Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucas Holter.
Lucas, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I was raised in small, rural town in northwest Minnesota. Population of roughly 300 people. I had zero visions of becoming a singer. I grew up assuming I was going to be a welder or work on a farm. Stoicism keeps us grounded up there, but it also has a tendency to squash outside aspirations, or worse yet, prevent you from thinking you can have them. I tried college as an escape. Alas, I am one of the many on that front. Overloaded in student loan debt for literally nothing. The silver lining was I started a band during that time. And for whatever reason, we were good. We recorded a record in Canada. Tried to tour. It wasn’t until I was still floundering in my third year of college that I got the offer from a management company to move out west and pursue music “for realz”. So I did. Never looked back. Ruined a lot of lives in the process of figuring myself out. That band fell apart after hitting a glass ceiling. Everyone went back to Minnesota, except for me. I quit music for two years, got really depressed, etc. Then, my good friend moved to California on a whim, and we started messing around with some songs. It became a band purely by accident. It was not intended or forced. That is why it is so magical. Yes. Fucking magical. I love it.
My current record is an exorcism of who I was previously and a celebration of the said magic. Written by us, for us. The industry chewed me up and spit me out. I was naive. So, I wrote a record I could be proud of that was self-produced and had no outside influence.
Now, for the first time, I feel I have a charge or duty. I feel driven to work harder than I ever have. It finally clicked.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I grew up poor. I’ve thus far gone through my life poor. I’m still poor. Nothing has been smooth at all. And I didn’t do myself any favors. As I said, I hurt a lot of people on my journey. Mostly due to my naivety of the world, painkillers and depression/loneliness. You lose your support network when you move 2000 miles away. And when you are from a small town in the midwest, most people write you off as soon as you move to California. It’s eye-opening to move out here and stay, so to say it causes rifts in relationships isn’t a stretch.
Please tell us about Whiskey & the Wolves.
I am a vocalist, lyricist, producer, Julius Caesar-esque band CEO, of Whiskey & the Wolves. It is a rock band, formed by accident, due to a couple of dudes drinking a bottle of Bulleit bourbon over the course of a couple of hours. We believe in being great live, and not just recording a great sounding record and then being a sack of garbage when on stage. I guess I specialize in passion. I like to leave it all up there. Mostly because I finally figured out how to do it and it feels so fucking good. I am known for high notes and drinking too much whiskey on stage. This project makes me proud because it is 100% honest. I don’t think anything really sets me apart from others, other than my propensity to make people feel something. But that’s any artist I would assume.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite memory is driving home from job in a welding shop at 16, in the early evening in northwest Minnesota during July and smelling the fresh cut ditch grass aroma coming through the air vent of my 1990 Cutlass Supreme.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.whiskeyandthewolves.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @whiskeyandthewolves
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/whiskeyandthewolves
- Other: @lucas_holter
Image Credit:
Sean Michael Photos
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