The Sailor Jerry Podcast
Inspired by Norman 'Sailor Jerry' Collins' Old Ironsides radio show on KTRG, we present THE SAILOR JERRY PODCAST! This is a wild homage to all our favorite things – Music, tattoos, travel, spiced rum, and more. Partnering up with our pal Matt Caughthran, the frontman of The Bronx, we're spilling these tales in our own damn style. Brace yourself for biweekly episodes, dishing out killer interviews with musicians who fuel our fire. Buckle up for The Sailor Jerry Podcast – where the coolest stories come to life.
The Sailor Jerry Podcast
79 - Chelsea Wolfe
Chelsea Wolfe is a singer-songwriter with an original and unique style that blends everything from folk music to synthwave and doom metal. In this episode, we catch up with Chelsea to discuss all things music, including her recently released Undone remix EP. Chelsea talks about the thrill of hearing her music through fresh perspectives, the importance of individuality and the refreshing shift from competition to community in the industry. We also dive into Chelsea’s creative process, vocal technique, and inspiring artists like Stevie Nicks, Patti Smith, Converge, Full of Hell, Townes Van Zandt, and so much more. As always, brought to you by Sailor Jerry!
https://www.instagram.com/cchelseawwolfe/
https://sailorjerry.com
I'm stoked to have you here on the Sailor Jerry podcast, chelsea, I'm a big fan and I feel like we're just having you on. I feel like we're leveling up in a way. So thank you very much for your time.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, that's really nice. Thank you, fan of yours as well. I think we've met in person like ages ago, right, I mean?
Speaker 1:I think so. Yeah, a long time ago, time ago, I think, probably sometime around. Pain is Beauty around that time. But yeah, it's been a minute, you know. So it's cool, it's good, it's good to reconnect, awesome. Well, let's jump in here because the Undone EP is out now. We got six sick remixes from your latest album, your seventh studio album. She Reaches Out to. She Reaches Out to she album, your seventh studio album she Reaches Out to. She Reaches Out to she. And before we kind of dive into the remix journey, I kind of want to go back to writing and recording the album itself, if we can, because I know you were kind of coming off of a couple collaborative efforts. We'll talk about the Converge album and the X soundtrack. So kind of where were you at as an artist, going into writing your seventh record?
Speaker 2:Well, when I started it, it was like I was still kind of, I don't know, in a sort of past version of myself. It feels so far away right now. It's strange to talk about, I guess. Yeah, I mean, I had had these plans to do the sort of acoustic tours that I was doing in 2019 and then early 2020, and then obviously, everything changed and so what I wanted to do was like actually get together in person with my band and do a lot of like playing and writing together. And since that wasn't possible, it became like another pandemic record where we were sort of sending ideas back and forth and then, you know, collaging them together.
Speaker 2:And then, when we were finally able to get together, I was like ready to take the songs to a different level and I really wanted to work with a producer, even though we had already done so much demoing and pre-production work, and that person was Dave Siddick. So, so much demoing and pre-production work and that person was Dave Siddick. So, yeah, once we got into the studio with him, it was like I had gone through a lot of changes, like getting sober in my life and um, from alcohol and and different things. So I was kind of like into this idea of like, transformation and change. And the songs did transform and change a lot in the studio and became these more like electronic songs.
Speaker 1:And when they were originally a bit more rock and roll. So yeah, yeah, totally. And like what about the? Was the recording process of the album, like how much do? I'm curious about this because you know you mentioned, like you know, the band aspect of of wanting to. You know, when you write a song, you know nowadays it feels like bands kind of get into a room less and less and less and kind of hash out. Songs are more created in the studio nowadays and that's just the way it is and that's kind of the way it's always been to a certain, you know, to a certain extent with different bands. But for you, how much of this record kind of came to life in the studio and how much did it change? You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:I know I find it actually really sad that there's like less and less of actually making music together in person, like after the pandemic, after the yeah, after the pandemic times especially.
