WORDS Weston Markwell
Tell us about the name of your band?
It all started when we were brainstorming for a name but just weren’t coming up with anything. Then one night we were having practice and my dog, Mo, started barking and making all kinds of noises during one of the songs. Mo always has the sad look on his face and Pike mentioned something about him looking like a lonely wolf. And boom, that was it. We took out the vowels when we ran a sticker design that resembled a license plate and liked how that looked, and it differentiated us from the handful of other “Lonely Wolves” on Facebook. There were some pretty questionable bands with that name actually.
What genre do you consider yourself?
Blues Rock, or just Rock & Roll.
Who are some of your influences?
Well first, the Blues. If we didn’t have the Blues we would arguably have zero of the music we have today. The Blues was about taking raw emotions and sitting down with a guitar and hashing out those emotions. The songs were fairly straightforward as far as structure goes, but the complexity of the storytelling was what was so compelling. And as far as I’m concerned, the Blues birthed Country, Country birthed Rock & Roll, and the rest is history. Personally, I have three very different influences that all play a part in contributing to the band: Led Zeppelin, Hank Williams, and Wu-Tang.
Zeppelin is the perfect band in my eyes. They took something old (Blues) and made something new (Rock & Roll). They were also incredibly talented, and I don’t know if there will ever be a band like Zep.
Hank Williams is a Montgomery native and the fact that someone with such an influence on the entire music industry lived so close to where I do is still staggering to me. Hank was a messed up dude and he never held back in his songs. When he was happy, the song was happy, and when he was sad, the song was the saddest thing you had ever heard. This goes back to the Blues and putting all your emotions into a song. Even someone who didn’t understand English would most likely feel sad if they heard a Hank song.
Wu-Tang is all about the collaboration in music and having the right mindset as a musician. If you don’t put all 4 chambers of your heart into your music, it won’t survive, and that’s why “36 Chambers” is such a great album. 9 hearts putting all 36 chambers of their hearts into one album, and you can really feel it. Again, an adage to the blues and putting emotion into your music. It ain’t called Rhythm & Blues for nothing…
What types of instruments are featured in your music and who plays them?
For the longest time we were just guitar and drums, the essentials to Rock & Roll. But recently we’ve added bass and it gives us much more depth. In recordings we throw around banjo, keyboard, and all types of different percussions.
Favorite band you’ve played with?
My boys from L.F. Knighton. Not sure if they’re still together, but they were a talented bunch from Mobile that reminded me that Rock & Rollwill never die. Also, they knew how to party.
Funniest moment at a show?
A reoccurring moment that happens is that I knock over my beer during a song. Doesn’t matter if it’s on the ground or on a table or on my amp, I always find someway to knock my beer over. Luckily I’ve never electrocuted myself in the process.
Favorite “guilty pleasure” music?
Well, my friends would tell me Jimmy Buffett is a guilty pleasure, but they’re wrong. So I’d have to go with Pop-Country in general.
What do you do in your down time?
I’m in school for graphic design, so that takes up a lot of my time. But it encompasses a lot of my other hobbies, like brewing beer and obviously playing music. So I love having side projects that I can design something for, like beer labels or a new t-shirt design.
Where do you call home, and what do you like about it?
Auburn has been my home for 6 years now, but I also call Baldwin County home, and I’m from the Greater Valley Area, so, I just hop around a bunch.
Favorite lyric and its meaning?
The entirety of “Empty Gun” is my interpretation of what my drummer must have gone through when his dad passed away. It was a challenge to write consoling, empathetic words while also trying to convey that I couldn’t even begin to fathom what that must feel like. So instead of writing him anything personal, I turned it into a story. One of my favorite lines from that song is the very first line, “Met a fortune teller who didn’t tell no lies. And I believed her when those tear’s came from my eyes.”
What’s interesting is that I’ve had people ask me if it’s “from my eyes” or “from HER eyes.” I love that one word can be misheard and change the entire meaning of a line. If it’s “from my eyes,” the line speaks of how we go through denial in a time like this; we don’t believe the signs until they’re made truth. If it’s “from HER eyes,” then it speaks to the magnitude of acceptance, even when the truth may not be known just yet. I’ll keep letting people decide what they hear.
Current reading list?
I just finished Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen and it is a must read. I picked up Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang to start soon. Wow, just realized that’s two monkey books...
What’s your least favorite trend?
MDMA or Molly. Also, the Lebron James / Michael Jordan comparison.
Where can we grab some of your music?
We have all of our recordings on lnlywlvs.bandcamp.com, and we hope to be recording a second full-length this winter.