Being a band for a mere 6 years and counting is quite good for up and comer's WE'RE WOLVES. Whose time together has had them release an album, perhaps some all new music, with the exception of a cover track of Linkin Park's "One Step Closer". The band's vocalist AJ Diaferio plays 13 questions with us!
1. Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
We originally formed in 2016 in a guest room at my old townhouse. I was renting a room at the time from a friend, and my roommate was starting a project with (our guitarist) Jeremy. At the time they didn’t want me in the project, but I weaseled my way in. Over the years we have had a few lineup changes, but sometimes it takes time to find the right crew.
This lineup is our favorite to date. We’re more than just a bunch of dudes playing metal, we’re a family of misfits. We’ve got Andrew Salazar on bass, Jeremy Matthew on rhythm guitar, Tony Cardillo on lead guitar, Jesse Secatello on drums, and myself AJ Diaferio on lead vocals.
We’ve all played in various other bands and played shows together. Everyone just kinda found their way into this project at the right times.
2. Where did the band come to get the name We’re Wolves?
The name was inspired by an Every Time I Die song and my love of the film An American Werewolf in London. I wanted something that was kind of a play on words and didn’t take itself soo seriously. I also wanted a name that had almost a comic book feel to it as well, like we were the X-men or Avengers. You don’t see a lot of bands with “We’re” in it haha.
3. How would you describe your style?
I’m sure most bands have a hard time with this question. I like to think of us as a fine line between early 2000s post-hardcore, modern metal, hard rock, and a dash of Nu-metal. The music we create is the music we love, we always try and blend our individual influences to create something uniquely ours.
4. Which bands have influenced your music?
I’d say papa roach, slipknot, Falling in Reverse, Metallica, Rob Zombie, Linkin Park, bullet for my valentine, avenged sevenfold, (old) Atreyu, every time I die, Ice Nine Kills, motionless in white, the Used, My Chemical Romance, Story of the year, Beartooth, Motley Crue, Skid Row, DED, Alkaline Trio, Finch, Asking Alexandria, and A Day To Remember.
5. You released a music video for the track titled "Life of a Parasite", discuss the song and the music video itself for us.
The song itself is about keeping a watchful eye on the company you surround yourself with. Your closest friends can have hidden agendas or sneaky selfish intentions. The video was our way of thanking our amazing fanbase for supporting us. We were blessed to get the opportunity to open for two of our biggest inspirations (the used and story of the year) at an amphitheater during Kraken Music Fest. We saw this as a chance to take our most popular song off the album and say thank you to those who helped it grow to such heights.
6. This track comes off your concept album "Evil Things", what is the concept behind this album and how did the idea come about?
The album is based on Donte’s inferno, it’s a journey through Hell both sonically and lyrically. Each song is based around a different layer of Hell. We wanted to take the listener on a journey while challenging ourselves as writers. We saw the Divine comedy as an opportunity to tell a bigger story. We found a way to compare the journey through the book to life growing up in our local music scene. Florida is a lot like Hell tho it comes off like paradise, except you cannot see the monsters until it’s too late.
7. What is your favorite track on the album and why?
I’d say in all honesty, Life Of A Parasite. It was a last-minute addition to the album, we finished it a month before the album had to be submitted to our distribution company. It had to replace a song that was taken back (legally) by an ex-member of the project, who quit during the recording process. It was the first full song written with our current lineup, and it’s our highest-streamed song on the album. That song to me personally showed that I found the right group of people to grow with musically. Not to mention the song just simply kicks ass haha.
8. What can the listener's expect from this album?
To have a good time, it’s just a fun and very diverse record. I’m sure you’ll find a song or songs that connect with you. You can simply sit with it and enjoy it, or dive deeper into it to unveil the story. It’s truly an album about hell, created during a very dark time full of positive hopeful energy.
9. Can you disclose the writing and recording process for this album?
It was a painstaking process over the course of 3 years. We had several setbacks, lineup changes, and complications. We began work on the album in March of 2019, with Bryan Kuznitz as our producer. We have worked with Bryan on all of our music up to this point, so it was an obvious choice for the album. Bryan’s like family to us and has helped us stay focused on our sound. I can’t really get into too much detail, all I can really say is that there was a lot of ups and downs, but I wouldn’t change a thing.
10. Does the band have any newer music in the works, in term's of a follow-up release?
I can’t really get into the specifics of it yet cause we’re still in development, but we were almost completed with a new record worth of material. We’re also working on some (non album) singles to come out in between these two albums. So there’s a lot of new stuff in the works including new covers, some you’ll see coming and some you’ll never see coming. That’s all we can really say at this present moment in time.
11. How would you say you differ from other bands and artists on the scene?
We don’t take ourselves too seriously, we really enjoy making music we’re fans of. We always try to find balance in everything we’re doing. For example we’re a band with a horror vibe, but we’re not “Spirit Halloween horror” like some bands, we just appreciate dark shit and try to work it in when it calls for it. We’re a “heavy band” but we don’t try to be the heaviest, there are better bands for that. We’re just fans of rock and metal, we’re making music that we love, and we hope you’ll love too. I just see us as this in-between band, that’s well versed, and wants to show that off. We’re not afraid to take risks but know when something is out of our realm of possibilities. I’d like to think that comes across in the music we put out. It’s got a lot of character and personality, which is what I believe makes us different and unique.
12. What do you want to achieve as band?
Aside from total world domination, we would just love to turn this into a full-time career and be able to support our families. Touring with bands like Metallica, slipknot, and all our larger-than-life heroes would be cool too.
13. What does the next year have in-store for We're Wolves?
Lots and lots of recording. Our last album took over 3 years with no releases, aside from covers. We don’t want to make that mistake again. So we’ll be recording a lot of new music this year, some for a full album, and some as solo singles. I’m sure we’ll play a lot of shows as well.
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