Speaker 2:I'm just like if someone wants me to collaborate and just wants me to send stuff over email, I get like like I wish I could just go be in the studio with you. So I tried to, I tried to do that as much as I can these days, but anyways, yeah, I think that the main thing, like I said once we got into the studio with with Dave Siddick, like his studios is much, more um, electronic. He has a lot of like analog sense. He has this wall of modular synths and so we were taking elements of like vocals, guitars, drums, and running it through all these modular synths and it would come out the other side sounding totally different. And so it became a collaborative process like, um, jess, our drummer was, you know, doing a lot of like messing around on on this pulsar synth and you know we were trying different techniques than we normally do as players in the band. So it was, it was interesting, it was challenging, you know, at times too, but, um, I think it was the right thing.
Speaker 1:I think it was like what this album wanted to be, because I was really happy with the sound in the end awesome and you know kind of going along a little further down that rabbit hole we were just kind of talking about with. You know writing live and you know writing in the studio. Do you find that? You know, I found it's kind of funny, like with the Bronx. You know, the first couple records mostly I mean everything about the songs were written in a room together as a band live. And you know, when you get into the studio it's just kind of about getting the performance right, fixing whatever needs fixed, and then you go out and you tour.
Speaker 1:And one of the funny things that I've noticed about later on in the band's career, as we make records and you know, as we're all living in different spots now and we're sending ideas back and forth, and you start to rely more and more on things coming together in the studio. And then you kind of have this like you get to this point as a band where, or as an artist, where the record's done and you're stoked on it and it's cool. And then it comes time to play and you're like, oh shit, like we made all these songs in the studio, like now we kind of have to like relearn, like how, like how to like play them live and like how to like, do like how to like make it make sense as, like everyone on stage together. You know it's like. Did you find yourself like having to kind of go through that process as well?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was a lot of work actually Because, like I said, it's like there was something that was like written as a guitar part and then we made it into like almost a synth sounding thing, but then, like our guitar player, brian, like had to sort of relearn it as a guitar part. So it was kind of honestly kind of fucked up and twisted in a way, but um, but it did come together. It just took a lot of work to like find the right ways to make these sounds happen live also in like the least complicated way, because we didn't want to be bringing like a million synthesizers on the road. You know, we did bring the pulsar but yeah, trying to sort of like relearn how to play things on guitar and stuff like that and make it kind of sound the same as the record.
Speaker 1:So it was, it was interesting, for sure yeah, awesome, and you know when you're, when you're in the studio. At this point in your career, how comfortable are you in the studio, Like when you're tracking vocals? I know that can be kind of a nightmare situation sometimes if it's not like coming out the way you want it or your voice isn't sounding the way you want it to sound. These days, for this last record, are you feeling pretty pretty cool and confident in the studio nowadays, or or do you still have a little bit of you know like? Do you still have like bad days at the office? You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah, honestly, I would say these days, like in 2024, I'm a lot more comfortable. I've been like writing some new songs with some producers and like it's been really fun to sing in studio. But actually for um she reaches out. I did most of the vocals at home, like I just borrowed a really nice microphone from um dave and it wasn't like I didn't want to do it in there.
Speaker 2:It was kind of like our time was limited. You know, because he's in la, I'm in northern california. So like every time I went down to the studio it's like this, you know, six hour journey or whatever. So I wanted to kind of make the most of our time and you know, I had time at home to be able to work on the vocals. But yeah, and like, honestly, I, up until recently I I've actually enjoyed doing vocals on my own. Like I like the editing process and like, yeah, fucking with things. But but yeah, these days I think I'm a little bit like sick of working by myself and doing everything by myself. So I I am like I'm looking for producers who enjoy working with vocals, Cause I don't feel like I've ever really had that before. Like I've worked with some great producers but none of them were, like particularly interested in the vocals aspect, which kind of, you know, that's like my main instrument. So yeah, that's kind of like what I'm seeking these days.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was talking to a buddy of mine who made a record with Kurt Ballou of Converge and you know Kurt's such a great producer and such a great guy.
Speaker 1:But, it was really funny because he was like, yeah, you know, when the band was like like tracking, like they spent so many like just hours and days like dialing in guitar tones and and kick drum sounds, and then when it came time for me to do vocals, he was like, yeah, whatever, that's good I know, and I don't think it's anything like personal or I don't think they mean to do.
