Interview with wolfer
I first came across Wolfer, the Bern-based trio composed of sisters Miriam and Julia Wolf along with Miles Zuberbühler, towards the beginning of Reverb Dream through their split EP, Splitter, with the post-rock band Umoora from Basel. The four sombre and brooding songs showed glimpses of what was to come.
Soon after, the band would go onto release their first full-length album, Hey Lester! in September. The album is an impressive one - the band are really on the same wavelength, they effortlessly switch between calmer passages to hard-hitting moments (for example The Critic, Morning Blur). I am also a big fan of the interplay between the instruments, the ambiences created and the bass guitar also occasionally used as a lead instrument - for example in Carol, which was featured on the Winter 2024 Playlist.
Their session with Freunde and Résilience (link) and their performance at the Humus Fest at the Usine à gaz in Nyon cemented my status as a big fan of wolfer.
I would like to thank the trio for taking the time to reply to my questions!
Who are you? Who is in the band? On which instruments?
Julia: We are Wolfer, a band based in Bern and Winterthur. Miles Zuberbühler plays drums and contributes vocals. Miriam Wolf plays bass and is the lead vocalist on most of our tracks. Julia Wolf plays guitar and also sings on some of the songs.
Tell us about the history of wolfer
Julia: My sister and I started writing songs together again in 2019, a few years after our first band had split up. One day, Miriam reached out with the idea of starting a new band — and it just made sense. It would’ve been a shame not to do something together again, and I’m really grateful she took that step. I had kind of lost the motivation to play in other bands with different people, so playing with my sister again felt right.
We wrote five songs before Miles came into the picture. His joining the band felt completely natural and easy — we connected quickly, both musically and personally. He pretty much became like family.
Did you grow up in a family with a musical background?
Julia: Our parents don’t come from a musical background, but they’ve always supported us — including our brother Vinzenz — in learning instruments. All three of us started playing piano at a young age. I lost interest in it pretty quickly, though, and picked up the electric guitar when I was twelve.
(Photo copyright: Patrick Principe)
How did it happen that you picked up a guitar and a bass?
Julia: As mentioned earlier, I started playing guitar when I was 12. At the time, I was really into punk and punk rock — the sound of loud drums and distorted guitars totally hooked me. I was desperate to start playing electric guitar, and luckily our parents agreed to pay for lessons, even if they weren’t exactly thrilled about the idea. ;)
Miri started playing bass in Wolfer, but it came pretty naturally to her. She had already played guitar in our previous band, and from the start, she contributed great ideas and riffs.
Were you in other bands together? Made music often together?
Julia: As mentioned, me and Miri played in MyWolf together. We did not know Miles before we started wolfer.
Did it take long to find the missing piece (Miles)?
Julia: Actually, the missing piece found us — luckily. Miles had his rehearsal space right next to ours. One day in 2020, after Miri and I had finished practicing, he happened to be in the room next door and heard us playing. He knocked on our door, introduced himself, and said he really liked what we were doing. Then he added, “If you ever need a drummer...” — and we did! :) So we called him, and two weeks later, wolfer had its first rehearsal. It was a lot of fun right from the start!
Is there a specific way you compose?
Miriam: Of the 13 songs we've recorded so far, 9 of them were written on bass and 4 on guitar. But of course the songs have all evolved collectively during our rehearsals.
When composing, I first look for a sequence of notes that inspires me, then I immediately try to intuitively sing something to it. I don't care at that moment whether the words that come out of my mouth make sense or not. For me it's important not to miss the momentum of the song idea. I can't wait until I have the perfect lyrics, I help myself to words beforehand so that I can even realise where the song could potentially go. It's an extremely intuitive process that requires a lot of sensitivity. Later, I work out the lyrics again and, depending on whether they speak to me or not, I either change them or leave them as they are. It can happen that the words you originally chose convey exactly the message you wanted to convey.
Is there a specific way you compose? Did you always write lyrics in English?
Miriam: Yes, until now I've always written my lyrics in English.
How do you decide when Miles does lead or backing vocals?
Miriam: Everyone is allowed to sing in the band :) We decide collectively who sings when and how. When I present song ideas, for example, they usually come with a vocal idea already, because that's part of my way of writing songs. Personally, however, I'm always very open to backing vocals, a second voice or a different voice. I see the human voice as an instrument and I want to utilise it even more and in different ways in the future.
The cover of Splitter - the split EP between Wolfer and Umoora
Did you know the Umoora before the split EP?
Miriam: Yes but not very well. That is to say, we had played one show together in Basel prior to the split EP.
How did you decide to release a split EP together?
Miriam: Umoora reached out to us after the show we played together in Basel, asking us whether we'd be up for making a Split EP with them. We loved the idea, because we really like them as human beings and thought it would be great to have our demo-songs released on a physical record.
