“Dance. My dazzling friends and the minds they inhabit. The particularities of the Irish language. Flann O’Brien. Clarice Lispector. October and its hauntedness. Noise. Electricity Boxes. Murmurations. Herons. The coast. Banshees. Circus. The sky.”
— Aoife Wolf on inspirations.
What’s the last song you listened to?
Cut by Princess Diana of Wales
What album or artist has been on repeat?
Anna Mieke, Hatis Noit, Elaine Howley, GOAT, Ashanti, Bongwater and Emma Ruth Rundle
What is inspiring your music right now?
So many things! Going to wonderfully curated festivals like Feile na Greine in Limerick, Haunted Dancehall at the National Concert Hall and Spilt Milk in Sligo has left me positively overflowing with inspiration. Dance. My dazzling friends and the minds they inhabit. The particularities of the Irish language. Flann O’Brien. Clarice Lispector. October and its hauntedness. Noise. Electricity Boxes. Murmurations. Herons. The coast. Banshees. Circus. The sky.
Tell us about your new single ‘The Wetlands’. How was it written and recorded?
The Wetlands was written when I was living in Dublin and trying to reconcile between the allure of the city, the claustrophobia and speed of it all. And also being pulled towards my rural upbringing. It’s complicated because other than my family there’s not really much for me in Offaly but it’s where I’m from and I still feel an affinity with those rural open spaces. You can really hear your thoughts out there, for better or for worse. It can be uncomfortable, confrontational but maybe that’s no bad thing. Maybe that’s necessary, in the business of making things out of nothing. So that’s what the song is about this eternal conflict between noise and silence. And about the pull towards the place you call home but not really being able to find what you’re looking for there.
I really wanted to film the music video in the bog. Because I grew up surrounded by bogland and it’s just so dark and secluded. The fantastic performance artist Emma Brennan agreed to don a flimsy white dress and come to the bog and get covered in muck and bog cotton. We did a lot of rolling around and clawing at the soil. It was the height of drama and so much fun. It was also really cold and wet. Emma, Shaun and Niamh (the camera crew) worked a lot harder than me! Like myself, Emma also has a penchant for peat-bogs and gleans inspiration from the land so it was great to get to work together on this. I love her work.
The song was written in my early twenties and recorded in 2019. All my music has been recorded to tape by Julie McLarnon in Analogue Catalogue in Co. Down.
What does the future hold in terms of gigs and new releases?
I’m releasing this EP in November so the awe-inspiring Clara Tracey and I will be doing a joint launch for her album Black Forest and my EP The Wetlands on the 24th November in the American Bar in Belfast.
The Wetlands by Aoife Wolf is out now.