Speaker 2:I think it's probably just more fun to dial in like guitar tones and drum tones and stuff like that. But um, but yeah, it is like kind of you always get like the short end of the stick as a singer sometimes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, and it's cool. You know what you were talking about. With singing alone, I think that the more comfortable you get, especially in the in the modern era of everyone kind of having like a home studio, I'll never forget Like we were doing our second record. It was like our big major label record and we had this producer guy, michael Beinhorn, and he was like notorious with you know vocalists and he was just you know, it was like a build you down, break you down, build you back up type of producer guy and he was talking he did Super Unknown and he was talking about Chris Cornell doing vocal takes. He was like, yeah, basically you know he by the end of the record he was just like doing vocals on his own and it was just like you know.
Speaker 1:It's like you get to that point, I think, where, as long as you're confident in your ability to that, you know what you're doing is good and you have some concept of whether or not you're in key or on pitch or whatever, singing in front of like a band on a couch and a producer and the thing and like sometimes it's just not, it's just not that cool, you know, it's not that fun and it doesn't like, it doesn't bring the best out in you, you know. So I'd like singing at home, in your own environment, where you can really get into it is. It feels just like such a better choice. You know, like 90% of the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean that's very true. Yeah, and maybe there's an aspect of like singers are like so particular and it is like this such like weird personal thing that like maybe that's why it feels like the producer isn't as interested, or something like that. Maybe it's just kind of like more in your head, you know, definitely not trying to like call anyone out or something like that. Maybe it's just kind of like more in your head, you know, definitely not trying to like call anyone out or something like that. It's more just like it's just a weird part of the process for sure. So, yeah, doing it at home, I don't know, I feel like I've gotten some better vocal takes doing it by myself, but, um, at the same time, it's like it is a lot of work and it's a lot of like spending time by yourself without like instant feedback. So that part is challenging.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's true, you don't have like the instant feedback or you know, which is kind of crucial, you know. So that's a good point. You know, continuing to just talk about singing and your voice, since we're on the subject, you know you've got such an incredible voice, a unique voice. You know, I know you've been singing for a long time, You've been playing music for a long time, was there. You know how long did it kind of take you to kind of step into your voice, you know, because is it something you've always kind of had and been comfortable with, because I know you've been writing songs, you know, early on, were you singing early on as well? Have you had any vocal training or anything like that?
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, it's very nice. Yeah, I just started singing at a really young age and I never took lessons until my album Abyss. When I was writing that album, there was this demo that I wrote but I couldn't like hit the note full voice and so I found a vocal coach named Juliana Gondek in Los Angeles and she I didn't take like that many lessons but it was really helpful. I never really hit that note, but I did learn a lot and she actually gave me this like really personalized vocal warmup that I've used like every show, every recording since then, but that's been like the most helpful thing. I don't know.
Speaker 2:I've had like different eras where I feel like my voice is just I'm just really comfortable with it. Like I'm feeling like that right now. I felt like that on Apocalypses. And then there's sometimes where I feel like I'm experimenting so much that it's like almost getting confused. Like I feel like during the Ab era I was like trying out so many different things that like I'm not sure it was all working but, um, but yeah, right now I'm feeling super comfortable in my voice, I think maybe just cause I'm getting older and like finding just sort of like ease and things that I'm doing, so that's been feeling kind of nice yeah.
Speaker 1:That's that's awesome. Yeah, that's that's awesome. Yeah, that's always a good feeling when you're kind of in that comfortable spot with your voice and you're you know. You know you're used to how it's sounding and you kind of know what you're going to get out of it and you're allowed to just kind of focus on, you know, being an artist, writing your lyrics, performing live, because you don't have to stress about, you know, the sound of your voice or the performance of your voice, you know so that's the sweet spot.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you're there right now. That's good. You know kind of going into the remixes here. Uh, is this the first time you've ever done a remix, ep yeah, first time.
Speaker 2:I've always wanted to do something like this, so it's been great.
Speaker 1:That's crazy. It feels like it would be like something that you know this is. I feel like your music is kind of like just tailored to something like this. What was the you know what took, what took you so long? Why? Why was it now that you wanted to do a remix album? Because, um, you know it's. It's incredible and, honestly, if I was, uh, someone who was capable of, uh, you know, remixing your music, I would be frothing to try to get a hold of a Chelsea Wolfe track. So what was the kind of idea behind the remixes and why does it make sense for you to do it now?
