Chelsea Wolfe is one of my favorite artists of all time. Her style is versatile, which isn't to say chameleonic; all of her work is very dark and often gothic, but there are many different facets and angles of her own unique darkness that she comes at in her work.
I've been a fan since 2013 when I heard her album Apokalypsis. I know she won't be for everyone, but I've compiled some interesting interviews from her in this post. A lot will be for my own reference; I love reading interviews.
*DISCLAIMER: I CLAIM NO OWNERSHIP OF THESE INTERVIEWS*
01. Crash.fr || 2018 || Author: Alice Butterlin
An interview a year after the release of Hiss Spun, Chelsea's most heavy and metal-inspired record up to that point.
You recorded at Kurt Ballou’s studio in Salem which has very specific surroundings. How important is your environment to the way you record?"I think it has a lot to do with it but more importantly, it’s where I write the albums that has the biggest impact on the final result. I usually write at home, that’s where I’m the most comfortable. I make space for a little home studio to record demos. As I’m looking back at my albums I can definitely see that where I was living when I was writing really reflects it. While I was writing Pain is Beauty, I was living downtown in this big old house with a bunch of roommates. It was noisy and there were helicopters over our heads every night. Then, when I wrote Abyss it was right after I moved an hour above Los Angeles into the mountains. It was so quiet and isolated and I suddenly found myself wanting to build an empty space with sound. Again, Hiss Spun had a lot to do with me moving towards my hometown and being in familiar surroundings. Recording in Salem had more to do with the studio itself. The building was really cool and I knew Kurt could capture the sound that I wanted for this album. It was a strange coincidence that it was in Salem which is known for historically persecuting other women. My album had a lot of female perspective and anger for past generations of women."
https://www.crash.fr/a-meeting-with-chelsea-wolfe/
"You brought up the sleep clinic, which the macro and micro is very much related to, because I struggled with nightmares and night terrors when I was a kid, and one of the recurring nightmares I would have would take place in a small room. There would be an object in the middle of it, whether it was a book or a telephone or something, and it would grow really large, to the point where it was smashing against the wall, and then it would get really small, to the point where it was a tiny model. It would happen back and forth over and over until I would wake up screaming because it would drive me insane. I think that weird perspective is exactly like the macro and micro — it just became a part of how I think. I do look at everything as a whole and I really hone in and think about one person’s story within that, and that’s usually what I do with songwriting. So, for example, the song "Erde" — erde is the root word for Earth. It means "all dirt." I was thinking about all dirt, Mother Earth, this great being that holds us all up but we each have our own strange little stories on top of. All of us weird humans spending hours staring at screens and on the internet; abandoned cities."
02. Fader || 2019 || Author: Emma Madden
Interview before the release of Birth of Violence, a more folk and singer/songwriter oriented record than her previous.
You’re consistently very good at threading the macro and micro. On this album you’re talking about the state of the earth and the state of yourself. What’s the significance in bringing those threads together?"You brought up the sleep clinic, which the macro and micro is very much related to, because I struggled with nightmares and night terrors when I was a kid, and one of the recurring nightmares I would have would take place in a small room. There would be an object in the middle of it, whether it was a book or a telephone or something, and it would grow really large, to the point where it was smashing against the wall, and then it would get really small, to the point where it was a tiny model. It would happen back and forth over and over until I would wake up screaming because it would drive me insane. I think that weird perspective is exactly like the macro and micro — it just became a part of how I think. I do look at everything as a whole and I really hone in and think about one person’s story within that, and that’s usually what I do with songwriting. So, for example, the song "Erde" — erde is the root word for Earth. It means "all dirt." I was thinking about all dirt, Mother Earth, this great being that holds us all up but we each have our own strange little stories on top of. All of us weird humans spending hours staring at screens and on the internet; abandoned cities."
https://www.thefader.com/2019/09/05/chelsea-wolfe-deranged-for-rock-and-roll-premiere-birth-of-violence-interview-2019
WOLFE: The title of the album, Apokalypsis, stands for revelations, the apocalypse, and lifting of the veil. That was kind of what the album represents for me. The word “epiphany” kind of stands out for me when I think about revelations, like a realization; that moment of realizing something that really makes sense. For me, that’s what the album cover represents—the whited-out eyes and the expression. It represents a sense of epiphany or revelations. Sort of like the moment right before the meteor hit.
