New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Stevie B Wolf is a rocker with the soul of a poet. His music is upbeat and vibrant, with bright, inviting guitar textures supported by soulful keyboards and a powerful rhythm section, but there are shadows lurking in the background. "When I was a kid, I was diagnosed with depression, ADD, and Tourette's Syndrome," Wolf says. "These days, I've got a pretty good handle on them, but growing up, it was really tough dealing with my own mental health. I write a lot of love songs, but I think my perspective is informed by these disorders that I have struggled and will always struggle with. I think a lot of people live their lives feeling like an outcast, like they don't deserve love or respect because something is 'wrong' with them. I think it's important to embrace it instead, to let myself roar, cry, whisper, scream, laugh, rage, sigh and be as crazy or reserved as I want. Embracing my mental illness has pushed me to be the most human person you'll ever see on a stage."
Growing up with mental health issues was extremely difficult, and music gave him an outlet for his pain and isolation. He worked to put as much of himself as possible into his songs, ignoring the advice of people telling him to find someone with a "pretty voice" to sing his songs instead and avoid talking about Tourettes and depression. Doing comes with a lot of pain, but you have to keep going and never take the easy way out. I want to be known for letting myself be broken and ugly and then making that beautiful."
The songs on Alone + Alive were written at the end of an intense relationship and strong emotions inform Wolf'smusic. "I was going through a whirlwind of feelings - neediness, self-doubt, wanting to lash out, missing her, wishing I could've handled things differently, trying to forgive. Those emotions informed the music, described my feelings of being lost, hurting, broken, but also hungry and powerful. Songs can be healing and touch other people, so I made them as real and unguarded as possible."
Alone + Alive EP was recorded with producer Doug Schadtat Mission Sound in Brooklyn and captures performances that are crackling with energy. "Nothing But a Name" opens the EP, with Wolf delivering a vocal that expresses the pain of lost love, as well as the regret and shame of how he acted in response to heartbreak. The quiet verse builds to a chorus full of power chords, cymbal splashes and Wolf's wordless cries of anguish. "Tourette's can manifest in many ways, like physical twitching or saying the same word over and over. A lot of my tics were tunes or phrases that popped into my head that I repeated compulsively. Maybe that has helped me develop a unique vocal and lyrical style."
The title track "Alone + Alive" has a funky and danceable beat to mitigate the song's simmering anger and hurt. Wolfexpresses conflicting feelings of rage and desire with his syncopated guitar work and fiery vocals. "Getting Through" has the feel of a classic R&B ballad. Bleak images are offset by a verdant melody and Wolf's delicate vocal. Descending piano figures wrap the arrangement in a blanket of comforting melancholy. "Bold" completes the healing process, with Wolf's stirring vocal and howling guitar solos, supported by Schadt's hard rock arrangement and the rousing one two punch of Jess Bielenberg's thumping bass. "I know writing about heartbreak is far from unique, but love is the most human experience. Getting hurt is such a big part of finding yourself - or in my case, realizing that it's okay to be lost - so I closed the EP with 'Bold,' which kind of sums everything up and lets me rock out." Wolf is planning to give the album away on Bandcamp, with a limited number of CDs and LPs available for purchase. It will be distributed on Spotify and iTunes as well.
After playing in rock bands throughout most of high school,Wolf started recording his own songs when he was 17. He studied jazz, music theory and economics at Tufts University. After graduation, he moved to Los Angeles, where he performed solo at coffee houses and open mics while also writing for other artists. "After the breakup, I couldn't stand LA - everything reminded me of her, and the city seemed incapable of letting me heal. I had recorded my first EP in Brooklyn, so I decided to move there, get a band and work on Alone + Alive. Just before leaving, I made a sad, slow cover of Blink-182's "Dammit" in my crumbling East LA apartment. I wasn't going to release it, but my friend Jean-Claude Billmaier loved my version and wanted to make it into a music video." Wolf put "Dammit" on YouTube at the end of May, and it was reposted on Blink-182's official Facebook page. It has since received more than 12,000 views with no advertising or press.
"The presence of mental illness has always been a huge drive behind my music," he concludes. "I always felt like an outcast - like there was a barrier between other people and me.
Music was the way I could reach across that barrier and reach people in a 100% real way. When I'm singing, I don't feel alone in a crowded room. I never feel as connected to others as I do when I'm on stage sharing myself; all the walls crumble down."