Speaker 2:I think the nature of this album and all the different textures and and sounds on it, they just kind of lend themselves to that. And it was kind of just like this simultaneous thing where, like me, my record label, my management like all kind of had the same idea of like let's, let's do a remix album for this one, and it just kind of seems like it was meant to happen for this record. I don't really know why I haven't done it before. I mean, maybe it was like the people I was working with before weren't really interested in a lot of like outside connections or something, but um, but yeah, now I'm like I'm super interested in like hearing how other people translate my music and things like that. So it was a really fun project.
Speaker 1:Awesome and kind of getting into who you chose to do these remixes. I'm not going to pretend like I'm a remix expert here. Bronx has had one song remixed. We had one done by Jason Hill of Louis XIV for the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack. But you, these are sick. My favorite is the Ash Kusha Dusk remix because it's just, it's insane, like it's so good and you know what was your process going into selecting the artists who were going to remix your work and you know kind of how nerve wracking was it waiting for those files to come back and like fingers crossed that it's going to kick ass, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know I had a good feeling that I would love all of them and I totally did. Yeah, ash Kusha is a really talented artist. He reached out to me a few years ago about singing on a song of his and, and I did that and then had heard a few of his other remixes and kind of just sort of had him in mind for if I ever got to do something like this. I also really love the way he took that remix and made it a lot, made that song a lot more like dramatic and melancholy. Um, and yeah, I mean it was kind of like a group effort like I definitely had some people in mind.
Speaker 2:Like full of hell was top of my list. You know, I'm such a fan of them and thought it would just be so cool to have like a metal band remix a song, you know, um. And when I got that one back it was like I was just so excited, like I just felt like this is what a remix should be. You know what I mean? Yeah, I mean Crosses. I love their music. Obviously, I love Chino's voice, so it was such a special extra thing to have him add his vocals on there. I was really, really honored and grateful for that. That was so cool. Yeah, I mean I feel like they're all kind of obvious picks, justin.
Speaker 1:Broderick and Boy Harsher. The Boy Harsher remix is fucking great. It's really really good. I dig that one as well. I like them all. Yeah, really really cool. Incorporate, you know, any of the kind of remix, you know mojo, into some of these songs as you perform them live. Or is this just a just an EP, just just to listen to? Uh, just kind of something cool to put out.
Speaker 2:Man, I mean I wish I was that cool, but I haven't even thought about that. So I don't think that I'll be like incorporating the remix versions in a live setting, but that would be cool. I mean, maybe, mean, maybe, maybe someday you never know like if I tour with full of hell we could sort of come together and do that or something yeah, that would be sick.
Speaker 1:That would be sick. I saw your. I was just looking at, uh, some of your tour dates. I know you're going over to the uk uh soon. And then I was looking at your christmas. You're doing two nights at the church in philly. That's's going to be awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, actually just one. We're just doing two different. First, unitarian churches. One of them's in New York, which I don't think. It seems like it's not as well known. But yeah, we're doing a little December tour. It's going to be pretty stripped down and I'm excited about that one. But just announced that today.
Speaker 1:Awesome. Yeah, it's going to be sick. Everyone be sure. Go get your tickets for that, for those December shows as well as the UK shows. You know kind of diving into songwriting a little bit here. What is?
Speaker 1:I'm curious about your songwriting process, you know, because there's people who approach it like a discipline, who you know they wake up every day and they kind of clock in and they try to create something, you know, and whether it's good, whether it's bad, isn't really the point, it's just about continuing the creative process. And then there's other artists who just kind of wait for the moment, you know, wait for an idea, wait for inspiration, wait for a lyric, wait for a melody, wait for inspiration, wait for a lyric, wait for a melody. And then they kind of, you know, chip away at a song over time or maybe it comes together quickly. You know every song's different. But where do you kind of lean, you know, in the songwriting process? Like, are you more, you know, the kind of disciplined, wake up every day, think about music, or are you just kind of at this point, hey, when I get an idea, I know it's going to be cool and I'm going to chase it down the rabbit hole?
