syracuse, New York, James Wolff began his journey with music from a young age. A prodigious composer and string musician, he began the study of music and composition through the Skaneateles, NY elementary school system. In his youth he studied with Dr. Joseph Downing of the music theory department of Syracuse University, completing the undergraduate theory requirements as an early teen and composing and performing for the Encore Music Festival in Ohio. Wolff was a member of the Syracuse Symphony Youth Orchestra and studied viola at Ithaca College with Debra Moree. Wolff later matriculated to Interlochen Arts Academy for high school to study with Dr. Joseph Holland and graduated with Honors. His earliest compositions there included an unaccompanied viola sonata, chamber music including a cello and piano sonata, and the chamber orchestra work "Green Lake," which was conducted and recorded with the Interlochen Chamber Orchestra. 

     Thereafter, in 2000, Wolff matriculated to the Peabody Conservatory of Music of Johns Hopkins for a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition. He studied with Grammy winning composer Nicholas Maw, Christopher Theofanidis, and Randall Packer for inter-media studies at Johns Hopkins University/MICA with the Visages multimedia art team. There he continued composing, writing string quartets, viola sonatas, and additional chamber music for the Peabody composition departmental semester recitals. His compositions there included an electronic orchestral multimedia ballet production "Tonasphenia," which was programmed with a special-licensed performance from minimalist composer Philip Glass' opera, "Einstein on the Beach."

      While pushing his limits in both the classical and electronic spheres, James co-founded the indie rock band Motion Commotion in 2003. They were quickly offered a label deal from Piermont Records and Wolff left school to record a seven-track EP release engineered by Jessie Cannon (The Cure, Dillinger Escape Plan, Saves the Day), embarking on a national tour and garnering outstanding reviews in music industry magazines.      

     After Motion Commotion’s EP tour, the group disbanded, having been unable to secure the capital necessary for the recording of further albums. Wolff went on to join the popular indie-rock band Kiss Kiss (Eyeball Records) in 2005, before moving to New York City and working as an independent booking agent with Lower East Side Productions, while also working at Ishlab Music Studios (Jamin Gilbert, Lauryn Hill, ASAP Rocky) in Brooklyn in 2006. While in New York, he formed the band Super Volcanoes with former Motion Commotion members, writing and recording a four-track EP and performing at the 2007 NYC CMJ music festival.

     That band too disbanded, and with its members leaving to pursue non-music careers, Wolff returned to Baltimore to complete his degree. There he founded "Scary River," an early iteration of Wild Wolves, while continuing to write and record, developing his signature sound. After graduating, in 2008 he partnered with Lance Williams to develop the artist management firm FOCOTHEORY while working at Phoenix Music Group (EMI) for Grammy nominated composer Shawn Campbell (Chris Brown, Missy Elliot). During this time Wolff continued to write and record unreleased material that would eventually constitute the beginnings of the early-era Wild Wolves discography. In 2009, Wolff also began working with Intrinsic Entertainment, a music management agency, and traveled nationally in support of major label artists (Kid Cudi, Kanye West).

     Finding his efforts to build his own music career seemingly futile with the ever-changing and transitory lineup of local session musicians, he moved to Washington, DC in 2010 to begin working as a civil engineering drafting technician. In parallel to his musical career efforts he also began co-founding emerging technology companies in the fields of 3D printing and commercial space. While there he founded the orchestral indie-rock orchestra The Cascades. With 19 musicians, the ensemble was the largest ever organized by Wolff, and they recorded a full length album. Despite the extensive efforts involved,they were unable to secure the capital necessary to complete and master the recording, nor secure distribution for its release. 

     After the long journey to find commercial success, James conceded its futility, and transitioned his career. He was admitted to New York Law School in 2011 and moved to New York City to matriculate. After law school, James continued casually writing, recording, mixing, and remastering the compositions written over his career. This lengthy discography, now named “The Wild Wolves,” consists of five albums. Eyes Like Stars represents the best-in-class selections of early-era live studio recordings. The Weight of Shadows represents the mid-era recordings. Transformations represent mid-era recordings that are highlighted with his electronic string performances. Cascading Hearts represents the conclusion to his indie-rock orchestral album efforts. And finally, Signs and Signals represent the late-era recording efforts of his most recent compositions and is expected to release in late 2023 or early 2024. 

     After nearly twenty years, the Wild Wolves discography is finally nearing completion. This milestone of efforts represent a career-spanning collaboration among countless session musicians and live-performance band iterations. Wolff hopes that this discography will leave an indelible mark upon history, and that the recordings will be appreciated by fans both old and new.

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