Yoni Wolf is a busy man. When I caught up with him a couple of weeks ago, he was just finishing up working on his weekly podcast, The Wandering Wolf. “I’m enjoying it,” he told me. “It’s a lot of work — kind of a full time job unto itself. But I really like doing it.”
But the podcast, obviously, is not his full-time job. The full-time job is being the ringleader of WHY?, a hip-hop/rock group who’s been around the block a time or four. Their latest endeavor, The Golden Ticket EP, is not only an attempt to connect with the fans, but unlike anything WHY? has ever attempted.
“Initially we had created this web store to sell our shirts and records online, and we were thinking about ways that we could improve sales — just get people interested in it. We [my brother and my sister-in-law and myself] were just talking in the car and came up with the idea that we could have a golden ticket and write a theme song for whoever gets the little thing that comes in the mail with your order. The first two (tickets) were that way, and then we started having different kinds of contests, and then we started going different stuff for charity.”
Moving away from his usual self-deprecating and self-aware lyrics forced Yoni to really sit down and hone his craft. Yet while the writing process may have changed, the ultimate result represents the sound the band has been mastering on their last three releases.
“In this situation it was really more about researching and finding out about someone that I didn’t know at all, and then somehow get into their vibe and create a song that had that same feeling. It was a lot of fun; it was a real craft. To say, ‘OK, this isn’t something that I’m doing with this spark of inspiration — with God’s fingers touching my little brain or heart — this is something that I’m doing as an exercise’. Sometimes I would take a walk and really just think about this person, and the fun aspects of their life I found interesting. And then I’d just go for it.”
I can’t speak for the average human being, but if an artist who once wrote, “Stalkers my whole style / and if I get caught I’ll / deny, deny, deny” stalked me and wrote a song for all to hear… well, the emotions are mixed. But the lucky chosen fans’ reactions are unanimous: they love it.
“I always thought that some of them would be weird about it but nobody ever was. I was doing one a month, so basically they would learn if they got the golden ticket right before their song had come out. They were all really happy that they were chosen — some of them actually bid for it, the ones we sold for charity.”
The Golden Ticket EP may come off as a batshit, outside-the-box approach — especially for a veteran act like WHY?. But it’s these inventive modes of getting the music to the fans that keep bands afloat in the rapidly changing music industry.
“It’s not what it was, it’s not what it used to be. Back 10 years ago you would put out a record and really promote it. Now we’re touring to tour, to make our living. You can’t make a living off of records anymore, really.
“Everything has gone online — that’s just the way of the world. I’m part of the last generation that grew up without the Internet. Even when I was in my older teens, when the Internet came out, it still wasn’t what it is today. You could send email, and you could eventually go onto these chat rooms.
“Back when I started making music you really just pined to get into a magazine. We got into these influential British magazines; that was like a big deal. And, nowadays, it’s about the websites. But it’s the same thing: if there’s somebody that does something that’s good — or not good — other people listen. Whether it’s print or digital, it’s the same shit. You have to take everything with a grain of salt.”
This transcript has been edited for content.