Speaker 2:I think a little bit of both. When I'm sort of in the midst of like, okay, I've got this batch of songs and I want it to become an album, I will sort of get more regimented about it. And like I kind of enjoy those periods of time where I'm, like, you know, waking up in the morning and I have like a sort of set writing schedule. I enjoy that. But then, once an album is finished, it's like there's sort of this lost period where you're just like, okay, what's next? And usually kind of dive into the rehearsal aspect. So you're not, you know, obviously not writing as much, You're just sort of like getting these songs ingrained into you.
Speaker 2:And but in between that, yeah, I mean, I think I used to be much more of like a you know waiting for like bursts of information or inspiration kind of person. Yeah, these days, like I just sort of I keep track of ideas as they come, Like I just kind of always had like a simple recording set up ready. So if I have ideas, I can just, you know, even if it's like 20 seconds long, I can just record it, and then I try to stay really organized. It's like been, one benefit of getting sober is like my ideas aren't just like total mess everywhere. Now they're just. They're like a lot more organized. So that's been helpful.
Speaker 1:They're no longer lyrics on bar napkins yeah, exactly Like 25 folders on my desktop.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's. That's been cool, but yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome what? Yeah, it's interesting too because I think you, like you're saying a a mix of both is probably the best way, because I think if you sit around waiting for inspiration quote unquote I think you waste a lot of time and sometimes if you get up and you step to the piano or you pull out your laptop and start writing, you can kind of spark your own fire. You know what I mean. So I think it's key to kind of have both aspects of that. It always kind of trips me out, though, when people are super, super regimented and it's like legit, like nine to five, you know, like it's kind of. It's just that I don't know if I could ever really be like that, but I like to have you know. I like you know it's nice to be a musician and an artist and you kind of get to live life a little bit differently. So I don't like snapping into a grid too much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, I can only snap into grids for like short periods of time and then either like I travel for a while and it gets all messed up, or I just kind of like feel like I need to bust out of that or something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, what about when? Whether you're writing a song or whether you're listening to a song, what are, like, the components that stick out, like what makes a good song to you?
Speaker 2:That's such a big question. I tend to like think in albums which I'm trying to get away from because I sort of love the feeling of like when themes start to sort of like rise up and you see them in different songs that you're writing, and then I kind of love like thinking about how they're all going to work together. But I think that maybe sometimes that can be in like the detriment to each song themselves. You know, cause I'm not looking at as closely at each song or something. But yeah, these these days I'm definitely like focusing more on one song at a time and like I want to get better as a songwriter. Like you know, I think I have like a cool body of work, but I don't think I'm, like you know, the world's best songwriter or something. So I feel like I have a lot of room to grow in that area, which is actually kind of exciting to feel like that as like a 40 year old person in this world. You know, I feel like I actually still have like a lot of room to grow and a lot of things to learn and experience as a writer and as a creator.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, these days I'm I'm just trying to expand more beyond, like, yeah, thinking of like a group of songs and just thinking of a song as its its own thing, and like how can I put as much like love and energy into that? And I don't know. Sometimes I think that taking away elements of the song can make it a lot better as well, you know. So sometimes I hear things about my past songs where I feel like I would take a lot away and sort of let the best elements of it shine. So I'm not really answering your question, but I'm just, uh, rambling about.
Speaker 1:No, you're good, You're good. Josh Homme, from Queen to the Stone Age, told me once he said hey. He said just remember that you know it doesn't matter what question they ask, it's only. What only matters is the answer you give. He's like you can give any answer you want. I love.
Speaker 2:That it's true, it's true, it is.
Speaker 1:What about when it comes to lyrics or melody? What do you think is more important?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. I mean it's interesting because some of my favorite music is in languages that I don't speak. A band I talk about all the time is Warduna, a Norwegian band, and their melodies sort of speak for themselves, even though the lyrics are amazing, because I've seen English translations of them. So I don't know, maybe it's like in that sense melody is so important because it's like it's carries, like the whole feel of you know, the energy of what, of what you are saying. But I do love lyrics and you know that's kind of like my favorite part of writing personally is is really like digging into the lyrics and, you know, really trying to say what I want to say in like an interesting way and not just like too straightforward and not too cryptic, you know lyrics are concerned, Like, are you someone who's kind of you know you have like a notebook, whether it's in your phone or, you know, your laptop or writing or whatever, that you just kind of keep ideas, you know, kind of stacked a little bit?
