Belfast-based singer Aoife Wolf has released her new single, The Woman Who Shot Andy Warhol. We asked her the BIG questions . . .
Recorded by Julie McLarnon at Analogue Catalogue Studio in Newry, the song draws on the story of Valerie Solanas, who shot the artist Andy Warhol in 1968.
"I was fascinated by the details of the story," says Offaly native Wolf, who has recently performed sets playing alongside Kathryn Joseph, and The Lovely Eggs.
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"Namely Solanas' believed that the government was spying on her via a microchip in her womb and through her bed sheets. She was outraged at being named an actor, rather than a writer, in the headlines that followed.
"But it was the hold that paranoia had on her psyche, in particular, that resonated with me the most. It compelled me to write the lyrics of the song in the back pages of Olivia Laing's The Lonely City."
The Woman Who Shot Andy Warhol is the lead single from Wolf’s upcoming debut EP, Wetlands, which is set for release via North Carolina-Dublin-Belfast imprint Schoolkids Records on September 2nd.
Tell us three things about yourself?
I'm a singer-songwriter, I’m from Offaly and I’ve had a random black streak in my fair hair since I was born.
How would you describe your music?
I started out trying to write Nirvana tunes and whatever way that filtered through my DNA it comes out sounding like Aoife Wolf, which is a lot more mellow, folk-leaning with a slight alt-rock angle depending on the song. The songs from the Wetlands EP I wrote when I was a good bit younger, so those ones are more angsty and dark. The newer stuff has got a bit of a dreamier sonic and everything is recorded to tape by Julie McLarnon at Analogue Catalogue so even if the stuff spans a few genres I think the fact that the songs have been recorded in the same room with the same instruments and the same producer means it all makes sense.
Who are your musical inspirations?
PJ Harvey, Joni Mitchell, Joanna Newsom, Gillian Welch, Angel Olsen, The Slits, Grouper, Sonic Youth, The Pixies, Nirvana, Lisa O’Neill, Brigid Mae Power, Sparklehorse, Belle & Sebastian, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Cat Power, The Cure, Jefferson Airplane, Patti Smith, Elizabeth Fraser, Jeff Buckley, John Martyn, Broadcast, My Bloody Valentine, Mazzy Star, The Velvet Underground, Nico, Lou Reed, The Beach Boys, Cat Power, Neutral Milk Hotel and all of my friends.
What was the first gig you ever went to and the first record you ever bought/downloaded?
The first gig I went to was Dido and the Scissor Sisters in Marlay Park when I was about 14. I wasn’t allowed to go see Britney Spears so I cultivated an interest in Dido because I thought she seemed safe enough that my mother would bring me. In the end, my mother didn’t think much of Dido at all, she much preferred the Scissor Sisters. My first CD was Sophie Ellis Bextor - Murder on the Dancefloor, which I fully stand by.
What’s your favourite song right now?
I’m going to go with Whore by Naoise Roo.
Favourite lyric of all time?
I’m not sure if I have one but I really like anything that comes out of Joanna Newsom’s mouth, currently, I’ve been fixated by the lyrics of Pin Light Bent: "But it's mine. Or, at least, it's lent, And my life, until the time is spent, Is a pin-light, bent".
If you could only listen to one song for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I reckon Watermusic II by William Basinkski would be good bang for your buck.
Where can people find your music/more information?
Probably Instagram! I stopped paying for my website domain 'cos it seemed like an expensive luxury.