Up to this point, our first four songs were only released digitally on bandcamp.
How did you record the songs? And where?
Miriam: We recorded the songs with Micha Loosli at Studio “Musigstöckli” in Lützelflüh/Emmental. The songs were recorded live in the studio with Micha in one day only.
Did you record them at the same time/place as Umoora or in different locations?
Miriam: No, we didn't record them with Umoora. The initial idea of recording these songs was to have something to send to venues, because around that time we wanted to start to play live shows. So the songs were initially not meant to end up on a physical record.. but we are glad they did :)
What are your memories of the writing and recording of the songs?
Miriam: The songs on the EP “Splitter” are relatively dark and melancholic. 3 of them were originally written with bass, some vocals (drowning in reverb) and a drum machine in an old attic in the Länggasse Quartier in Bern. Back then, it was the place where I retreated to when I was feeling bad. Composing the songs acted as psychotherapy, so to speak.
I remember we agreed that it was time to have good recordings of our first songs when they were finished. At first we wanted to record the songs ourselves to save money, but then we decided to ask our friend and sound engineer Micha Loosli if we could record with him. I had worked with him for a long time at Dachstock/Reitschule in Bern and I knew that he and his partner Nicole Imhof had set up a professional recording studio in Lützelflüh. It was the perfect opportunity to visit them in this wonderful place and make some recordings. The collaboration was efficient and very harmonious.
How was the writing process for Hey Lester?
Miriam: We had written most of the songs for Hey Lester a while before we went into the studio. However, about 3 songs had only just been finished and, unlike the others, we had never played them live. 5 of the 9 songs on the album started with a bass line and vocals. 3 songs were written on guitar first and one song was written while playing together.
The songs I wrote were written in the way I explained before. I'm looking for a sequence of notes that inspires me. I then try to find some words and vocal melodies that I think could go with the sequence of notes. I try it out and when I feel I have hit the nerve of what I want to express, I usually record it so that it doesn't get lost. As I mentioned before, it's a very intuitive process for me, I've learnt to trust my intuition over the course of my life and I think it shows in my songwriting.
Were there many differences in composition?
Miriam: I would say that the basic mood on Hey Lester! is a bit more life-affirming than on our split EP. I think in terms of songwriting, the biggest difference between Splitter and Hey Lester! is that we had already played a few live shows before recording Hey Lester!, and we had grown together as a band as a result. I would also say that we had gained confidence from playing live and that in turn had the effect of making us more centred in our delivery of the songs. As far as the lyrics are concerned, I have tried to write a bit more words than I do usually. But I still wanted room for interpretation because I don't like to make the meaning of the lyrics obvious. I usually let myself be guided by words that I like in their pronunciation. Certain words are more musical than others in my opinion. But the interpretation of these words and the content of the lyrics in general always comes from an unconscious place within me. The actual meaning usually only reveals itself at a later stage.
You recorded the album in England - where did the idea come from?
Miriam: Originally we wanted to record our album with Tim Cedar in London because his sound aesthetic matched ours. He is the guitarist and singer of the Noiserock band Part Chimp, a band we are all fans of. I met Tim at a Part Chimp concert that I booked at the Reitschule in Bern. I got in touch with him when it was time for us to record our songs in the form of a debut album. He recommended that we record the album with Ben Turner at Axe and Trap Studio in Somerset, UK. Part Chimp have also recorded their last two albums with Ben Turner which for us was the ultimate reference in terms of warm and heavy sound!
We love the sound of Part Chimp! So we arranged an online meeting with Ben Turner and during this first meeting we realised very quickly that we wanted to work with him. We were on the same wavelength both personally and musically. It was just right. So we booked flights and accommodation and a week of studio time with Ben Turner in England.
How was the experience? What are your memories from the recording?
Miriam: We will never forget that week. It was an extremely enriching time characterised by wonderful, intensive collaboration, friendship and humour... and all this in the most beautiful English countryside of Somerset! A week is not a lot of time to record a whole album but I remember Julia, Miles and I were very focussed and Ben managed to bring out the best in us with his calm and centred manner. He totally understood our vision of the songs and how we wanted them to sound. The three of us worked very efficiently and harmoniously together. It was a wonderful collaboration in a wonderful place.
How did the idea come about to collaborate with Dr. Arthur Funkhouser?
Miriam: We couldn't find any suitable vocal ideas for the song ‘Morning Blur’.
We then had the idea that a spoken word part could fit the mood of the song.
Arthur Funkhouser is a Jungian analyst who emigrated from the USA to Switzerland in the 1980s to teach at the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. He lives in Bern.