Speaker 1:Or is it just, you know, when it's time to write an album or you feel inspired by playing the guitar, that you sit down and you'll start to, like you know, write lyrics to a melody or something? Do you write lyrics like outside of sitting down to write music?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I keep lyrics, you know, all the time I've been always writing.
Speaker 2:The cool thing I've been finding lately is that, you know, I've been putting, like I said, more effort and energy into songwriting and I found that, like songwriting like begets more songwriting and like it's been kind of this like yeah, I mean it's obvious maybe, but it's kind of this unexpected thing where, like I've, you know, wrote this really specific song about a really specific subject that was kind of in this, like upbeat, I don't know, kind of rock vibe, and then the next day I just suddenly had this inspiration and went outside and wrote almost an entire folk song out of nowhere, like lyrics that I didn't have planned or anything like that. So I do think that just like the practice of taking action on songwriting is just yeah, like creating this sort of ripple effect of more songs coming that are just kind of like I don't know, stored somewhere within me where it's like not in one of my notebooks, are just kind of like I don't know stored somewhere within me where it's like not in one of my notebooks.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's really cool and it's like it's nice to have, you know, the idea of, like you know, you know you wrote a cool lyric here and hopefully you can put it in a song somewhere. Or when you do have music, you know, you know you've got some ideas. But you know, sometimes just going back into the, into what you've already written, it can be kind of I don't know. It can almost feel like you're trying to pull from something and it can almost fuck with your like present tense, creative energy, I feel like, and so it's cool that it's. It's always such a good feeling when you know you're this far along in your in your career and you still have songs and ideas like falling out of you. You know that's like the best feeling. It's like yes, Totally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's kind of been fun, like, I think when I was younger I wrote a lot more in that sense of like, where I would just I would read a book that I really loved and instantly write a song about it or something, and I found that what I'm kind of coming back to is like I really work well with like a writing prompt, as silly as that sounds Like. If, if I'm given a sort of like assignment or if I give myself a sort of like okay, I'm going to write about this subject, which is like, I think, something that a lot of people do. I just didn't really realize it?
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:I'm too much of a loner. I need to spend more time with, like other creative people so I can learn these things sooner. But yeah, I love. I love having like a sort of prompt to write about. It just obviously sparks a lot of creativity and it's a lot of fun to work that way yeah, it's cool and you know it's funny.
Speaker 1:you just said, like you know, about being a loner and working with other artists and stuff like that. It just kind of it sparked a thought of me because I always think how cool it is that you know, everyone's kind of creative journey is different. And for me, just for reference, in like our band, when we first started, our guitar player, joby, you know he wrote most of the songs, like as far as music you know is, he would come up with an idea and I would come up with lyrics and melody and we would basically write the song, present it to the band and we'd build it from there. And after being a band for so long, you start to see different members kind of step into their own power as far as writing songs and discovering who they are kind of, as they get more and more involved in their instrument and music. And I always just think that it's really cool, that like sure you could have, you know, grown up writing and recording with all these other people and learning all these lessons right away.
