Conversations with Nick Wolf

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nick Wolf.

Hi Nick, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
First… this article should be about the band, Oceans on Other Planets. Nick Wolf (me) is the lead singer. So please frame it accordingly.

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Where do I begin…

I started playing guitar at the ripe old age of 12. It was my first true love. It changed my life in profound and immeasurable ways. This form of expression is so raw, visceral, and connected to the cosmos. I played my first rock show when I was 14 in Cleveland, Ohio at a Battle of the Bands…. we won 2nd place. I still think we should’ve won 1st (duh). I played in various rock and alternative bands in the Cleveland area. Then I formed Icarus Landing. We did alright. We released a few EPs and played the biggest stages in town. We had a manager, a producer, all that stuff. The manager turned out to be a charlatan. More on that later. After we hit the ceiling in Ohio, we packed up the van and the trailer and moved West. Made the classic (cliche) journey to drive 45 hours across the country to LA. Ballsy. Good for us. Our first show in town was at the House of Blues on Sunset, which was a fantastic venue. We thought we’d made it. Lol. I’ll fast forward a bit… we continued to play the notable LA venues and build our following out here. We finished a full length album call “All These Years”. We signed to a UK label and went on tour in Europe. Amazing time. Time of our lives. We played 27 shows in 30 days, traveled to 10 countries, and covered probably 10,000 miles. Did that a few more times over the years. But bands are hard. Super fuckin’ hard. Keeping everyone together and rowing in the direction feels like a full-time job sometimes.

As a result of that madness, I went solo for a bit. Released a few tracks. It was good. Kept honing my craft as a songwriter, singer, etc. Created some of my best work yet. But then I had to figure out what to do with it… was this a solo project? Was this Icarus Landing? Was this a new band?

After lots of soul searching and consultations with my closest allies, I determined it was time to form a new band. Out of that process came Oceans on Other Planets. The name was chosen at the tail end of 2023. The first single was release in April 2024 along with the first music video. And we’ve been on a pretty good run ever since.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No. Why would it be? How could it be?

Life happens. I remember being drunk in the streests of Spain, almost getting in a fist fight with the former guitar player of Icarus Landing. He was jealous. It happens. Hirings, firings, rebuilding. Hell, even getting to LA from Cleveland wasn’t easy. It took a lot of commitment. Had to take the plunge. I remember trying to leave Cleveland on a cold, snowy morning in February many years ago. We couldn’t get out of the driveway. There was too much snow and ice. Had to call the local towtruck guy to push/pull us out so we could get on the way. On the drive, the tires on the trailer blew out, I think it was around Kansas. Just one of many silly little hurdles.

Then there’s the financial side of the music business. It’s pretty terrible until it’s not. There were some bloody injuries over the years (figuratively and literally). Don’t forget the orgies. And losing our favorite drummer to the hardest and darkest of drugs. There was that time when he moved into our rehearsal facility and didn’t tell anyone. The guy who was always late to practice started being on time… why? Because he was already sleeping in there when we showed up. Tried to deal with it kindly and amicably. Didn’t work. Had to handle it the hard way. That sucked. I still love that guy. I wonder where he is. He was living on the street last I knew. Then we just stopped seeing him. But I knew he was still alive for some years following. Losing anyone to drugs is terrible, but he was like a brother to me.

There’s a lot more. It’s hard to talk about, especially in this format. Let’s do a video interview sometime. 😉

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Writing good, catchy, memorable, powerful songs. Not all of our songs are great… but the great ones are really great. I’m most proud of completing those bangers and setting them free into the wild.

And guitars. And amps. Big, loud, heavy guitars. Tasteful guitars. Layers and walls of guitars. I’m also an audiophile and have built a pretty great little studio where I produce other independent artists.

The thing is… the best is yet to come.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I went through phases. I had some introvert phases, for sure, where writing music was the main (or maybe only) means of expressing the complex feelings and experiences I was going through. I also had some extroverted phases. I was always super creative. A good student… all A’s. Honors classes. Exceeding expectations. Blah, blah, blah. A bit entrepreneurial. I also became quite good at computers and technology over the years, in parallel to growing my skills as a guitarist and songwriter. I was building websites for small businesses in my little town. I had a punk rock streak. I had periods of nihilism. Good times. It’s interesting trying to be a punk in a tiny rural town with no sidewalks and nothing going on. But all of this was fuel. Fuel to get me out of that little shithole and onto a path, onto the journey. And the journey never ends. Like I said, we’re in the early part of a new phase in which the biggest things are on the horizon.

Pricing:

• You can buy our singles on Apple Music
• You can buy our merch on our merch site. A t-shirt is $30.
• We are playing Nashville, TN on 4/24.
• We are playing Houston, TX, on 4/26. H-Town Metal Festival

Contact Info:

• Website: https://oceansonotherplanets.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceansonotherplanets
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceansonotherplanets
• Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/nick_wolf_music/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OceansonOtherPlanets

Image Credits
Photos by Eric Quiros.