I had sessions with Dr. Funkhouser over several years as I was going through a life crisis at some point in my life. The sessions with Arthur have deeply shaped me as a person and how I think about life. Since we all have an affinity for Jungian psychology, the idea of having Arthur's words on the song Morning Blur came naturally. Fortunately, Arthur agreed to share his wisdom with us and have it recorded and used for our song. He invited me and Miles over to his house so we could ask him questions about the unconscious. On the song "Morning Blur" you can hear a little snippet of that interview.
Tell us about the artwork of the album
Julia: When “Hey Lester!” started to take shape, it was pretty clear that we wanted Kim Corti — a great designer and a dear friend of mine — to create the artwork for the album.
She had previously taken our band photos, so it made perfect sense to work with someone we all felt comfortable with.
Very early on, we had the feeling that we wanted to do something “feral” — raw and untamed. The idea of using a photo trap image actually me and Kim had during a long and funny evening at her parents’ house. What started off more as a joke that night quickly turned into a concept that Miles and Miri were also really excited about.
Kim began experimenting with wildlife photo trap images and explored a blackletter-style typography. We didn’t want the font to feel too “metal,” so we loved the idea of using a bright colour instead. The harshness of the blackletter in orange paired with the slightly “funny,” stunned-looking rabbit in the photo created a contrast that felt just right to us. We didn’t want the artwork to feel too dark — we wanted it to have a sense of surprise and astonishment.
(Photo copyrights: Patrick Principe)
How did it happen to release the album on Humus? What were your feelings when the album came out?
Julia: Me and Miri have been long-time friends with the people behind Humus, and we loved the label and its diversity from the very beginning. In Switzerland, there’s not a huge choice of labels we felt represented, especially ones that support experimental or genre-crossing music the way Humus does. So it felt like a very natural and personal decision to release the album with them. When it finally came out, it was a mix of excitement and relief — like sharing a very personal story with the world, through the hands of people we truly trust.
You re-recorded Soulcrusher (from the Splitter EP) with Humus - where did the idea for the audio and accompanying video come from? What are your memories of the recording?
Miles: Well quite honestly the idea came from Kevin Galland and Louis Jucker since they'd bought a new mixing desk. I forgot the name of the model, but I think it's from the 80's and apparently quite a nice desk to record heavier guitar music. So they reached out and suggested we record a song to check if the old fellow is still doing ok.
The video was then shot on the spot by Louis. He has this seriously lovely get-up with cameras that feed directly into a VHS recorder where he can also switch live between the cameras. He nailed all of those hits in the song spontaneously.
And concerning memories, I remember that the whole undertaking went quite quick, they had everything prepared really well and we also didn't punch in a lot of takes. A bit like this:
Bern, train, La Chaux-de-Fonds, "Hi, Louis and Kevin", BUMBUMBUM, "Bye, Louis and Kevin", train, Bern.
Also those two guys are really, really lovely folks. Perfect mixture of funny, calm, and concentrated.
You also did a session with Freunde and Résilience - how was the recording session?
Miles: The time-feeling was very similar to the Session with Kevin and Louis. I think the whole thing took about four hours in total, which is quite insane when I think of all the gear they brought. One thing that was different though were our energy levels. We'd played two shows the nights before and were quite wrecked, since we're not that experienced rockstars yet. But I do like that energy quite a lot listening back to it actually. And also here the sweetest of folks recording us, with which we ended up drinking a bit too many beers for a Sunday afterwards. Monday was pretty tough.
How was it to play at the Humus Fest in Nyon last year?
Miles: Well, sticking to the honesty approach from above, we were all a bit out of balance. We really appreciated the opportunity of course, it was truly a huge act of love and trust from the humus team to invite us to that event, as a quite new band, defninitively a very new humus band. But as mentioned, all of us were a bit worn out from our end-of-the-year-lives.
Also the audience was not moving much, which in hindsight I hope and guess was just because they were listening quite attentively. But in that moment it made way for quite some insecurity to arise. The other shows we saw were great though, that helped a lot.
What other highlights stand out for you?
Miles: Well, certainly our album release in Bad Bonn. It's just the fucking dream venue to have your album release in. And also holding that record and merch you've been working on for about three years in your hands, and seeing what it grows to mean to some people. But then, highlights come in very different gowns, and more often than not they pop-up quite randomly. A person from the audience giving a really heartfelt feedback, a fuck up in a song that turns out to be the most interesting thing of the whole show, laughter in the van. You know the cliché but very true small things. The huge small things.
What can we expect in the future?
Miles: World domination! And maybe a new record someday. And shows. Yes, more shows (come see them, instagram bio is up to date).
Anything else you would like to add?
Miles: Power to the people. Don't let them tell you things can't be changed, they always can and always will be.
Miriam: It's worth studying C.G. Jung :)
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