INTERVIEW: Luke Wolfe Isn’t Building a Brand — He’s Curating a Whole New World
Photos by Reckless Barb
“That's what releasing music has always been for me. These are all the things that I would never say or just don't have the confidence to tell everybody in my life what's going on.”
Capital Region music fans likely already know Luke Pascarella as the frontman of the funk/jazz ensemble The E-Block, known for their onstage chemistry and exciting, dynamic sound. Yet, what they may have not discovered is Pascarella’s new solo project, Luke Wolfe. For him, it’s a blank-page opportunity on which to curate a more personal, vulnerable side of his artistry.
“I feel like for my whole life up until very recently, my identity was the guy from The E-Block,” he told me when he spoke over the phone. While he had previously been releasing solo music under his full name, he didn’t feel that impetus was enough to propel him creatively. Instead, he often felt himself remaining hidden as part of the band, despite being the lead singer. “I started to notice in myself it was a little bit of a cop out. I wasn't fully diving into viewing myself as an artist. The idea of picking a new name was [to force me] to step inside something that's a creation.”
While he didn’t make the switch to Luke Wolfe until May, the process of creation has been well under way, with four singles released over the last seven months, including the brand new release “Something About You.” The weaving guitar melody that introduces the first 15 seconds, combined with Pascarella’s soft, yearning vocals feels reminiscent of the band’s smooth sound, but the similarities end there. A quick, percussive strumming kicks in alongside the drums, Pascarella’s voice becomes stronger, and the tune quickly shifts towards a verse-chorus-verse structured pop song. The bridge has a hooky melody, Pascarella taking advantage of the opportunity to show off some runs. The whole track is incredibly catchy, with engaging textures to delve into for each listen, making it a little more unique than your typical Top-40 tune.
Not only is his sound completely different, the content of the songs themselves helped him to decide fairly which songs would be for Luke Wolfe and which would be for the band. “I started to write and produce songs that just didn't fit into the world of The E-Block,” he observed. These new songs took a turn for the personal, reflecting events that were happening to Pascarella in real time. “It is my real life. That was definitely different, too, because a lot of times in The E-Block, I don't want it to be so much, ‘these are Luke's thoughts.’ It's storytelling that fits into the world of a band.”
Songs like “Carry Me,” from this past May, are constructed with such vulnerability, it actually feels as if they weren’t even constructed at all — it’s as if you’re in a conversation with Pascarella, listening to him as he pours his heart out, strumming a melody all the while. “I had a couple people say that they were crying, listening to it,” he remarked about that track.
Because of its deeply emotional lyrics like“I’m still living through the pain of all the silence” and “Now I can’t go back looking for the love / we promised ourselves it’d never get this rough,” putting that song out into the world was an adrenaline-inducing mix of emotions for Pascarella. “That was definitely scary,” he admitted, “but the way that I'm wired, that's the whole excitement for me.”
You can feel that raw honesty in the music. From the softness of the acoustic guitar to the gentle vocals, he wears each word and emotion on his sleeve. “That's what releasing music has always been for me. These are all the things that I would never say or just don't have the confidence to tell everybody in my life what's going on,” he said.
Though the releases are vastly different in style, that’s something Pascarella is excited about. “There're no rules as far as genre since I'm doing it all myself. I can make a pop song, I can make a R&B song,” he explained. And while he declares that he definitely has “aspirations of the pop star world,” he’s not willing to leave his vulnerability behind. “I think that's the kind of juxtaposition that I'm trying to find as well,” he told me, furthering that for songs like “Something About You,” “The clothes that it's wearing [are] a pop song, but [it] still has the layers of depth that I'm looking for.”
The creation of Luke Wolfe has been a thorough process already, and it’s one that’s still going now that Pascarella has had his lightbulb moment after choosing to create a world for his solo project to live in.
“I think the difference for me was when I realized every artist I've ever listened to was doing that and I didn't see it. They weren't just putting out music. There was so much intention here that was going over my head,” he explained. “I thought I just liked the music, but it is kind of like a spell where you need a bit of context in order to like an artist. I think it might have been Donald Glover, who said, ‘Your songs are just an advertisement for your brand.’ That definitely made a difference.”
In the end, he realized, it was all about creating an atmosphere that fostered connection between artist and audience. “We connect with the songs as fans. But I think, really, we're connecting way more with the artist through their songs.”
As he builds out this world more, he’s beginning to ideate the pieces he’ll be able to explore further. “I'm definitely going to be able to express more of my fascination with spirituality and mindfulness. That is something that I'm excited to share,” he said when I asked him what outside of the melodies would be forming the setting.
Ultimately, it’s going to be that deep, often hidden inner self that’ll be taking center stage. He’s hoping to play more shows that are close-knit, acoustic, giving that singer-songwriter behind-the-scenes vibe. “That really just goes along with the brand of [being] intimate, opening up the curtain fully. I'm really excited to do that. And I think I have an opportunity to do it with a little more intention.
“With The E block, we're kind of always looking for gigs. I don't feel hungry to do it,” he said about chasing down solo gigs in that same manner. “I feel like this brand is going to be built more on releasing music online and that kind of world.” That being said, he understands the heavy self-promotion aspect that goes alongside building a following in that way.
When releasing music, he said, “I feel like there's so much noise now to where it's like release day doesn’t really matter. It's more like, how much energy can you put into a release? Can you be excited about it? Because no one else is going to be as excited about it as you are.
“It only goes as far as you take it,” he later concluded. And he plans to take it pretty damn far. “I've somehow wired my brain to have an undying belief that this is what I'm going to do. The toxic part is, not the ‘Why am I doing this?’ The toxic [part is] ‘You're doing it, you're doing it, you're doing it,’” he laughed.
While some may view it as toxic, any creative knows that that belief is the singular element that takes your art out of the drawer, off of your laptop, and onto the stage, the page, the ether. With that energy and confidence, Luke Wolfe’s going to keep piecing together this new world, one brick at a time.
To keep up with Luke Wolfe’s upcoming releases, check out lukewolfe.bandcamp.com
