Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Gabe Wolf. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Gabe, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
I just turned 29, and a lot of my 20’s were about figuring out who I was. Even though I had had a big revelation about my identity as an artist when I was 14 (and many times over since then), I doubted myself, and felt that I would need some other career because being an artist seemed too unlikely. So I tried many different jobs throughout my early adulthood, which included sales for a software company, audio engineering, cashiering at a few different places, and more.
Every job had its pros and cons, but none of them had enough substance to touch that deeper place within me… none of them gave me the feeling that I could settle into the work knowing that I was doing what I was meant to do on this planet and in this lifetime. I realized through the course of those empty hours, spent doing things that meant nothing to me, that I had something inside of me which wasn’t being fed by what I had chosen to do instead of creating my art.
So over time, almost through the process of elimination, I realized that I don’t get to choose to be an artist; I just am one. I only get to choose whether or not to live a life that’s true to myself. And I’m glad I had that revelation sooner than later, because now I get to do the work that’s actually fulfilling to me.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I make alternative rock, with flavors of indie, pop, and electronic music from the early 2000’s. One of the things I’m most proud of is my lyrics… I’m very self-reflective as a person, and that tendency to ask myself questions about who I truly am, what I truly feel, and what my place in the universe is comes out a lot in my music. I find that I don’t often hear those questions being asked in a direct way in other peoples music, so I think it’s a point of differentiation for me.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
I think non-creatives might struggle to understand the same thing that I struggle to understand about myself, which is why there is such a need to create. Whatever the answer may be, that need is there, and I think knowing it and acknowledging it is essential to being happy as an artist. I think it also explains many of the things that a creative person might do that seem illogical from the outside, like leaving steady jobs or certain relationships in order to create.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The polished and finished recording is always my goal, though playing the songs live has its own reward. My original connection with music was through listening to CD’s front to back, and I’ve always felt that a true magic can be created in the recorded song that can’t be created anywhere else. You can hear the intention and emotion, and get lost in all the small details that an artist chose to put into the track. Plus you hear the best performance that the artist could give, immortalized in whatever format you’re listening on. So the recorded song is the ultimate goal and reward for me.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gabewolfmusic.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabewolfmusic/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gabewolfmusic
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd5IwGQbpaXEvTSqovPR1gw
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6K2EmZLnq16SkqwcuwFbuE?si=vG42ficsQOmdDRYEzbNriA Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/gabe-wolf/642951206
Image Credits
Benjamin Stein, Dan Saltzman, Jacob Lauing, Renee Warrell