Speaker 1:But it's like your path is your path, you know, and it's like everything makes sense. It's like like now for us as a band. The fact that we have our bass player, brad, and our other guitar player, ken, stepping into their songwriting years, it makes the band's evolution just natural and it's like that's how you just evolve and change as artists and band. And so it's cool that you're on your path and it's awesome. It's like you're discovering stuff when you discover it. I think that adds to the fact of you still feeling like your best music is ahead of you, because if you blow it all out in your younger years or whatever, I think that's a mistake. It's cool to evolve as life happens as an artist and you know it's it's. It's rad that you're kind of on your own path. You know I've always appreciated that about you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's so true. Yeah, I think also like and unfortunate things. Like when I was first kind of coming up as a musician, there was a pretty different energy in the industry where, like women artists were kind of getting like pitted against each other, where, like it almost felt like you really wanted to differentiate yourself from other artists, instead of there being this sort of community where you were getting inspired by each other and sort of playing off of each other, which I think is really natural in music scenes in different eras. Yeah, no, I'm like I'm more interested in like in community and being in collaboration with other people and being inspired by other artists and it's. It's a nice feeling actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like, actually when I was on tour in Europe, I had a day off in Paris the day that Ethel Kane was playing and I went to see her play and just her, her stage presence and like her, like just the beautiful, like melodies of her songs and how it was like catchy but still kind of like strange and moody was, was really inspiring to me and like I felt like the next night when I was on stage in Paris, like I kind of was like channeling that a little bit and, you know, channeling, like her, her comfortability on stage and stuff, and I was like it's so nice to be able to feel like we can, you know, be, be inspired by each other as artists, and it's not this thing where it's like a competition anymore, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome, that's really cool. You know, kind of speaking on the collaborative tip here, you know you've always gotten a lot of love from the punk and hardcore community. You know I think that has a lot to do with your. You know you got like a raw spirit. You know you got like a raw spirit. You know you just got that vibe about you. You understand and appreciate the music as well, of course. But in 2021, you kind of cemented your place in the hearts of hardcore music lovers when you got together with Converge for Blood Moon. We got a lot of questions about this, you know. So people just kind of wanted to know how that record kind of came about, how the collaboration come about. Uh, you know, songs like lord of the liars are so sick and that record is just awesome. So, you know, kind of walk us through the process of how that all happened yeah, I mean it's like an idea.
Speaker 2:I think that started maybe in 2015. My band was rolling through Salem on like a day off before Boston and my bandmate, ben Chisholm and Kurt Blue met up and I think that's kind of like when the idea started of like taking some Converge songs and sort of bringing them to a different place and, you know, collaborating in that way, and so we did some shows eventually that were like just Converge songs, where Ben had sort of know done some different instrumentation and I was singing on some of them and then eventually decided to actually write some original songs together. And once again, it was like during the pandemic, so there was a lot of like sending stuff back and forth. I actually had us do this sort of like ritual where we like chose a time and day. I had us do this sort of like ritual where we like chose a time and day and I asked if everyone would like sit down and close their eyes and like try to imagine all of us together so that we could sort of like unify our energies. And that was really fun.
Speaker 2:This was the conversion project was like the perfect thing for me, as I was like first getting sober because I think I really needed something to like channel I don't know all this like weird newfound energy and discomfort that I was feeling into. So that was actually like a period of time where I was really more regimented and I was like getting up and just sitting down and working on these songs and once again, like once we were finally able to get together in a studio and the Crate studio in Salem it was like just I don't know so joyous and celebratory and fun just to be in the same room finally and get to sort of put the finishing touches on these songs. And yeah, it was just such a fun project. I feel like it stretched me vocally in different ways and really great, awesome.
Speaker 1:Let's hit some questions from the internet here. Okay, I don't want to take up too much more of your time. You know, chelsea, this has been awesome and I'm going to go ahead and apologize in advance for some of these. Okay, because it's the Internet. The Internet is the Internet.
Speaker 2:I love that thing.
Speaker 1:The first one here is Chelsea. You are playing my Hometown on Halloween.
Speaker 2:Do you celebrate Halloween and, if so, what has been your greatest costume? Costumes where it was like half cheerleader, half dead cheerleader, like anything that I would dress up as half of me was dead. So it's kind of strange, but I feel like it's kind of like my personality in a nutshell I like that.
Speaker 1:That's, uh, that's, that's pretty cool. Uh, let's see chelsea. Recently, hollywood remixed one of my favorite movies, the crow, and they butchered it. Are you a fan of film and is Hollywood running out of ideas?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love films, love movies. I don't know, I mean I think remakes can be fun. I know people love to hate if they're like a really big fan of the original, but like I find I can enjoy them in like the context of being something different. I haven't seen the Crow yet, but I mean the cast is amazing, so I'm sure it'll be at least cool in that sense. But I don't know, like when they redid um, I like did like a sequel to the craft. I thought that was still enjoyable to watch, even though it was like such a different thing, and obviously I love the original. But I don't know. I think that there's probably a lot of great ideas floating around in hollywood that just aren't getting made because there's probably not a lot of money from the people on top that are investing in like original ideas and they just want what sells.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a good point. I think that's it too. Let's see here. Chelsea, what advice would you have for the next generation of artists?
