Recently we had the pleasure of sitting down with Zev and Gadi, otherwise known as Wolf + Lamb for a short chat after their gig in XOYO last Sunday. Founders of 3 different record labels and members of the crew love music collective. We sat down with them to discuss everything from snooker world champs to psy trance.
So how did you two meet each other?
We met each other in a very chance situation at a party on thanksgiving 14 years ago. Holy shit 14 fucking years ago!
Were you guys both mixing at the time?
Yeah we were both kind of mixing. I was playing really bad trance/ progressive trance and Gadi was into hiphop and electro and yeah we met and we kind of hit it off and we were both at a good point in our life where we were just ready to do something interesting.
What inspires you to play the music you do?
Black people.
Is that a reference to Detroit and Chicago or?
No as in soul music! And Chicago more than Detroit. You know Detroit is the techno Mecca. Where Chicago is more of a house and soul hotspot for example Larry Heard would be a big name for us.
Not to overlook J Dilla
Oh no of course! I mean how can you over look J Dilla. But that’s just not us. What inspires us more is just kind of like soul, Steve Wonder or Prince. That kind of stuff you know? Those would be the biggest influences for us and our label. It definitely took a long time. We didn’t start with this style of music. Like we started with more kind of minimal techno kind of sound.
Hell I started in psychedelic trance but you know it’s a long evolution. 15 years later and now we are where we are. Its satisfying and its shit we like to listen to. But it’s the same kind of way like people today start off with Avicii. Like it’s a progressional kind of thing. Like nobody really starts off with Moodyman. It’s a progression. They should! But they don’t.
Where do you see music going now? Do you see it going more towards your style or into techno or what?
Well I think it has gone to techno. Like in Europe for example it has gone to techno for sure. Yeah I think it’s very regional. So for example America was very into EDM. Lucky for you guys in Europe you dodged that a small bit. Other than festivals like Tomorrowland.
But again its very regional. Like I always saw a correlation between the political state of a country and the music that comes into popularity. Like during the bush years in America when it was really sad and generally a really shitty time. People got into like heavier darker music. And then Obama was running and everything started getting more upbeat and hopeful. And that was around the time we got out of our recession and Europe got into their recession and everyone got back into techno and dark shit again.
That’s kind of similar to berlin after the wall came down.
Yeah exactly everything was just super dark.
Who would you say is the best dj you have ever seen play a set?
Moodyman. Like he’s the only one that just doesn’t give a shit and just plays whatever the fuck he wants with a big towel on his head or like fishnet masks covering his face.
And so for wolf and lamb what’s next for you guys?
Well we are currently working on an album right now. So that’s kind of the biggest thing for us at the moment.
And last thing what do you make of former snooker world champion Steve Davis starting a career as a techno dj?
Oh really? We didn’t even know about him but fuck yeah that’s great! I mean the more the merrier for sure!
Follow Wolf + Lamb on Facebook and Soundcloud