Led by Jayson Angove on vocals & guitar, with Chris Winger on guitar, David Albertson on bass, and Jesse Sherwood on drums, Humble Wolf has carved out its place in Sacramento music through the solid one-two punch of solid live performances and professional quality recordings and videos. Sean has been behind an overwhelming majority of their recordings, even helping Jayson fine-tune his recording capabilities over time.
I wrench open the door to the darkened front room, which leads back past the AC-chilled live room, where the clanks and clunks of Jesse and David setting up fill the wood-floored, gear-filled space. Jesse's drum kit is surrounded by an array of painstakingly placed microphones, and flanked by a Fender Twin Reverb, resting on top of a 4x10 cabinet.
With handshakes all around, Jesse and David lead me into the control room where Jayson, Chris, and Sean are sitting at the main desk, faces illuminated by their multiple screens, glowing recording interfaces, and other pieces of equipment I can only guess as to what they do. I receive of of Jayson's trademark rib-altering hugs and say hello to everyone else.
Behind the main desk, sits a long table, covered in coffee cups, a bag of jelly beans and other personal effect. This separates a row of 4 Lazy-Boy recliners along the back wall. Look a little further to the right, and there is a tiny table dwarfed by the dozen of guitar and guitar-shaped bags, along with a huge stack of amp heads closer to the main desk.
I look at this stack, and the inner gear nerd in me goes a little haywire. You have an Ampeg SVT head, on the ground, along with an Egnater head, on top of an Orange Rockerverb 50, on top of a Mesa Rectifier. All painstakingly arranged into a pile of sonic clarity. Jayson explains, when I ask about the pile,
"Most of my tone comes from the Egnater, because I like the tone. Chris is gonna play his Blackstar most of the time on this album..."
Soon enough, Jayson heads back to the computer to go over more aspects of the recording, when I notice a particularly out of place object among the pile of instruments in the corner.
It's a freshly tapped keg. Sitting in a red wagon. Surrounded by ice. David explains,
"I won this guy here in a raffle. Cost me $4 after taxes."
After I pour myself an ice-cold IPA, I turn to see Sean playing scratch tracks, as Jesse gives them a brief listen. These are the scratch tracks for one of their new songs "No Way Out", which Jesse is miming the movements to himself already. With a tap of the space bar, Sean turns to Jesse,
"You ready?"
"Hell yeah, bro!"
Jesse walks on into the live room and takes his seat behind the kit, where he will actually be behind for a good chunk of the day, so they can get the drum tacks laid down all at once. Headphones on and the tracks queued up, they start recording. The tracks, coupled with Jesse's hard, fast, and flailing drum style helps drive a sound into your head that is reminiscent of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, and The Black Keys all rolled into one.
You can't help but smile watching Jesse lay these down, with Jayson's guitar echoing in the background. Jayson and Sean are staring out into the live room, similar smirk on their faces. Jayson says with a smile,
"Man, he's beating the crap of those drums!"
With a final pop of the snare, Jesse's take is done. He gets up and comes into the control room, fanning himself.
"Well, that deserves a beer," he muse to himself. David and I agree, and all three of us clink our plastic cups together.
Jayson and Sean que up "Fiction for Liars", another new track, and Jesse settles back into his throne and, yet again, as the backing track plays, more of the same enthusiastic head bobbing happens from everyone listening in.
"Look at him go! He's an animal!" Jayson says enthusiastically.
After a couple takes on this track, Jayson, Jesse, and Sean crowd around the monitors and fine tune the track even more.
Deciding to take a break, I joined David and Chris in the left corner of the control room and played a few games of GoldenEye on the studio's resident N64. Soon enough, after David makes us look like suckers, Jesse is getting ready to record another track. This one, titled "10-4" has a strange syncopation to it's tracks I can't really put my finger on. Come to find out, according to Jayson, the song is in 10/4 time, lending itself to a strange heavy handedness I haven't heard in a while.
Once again, Jesse hops behind his kit and starts recording. The first thing I think of when hearing his drumming is how John Bonham-esque his fills have become in this song, and how they roil through the song's low end with the guitar tone. It reminds me of some of the newer, heavier tracks Rush has made in their recent years, along with a generous helping of Queens of the Stone Age. There are a few stops and restarts though, as Jayson and Sean work with Jesse to get the best possible drum track down.
Once they do, everybody tops off their beer cups, and kicks back as Sean sets to fine-tuning the track before him and Jayson begins to prep for recording the new and improved guitar parts.
All in a days work for one of the harder working bands in the local area.
As cups begin to get emptier, the conversation grows more lighthearted, and you begin to realize what helps this band take shape and hold itself together.
Friendship. And determination.
These virtues, coupled with the diverse personalities of this band, make it very obvious where their success comes from.
I make my way down the hall again as laughter and chatter emanate out from behind me, and follow me out into the blinding afternoon sun. The music of the day still ringing through my head.
Be sure to give Humble Wolf a like on Facebook and a listen on Soundcloud, and stay tuned for their upcoming list of shows and releases.
Be ready. I know I am.
You can't help but smile watching Jesse lay these down, with Jayson's guitar echoing in the background. Jayson and Sean are staring out into the live room, similar smirk on their faces. Jayson says with a smile,
"Man, he's beating the crap of those drums!"
With a final pop of the snare, Jesse's take is done. He gets up and comes into the control room, fanning himself.
"Well, that deserves a beer," he muse to himself. David and I agree, and all three of us clink our plastic cups together.
Jayson and Sean que up "Fiction for Liars", another new track, and Jesse settles back into his throne and, yet again, as the backing track plays, more of the same enthusiastic head bobbing happens from everyone listening in.
"Look at him go! He's an animal!" Jayson says enthusiastically.
After a couple takes on this track, Jayson, Jesse, and Sean crowd around the monitors and fine tune the track even more.
Deciding to take a break, I joined David and Chris in the left corner of the control room and played a few games of GoldenEye on the studio's resident N64. Soon enough, after David makes us look like suckers, Jesse is getting ready to record another track. This one, titled "10-4" has a strange syncopation to it's tracks I can't really put my finger on. Come to find out, according to Jayson, the song is in 10/4 time, lending itself to a strange heavy handedness I haven't heard in a while.
Once again, Jesse hops behind his kit and starts recording. The first thing I think of when hearing his drumming is how John Bonham-esque his fills have become in this song, and how they roil through the song's low end with the guitar tone. It reminds me of some of the newer, heavier tracks Rush has made in their recent years, along with a generous helping of Queens of the Stone Age. There are a few stops and restarts though, as Jayson and Sean work with Jesse to get the best possible drum track down.
Once they do, everybody tops off their beer cups, and kicks back as Sean sets to fine-tuning the track before him and Jayson begins to prep for recording the new and improved guitar parts.
All in a days work for one of the harder working bands in the local area.
As cups begin to get emptier, the conversation grows more lighthearted, and you begin to realize what helps this band take shape and hold itself together.
Friendship. And determination.
These virtues, coupled with the diverse personalities of this band, make it very obvious where their success comes from.
I make my way down the hall again as laughter and chatter emanate out from behind me, and follow me out into the blinding afternoon sun. The music of the day still ringing through my head.
Be sure to give Humble Wolf a like on Facebook and a listen on Soundcloud, and stay tuned for their upcoming list of shows and releases.
Be ready. I know I am.