Speaker 2:I would say try to figure out what it is that makes you weird or different and, instead of fighting against that, try to embrace it. I definitely spent a lot of years like maybe fighting against like my natural way of wanting to present myself, because there was like other voices in my head telling me that I, like needed to present, you know, in a nicer way or prettier way or something like that. So just just go with like what you truly want to do, Like even if it seems weird or ugly or not like palatable to society as a whole, like I think that's usually your, your strength and not your weakness.
Speaker 1:Awesome, that's really cool. Um, okay, we got, uh, a little love hate here.
Speaker 2:Um a little love hate here. Um, what do you love about being a musician? I love singing. I love the feeling of when you've written a song that you feel really good about. I love that it's constantly about like overcoming challenges and personal limitations and self-doubt, because I'm not the type of performer personally that is like wants to just jump up in front of anyone or like be on camera or be on stage, so like having having to overcome that feeling is like it does feel good afterwards when I'm like okay, I like I did that, even though it was really hard for me, you know.
Speaker 1:Hell yeah, that's awesome. Uh, what about? What do you hate about being a musician?
Speaker 2:It's a little tough right now because everything you know like there's obviously like inflation for everyone and that includes the music industry and like touring right now is really expensive and it's hard to like actually make money from doing nearly anything. So it's like that's not that. That's like why I do it. It is my job and I do need to like make a living to keep doing what I'm doing. So it's just a little bit more challenging now, I don't know, but other than that, it's like why I do it. It is my job and I do need to like make a living to keep doing what I'm doing. So it's just a little bit more challenging now, I don't know, but other than that, it's like obviously this is what I meant to do and like what I love to do, so I feel super grateful to get to do it at all.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That's awesome. A couple pickums here. We're just going to name a couple artists. Tell me which one you like better. Let's start with uh, nick cave or trent resner I mean, they're both incredible.
Speaker 2:I think I would say for me personally uh, nick cave nice.
Speaker 1:What about uh salvador dolly or pablo picasso?
Speaker 2:dolly oh nice, uh, patty smith or stevie nicks I just realized I have like a pablo picasso tattoo, so maybe I changed. Did you just say Patti Smith or Stevie Nicks?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You just said oh my God, you're killing me. Equal. I can't pick. They're two of my favorite artists.
Speaker 1:What about Danzig? Or the Misfits?
Speaker 2:Misfits.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think so. I think so. Johnny Cash or Townes, van Zandt Townes. Okay, cool, only got a couple more questions here. You're crushing it. Appreciate your time, chelsea. A hypothetical here Time machine. Okay, I'm sorry to do this to you, but I'm bringing the time machine out Anywhere in history, any time in history history. Where are you going to go first and why?
Speaker 2:does that include the future? I don't know. I guess history is not the future. Um yeah anywhere, anytime, you can go to the future I mean, does it have to be music related or just general?
Speaker 1:no, there's no rules to this question. No rules.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm a total sucker for, like period piece films, like I'm such a Pride and Prejudice girly. So you know, I would love to go back to like an era where you could go buy a dress that is, like you know, so well made and fits you perfectly and go. You know, they tailor it to you and it just has these big puffy sleeves and everything. I don't know. That could be fun to go back to like, I don't know, the Victorian era or something like that, and just go shopping for a day?
Speaker 1:Hell yeah, all right. Last question here it's a little bit of a doozy, but I'm going to ask it anyway. So what to you, chelsea Wolf, is the meaning of life?
Speaker 2:I mean, I think it's a lot more simple than we make it. You know, obviously capitalism has like ruined the meaning of life because we're all just like grinding ourselves to the bone instead of just living, just living simply and living slowly and, you know, loving each other and spending time together and working together to create community, instead of, like I don't know again, like kind of being pitted against each other to try to like rise to the top of some mythical bullshit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's what I'm talking about, Chelsea Awesome, you know. Thank you so much for your time here on the Sailor Jerry podcast. It's been really, really cool talking to you. The Undone EP is out now. Everyone go check that shit out, make sure, and go see Chelsea on the road. You know, thank you so much for taking the time today and, you know, hopefully our paths will cross in real life here shortly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, totally. Thank you so much for having me. This was fun. I appreciate it.