CW: To me it actually feels really open. I was really inspired by intense nature and landscapes, and I’m always inspired by open spaces and giving room for things to grow sound-wise and visually. I have a bit of claustrophobia myself which I think translates into my music. So I wouldn’t describe it as suffocating to be honest. To me there are a lot of songs on the album that have a sense of forward motion. I’ve always been inspired by trains and chugging forward and trying to overcome something. So for me it has that vibe, it has that forward motion, running, driving towards something.
03. Interview Magazine || 2011 || Author: Ilana Kaplan
An impromptu interview at an airport. This one comes before the release of what could be considered her "breakout" record, Apokalypsis.
KAPLAN: Your album cover art is pretty crazy. What’s the story behind it?WOLFE: The title of the album, Apokalypsis, stands for revelations, the apocalypse, and lifting of the veil. That was kind of what the album represents for me. The word “epiphany” kind of stands out for me when I think about revelations, like a realization; that moment of realizing something that really makes sense. For me, that’s what the album cover represents—the whited-out eyes and the expression. It represents a sense of epiphany or revelations. Sort of like the moment right before the meteor hit.
04. The Quietus || 2013 || Author: Valerie Siebert
Pain Is Beauty is probably my favorite Wolfe album, and The Quietus are certainly one of my favorite review sites.
I’ve read reviews of Pain Is Beauty that describe the atmosphere as "suffocating" - how do you feel about that?CW: To me it actually feels really open. I was really inspired by intense nature and landscapes, and I’m always inspired by open spaces and giving room for things to grow sound-wise and visually. I have a bit of claustrophobia myself which I think translates into my music. So I wouldn’t describe it as suffocating to be honest. To me there are a lot of songs on the album that have a sense of forward motion. I’ve always been inspired by trains and chugging forward and trying to overcome something. So for me it has that vibe, it has that forward motion, running, driving towards something.
05. Diffuser || 2013 || Author: April Siese
Another Pain Is Beauty interview. Mentions the change of aesthetics to more textured electronic, among other things.
What's your writing process like now that you've incorporated electronics compared to when you first started?"I usually write alone with this classical guitar that was passed down from my mom. It's missing a tuning peg, so it's tuned down. Writing on that guitar taught me to sing on a lower register. I'm typically writing on that. With 'Pain Is Beauty,' I added a lot of electronic elements. The album was written around the acoustic album, 'Unknown Rooms.' I've been writing lately with my bandmate Ben Chisholm. He's far better with technology than I am and has kind of an expertise with synthesizers. He actually taught me how to use a synth. I like writing and collaborating with him because it's really effortless."
06. Indie-Eye || 2015 || Author: Michele Faggi
An interview conducted after the release of my second favorite Wolfe album, Abyss.
I’ve read that Abyss is a sort of trip inside one self’s dreams and subconscious, can you tell us something about the ideas and inspiration that is behind your new work?"Well I was inspired by many things.. one subject that came up a couple times was suicide – a story I read about a Chinese FoxConn worker who wrote stunning poems.. he took his own life because he couldn’t handle the monotony of factory life and feeling stuck.. that inspired the lyrics for “Iron Moon” but I also expanded on this idea, imagining him in the dark, dorm-style rooms, feeling like the walls were closing in, and trying to envision him finally leaving that place in his own way, but I was envisioning him dancing through the factory lines, throwing his uniform in the air, dancing with abandon. I’m always translating fucked-up stories into something that could possibly be more triumphant or hopeful. But sometimes I also give up on that, as total despair is also a reality for some and I always try to reflect some reality in my music."
“Yes, maybe we met somewhere in the middle on that. I definitely leaned towards the heavier songs to sing on. I was working on vocalizations for a horror film score at the time, which stretched my voice into some new places, shrieking and growling, and that naturally transferred over to Bloodmoon a bit. As the songs started to form together, I started to sense a sort of mythological feel to it all—big themes, ancient symbols like coiled snakes and bloody sunrises after a battle. I started to visualize those mythic themes in my head as I worked on the songs.”
07. New Noise || 2021 || Author: [Not Specified]
An interview with Converge, who collaborated with Wolfe and her band on the 2021 album Bloodmoon: I. Questions are asked to Bannon of Converge, but this interview is still highly relevant.
