Kalistani Major History

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Alt-Folk Plugs in
Buttressed by sales of Stepanov record, VDR moves to sign new Artists
Port Swedes, Vrassa
July 6, 4911


Alt-Folk turned Grunge Rockers The Wolf Hound poised to break out in Port Swedes

As the continued echoes of Joanie Yeardly and her Alt Folk music movement reverberate across the Republic, an unexpected revival has risen in response. Port Swedes has had a thriving underground Alternative scene for many years, but the music has been seen as too removed from the currents of Kalistani mainstream to produce many bands which have gone beyond the more temperate and rainy climes of the northern port.

But several local bands are beginning to gain traction due mainly to their fundamentalist attitude toward Alternative Rock, and their definite nods to the older sounds of grunge which have been long forgotten in the Republic, but which are the roots of much of the Rock music which is played in the Republic today. And it ironically finds its own roots in the Alt Folk movement which is currently in fashion within the Republic.

"From Joanie Yeardly, to Lion Pack, and now to groups associated with The Wolf Hound, we see musicians looking to revive older styles of music and add new spins on them," said Producer Barb Wilson. "We saw it before too, with RF revival that led to the explosion of talent in the KME scene, and the Ska revivalists in Suldanor. The same goes for the new Grunge Revival scene which has attracted attention out of Port Swedes."

The first band to really break out of of the scene, The Wolf Hound, began its career as a folk band with acoustic guitars and down tempo rhythms. But in an effort to stand out, Wolf Hound began plugging in their guitars to amplifiers and using more and more pedals to distort and warp the sound, "Well, I think it was mostly the drugs," said The Wolf Hound's lead singer David Drescher. "I mean... yeah, smoking pot and playing songs about running through mountain fields with your hippie girlfriend is alright, I guess. But that only goes so far... Plus, I think narcotics require louder music."

It was a short time before The Wolf Hound moved out of the Alt Folk scene and began performing Grunge with a folky bend to it. "We still kinda stayed close to our roots, I suppose," said Drescher, "But I mean there was just something about the tuning of the guitars and the sounds you could get out of the amps which fit the kind of tone we were looking for, the kind of mood of our lyrics... I mean in Port Swedes, it rains like half the year and for half that time, its cold rain too... the music ought to reflect that, you know?"

The music also fit more in with the Port Swedes music scene, which has always been very scrappy and independent minded to fit the character of the town. "We're even a lot different here than up in Vrassa Proper," said Drescher. "They're a bit more rustic up there, they're a different kind of people." Port Swedes gets more influence from Ananto. "The folky stuff feels a little out of place in Swedeport."

This did not stop VDR from sending a representative to one of their shows last year to feel the group out. "They said 'We heard you guys on the internet', and this guy in this big old cowboy hat came down and talked with us after our show in this one club, I think it was the Forrest Bar or something... anyway, he was like 'I think we can do something for you buys,' and he wrote a number on a piece of paper, and John [the bassist] was like 'uh, is this a phone number or something?' and he was like 'No, its an advance.' We all cracked up and laughed at him telling him 'Man, get the f--k out of here with that sh--."

The rep left that night, but returned the next night gave the band a business card, told them to get an agent and give him a call. Within three weeks, The Wolf Hound was signed and went to Vrassa City to record their first record, a self titled LP. "It was a little weird, going up there," said Drescher. "Like every thing has wood siding, or looks like its all made out of wood... It was wild... its the first time any of us have ever been up to Vrassa, because who goes there? But the Label and studio was in this big log cabin looking thing... inside it looked modern, I guess... But like it was all carved out of blocks of wood and sh--" When the band met with the talent manager who would be working with them on production, distribution and promotion, he told them that the Stepanov record had brought a lot of attention to the Labels other releases, and they were in the market for new talent.

"We fit in there like f--kin..." Drescher trailed off... "... well, kind of like that thing where you put on underwear and then realize that they aren't yours, but you aren't sure where they even came from? See you can tell because they really squeeze your nads... but anyway, that's what it felt like. Like we didn't belong there." The recording process was smooth, however, and the LP was laid down in five days, "That's what happens when you bring your own music to the studio with you instead of saying "I'm gonna make a record and like then write the songs for it... We had been playing these songs and tweeking them for like 4 years... It was easy to go through and be like 'Should we do that version that we played at John's party or the one where it goes da da dada...? And everyone would just automatically know...."

The LP, which contains 12 songs, is Self Titled, and has already begun receiving airplay on Radio 1. "They were like 'What is this?' when we sent it to them. We were like 'It's uh Grunge Folk... I guess you might call it' you know, making some stupid sh-- up for them. and they were like 'You mean Alt-Folk?' No... It's grunge, dude... just listen to it. And the guy still called it folk metal. Like what the hell?"

But the first Single "My Kinda Love" ended the week as the 10th most requested song for the week following the record's release, and the first pressing of the record has already sold out. "Yeah we didn't see a cent of that..." said Drescher. "We're in the recoup phase, so I am gonna put my share of the advance under my mattress, and see if our record breaks even. Johnny has already bought himself a brand new Moco, idiot..."

You can listen to the Single "My Kinda Love" here,by clicking the video below

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUtGBItRLTs]