Sleeping Wolf
When Jake Newton and Steven Solomon met during a blind writing session in 2014, the duo effortlessly crafted “The Wreck of our Heart”. Ever since, Sleeping Wolf has simply made their mark on the indie circuit. Based in Los Angeles, the alternative rock band writes music that “have their own identity,” which serves as a basis in their songwriting efforts. Their most recent song, “Wasted”, is yet another example of their artisanal approach to music: well-crafted and distinct in sound. With tens of millions of streams and spots on Spotify-curated playlists like New Noise and Totally Alt, it’s safe to say that Sleeping Wolf has only begun the start of a successful journey. We recently spoke with the up and coming band about the inspiration behind their music, the perks of a partnership, and more!
How did you start making music?
We both started making music pretty young. Coincidentally, both of our dads were professional musicians themselves, and we each gravitated toward making music as kids. Steve started playing guitar at 13, he studied music in college and in his early twenties was already touring with several well known pop artists as a hired guitarist. He was never fully satisfied playing other peoples music and that drive to find his own voice pushed him towards writing his own music. Jake started playing as an early teen as well, and toured for years as a solo artist before forming Sleeping Wolf with Steve.
What was the last song you both listened to?
Jake: “Backbeat” by Dagny
Steve: “Independent Thief” by Kathleen Edwards
What do you guys like to do when you’re not in the studio?
Jake likes to watch stand up comedy, explore Psychonautics, and work on breaking his ties to the known universe. Steve is an avid guitar collector / gear geek and spends a lot of time wiring and producing music for other artists. We both like watching cartoons to go to sleep.
“New Kings” was released in 2017 and was a hit. What was the inspiration behind the song?
“New Kings” was inspired by a feeling that we’d both been feeling, when you feel underestimated by people and you know that you have something special inside of you just waiting to break out. We wanted to have our own stomping clapping war cry of a song and that’s what came out that day.
What is the best part about working in a duo?
The best part about working as a duo is having someone else to bounce ideas off of creatively. It’s also so great to have another person who you know, trust and respect and can feed off of their creative energy. When one of us is feeling uninspired, it’s a good chance that the other person is. so we’re constantly pushing and moving forward. Also when one of us gets stuck on an idea the other can usually help think of a way out.
Who are you working with in the collab of your dreams?
In the collab of our dreams? Max Martin would be huge; the King of pop music. Also would love to work with Dave Grohl, Childish Gambino, and Phoebe Bridgers.
Any future projects for fans to get excited about?
Our newest single came out on August 7th on AntiFragile Records! We’ll be releasing a full album later in the year.