So what is Wolfe’s take on this divine middle ground the album displays?“Yes, maybe we met somewhere in the middle on that. I definitely leaned towards the heavier songs to sing on. I was working on vocalizations for a horror film score at the time, which stretched my voice into some new places, shrieking and growling, and that naturally transferred over to Bloodmoon a bit. As the songs started to form together, I started to sense a sort of mythological feel to it all—big themes, ancient symbols like coiled snakes and bloody sunrises after a battle. I started to visualize those mythic themes in my head as I worked on the songs.”
https://newnoisemagazine.com/interview-converge-on-starting-a-whole-new-band-and-seeking-connection/
08. Audio Femme || 2019 || Liz Ohanesian
Interview reflecting on Chelsea's album Birth of Violence.
The result was not what Wolfe herself had initially expected. “To be honest, I first envisioned this album being extremely stripped down, just guitar and vocals and a few overdubs, but as the songs were coming together, it felt lonesome – the process of working alone, but more importantly the songs themselves felt a bit far away, like they needed a setting to live in,” Wolfe says. She brought in bandmate Ben Chisholm to engineer and help produce the album. “Ben and I have worked together for about 10 years now so our musical language flows easily, and I feel like he really understood my abstract concept of this album being my ‘space western’ sonically.”https://www.audiofemme.com/chelsea-wolfe-reflects-on-birth-of-violence/
CW: I can't really stick to one genre-- I like to experiment and play around with different sounds and my voice as an instrument. And as much as I like music with intense energies, I also love old country like Hank Williams. And I love Neil Young and Townes Van Zandt. It's part of who I am. I have folk roots and I'll probably always be shifting back and forth between these different musical sides of myself.
"When we were on our last US tour and we stopped in Boston, my bandmate Ben and I met up with Kurt and checked out God City studio and got along really well. A couple months later Kurt reached out to Ben and asked him to be a part of this project, to be what he calls "the brain" doing the backing vocals and keys, and adding all the little undertones and layers to the set. And I was like "damn that's really cool." Then a couple days later I got an email asking if I wanted to sing on a couple of songs. I said "Of course" and we went back and forth, I learned a few songs. I'm singing on five songs and playing guitar on four of them. Ben and I practiced the songs on our own and then went to Salem to practice them for three days with the band. Then we flew to Europe and went on tour."
09. Pitchfork || 2012 || Author: Brandon Stosuy
An interview with Chelsea after the release of her gothic-folk-inspired album Unknown Rooms.
Pitchfork: How do you view the acoustic material on the new LP? I imagine it offers a break from the intensity of the other kinds of music you've performed.CW: I can't really stick to one genre-- I like to experiment and play around with different sounds and my voice as an instrument. And as much as I like music with intense energies, I also love old country like Hank Williams. And I love Neil Young and Townes Van Zandt. It's part of who I am. I have folk roots and I'll probably always be shifting back and forth between these different musical sides of myself.
https://pitchfork.com/features/update/8955-chelsea-wolfe/
10. The Skinny || 2015 || Colm McAuliffe
Another interview following what is closest to full critical acclaim in Wolfe's catalogue.
Chelsea Wolfe has oft stated her interest in truth and honesty through music but does this shed any light on her actual life? The lyrics on Abyss are abstract, if rather standard issue for goth-tinged singers: Grey Days, Color Of Blood, Simple Death and the epic After the Fall (sadly not a rumination on the lives of musicians post Mark E. Smith) all dwell upon the darker side of existence – is this a true reflection of Chelsea Wolfe’s state of mind? "I get asked about this a lot," she admits. "At this point I suppose my music is quite personal, but I still avoid writing directly about my own life. There is plenty of inspiration coming from world news, books I read, and so on. My perspective on these things will always be in my own way of course, and I think of music as something really intimate. I listen to music on headphones mostly, and it is really intimate to have someone’s voice in your head, telling you stories. But this persona is not something I’m crafting – I’m just a private person and prefer to keep much of my personal life away from my musical life."
11. Invisible Oranges || 2016 || Author: Ian Cory
In this interview her collaboration with Converge is brought up. This is the earliest hint of their collab I've heard of.
How did you get involved in the Blood Moon performance with Converge?"When we were on our last US tour and we stopped in Boston, my bandmate Ben and I met up with Kurt and checked out God City studio and got along really well. A couple months later Kurt reached out to Ben and asked him to be a part of this project, to be what he calls "the brain" doing the backing vocals and keys, and adding all the little undertones and layers to the set. And I was like "damn that's really cool." Then a couple days later I got an email asking if I wanted to sing on a couple of songs. I said "Of course" and we went back and forth, I learned a few songs. I'm singing on five songs and playing guitar on four of them. Ben and I practiced the songs on our own and then went to Salem to practice them for three days with the band. Then we flew to Europe and went on tour."
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