Issue Eight- August 2020:

By Mercedes Barreto

Circus Of Wolves is a seven-piece band combination of folk, jazz, funk, Latin, soul, and rock. From the beginning, the concept was to mix a diverse range of musical influences. The band’s unique voice is recognizable to listeners while incorporating different stylings, tones, and instrumentations.

What does music mean to you, in a sense of emotion? Can you describe this emotion in three words?
“When you talk about music, you have to talk holistically in terms of the music itself, the lyrics, the form or structure, and the impact of all these ingredients working together.

The whole is always greater than the sum of the parts. The whole is what triggers an emotion. I also think about music from two different points of view: as a listener and lover of music and of course, as a musician. As a listener and lover of music, music has always evoked a sense of freedom and wanderlust, a feeling of strength and power. It allows my imagination to soar. I can see pictures in my mind’s eye when I’m moved by a piece of music.

It’s escapism. There’s also undeniable humanity in good storytelling. As a musician, music represents a strong emotional bond built around collaboration, teamwork, and fellowship.

I thrive on being able to present a new song to my bandmates in Circus Of Wolves and to experience what happens next. Collectively, the band brings life, strength, and personality to the song, in a way I could never do on my own. The diversity of talent, perspectives, and sensibilities make this possible. So the emotion music evokes for me is freedom, transformation, and fellowship.”

If you could find true musical success tomorrow, what defines this type of success or achievement for you? Can you describe this success in words?

“Success can be defined on many levels. But for me, success comes down to two things: recognition and satisfaction.

Recognition is, as it suggests, about being more broadly recognized for our songs, recognized for the individual very talented players, and for the gigs we play. We’re always looking to grow our fan base so broad recognition is critical. Satisfaction comes from the joy of making music with Circus Of Wolves.

My bandmates are an incredible group of players. Satisfaction also comes from continually growing, improving, and pushing the limits. We’ve had situations in rehearsal where someone plays a riff or makes a suggestion for vocal harmony, and all of a sudden, it’s like unlocking a whole other dimension to the song and its performance. Then, you go forward. For me personally, success is being able to continually progress and get better as a musician, and as a songwriter. The psychic reward of recognition and satisfaction is the priority. The material rewards will follow.”

When did this all start, how did it all come together?

“We started Circus Of Wolves at the beginning of 2015. Some of us had played together in another band and now wanted to create a different type of sound. Plus, the songs I was writing suggested a new direction.

So, we spent the first couple of years focusing on developing the new material
and making our first album, ‘Collective Pulse’, which was released in 2018. It’s an
album of all originals. I wrote the majority of the songs but our lead singer, Leesah
Stiles contributed one original, too.

Our CD release party at The Lodge in Woodstock was our first live gig. We played
all ten songs from ‘Collective Pulse’ and also added some additional new originals.
Since then, we’ve played live whenever the opportunity has presented itself.
Obviously, that’s not possible right now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A couple
of our live performances that I’m most proud of, happened over this past year-
end holiday. Slick Aguilar who was the lead guitarist with Jefferson Starship from
1992 to 2012, accompanied us on lead guitar for the two shows…one at The
Colony in Woodstock and one at The Falcon in New Marlborough.

Slick is an incredible lead guitarist and a pure joy to work with. For the two gigs, we played a combination of Circus Of Wolves songs and Jefferson Airplane/Starship songs. We’ve been playing a lot of new songs in our sets. These songs now form the core that we’ve to build the set around. We’re hoping to get back into the recording studio soon to record them.”

Does making music come as an occupational obligation, or a comfortable part-time hobby that you are hoping to make fulltime? If so, can you describe the performing and making of your music in terms of the time spent in that specific activity itself?

“Music has been a hobby and a creative outlet for me for many years. I’ve worked full time for four decades in the advertising agency business; which is very creative in its own right but music is different. I’ve always taken music very seriously even while it has been a source of relaxation. I play every day and write every day. I am looking to do more with Circus Of Wolves.

That means more gigs and more recording. There’s a lot of energy and a lot of creativity in the band. I feel we’ve barely scratched the surface. As a band playing original material, we rehearse diligently.

The challenge with originals is to quickly establish a groove that our audience can feel and get immediately. Clear song structures are important. As our drummer, ‘Ruperto Ifil’ likes to say when I present a new song to the band: “It’s another Andy Jones ‘mind-f*@k’” – because of the song structures. There’s usually a Part A and a Part B verse structure as well as a bridge; and of course, the chorus.

So, immediacy and impact are important. We work hard at this. When we play with a guest musician like Slick Aguilar, hand-offs are critical, especially when you have three lead instruments: Harvey Boyer on keyboards, Will Smith on sax, and flute plus Slick. If you’re going to play out live and expect people to give you their hard-earned money and their attention, you have to put the effort in. I love everything about making music from the initial composing to bringing the song to life in the rehearsal studio to playing live and getting a good audience response.”

Questions For The Photographer:

What did you find, in words that describe the sensation or perspective that you perceived, when working on the photography shoot, with Andy Jones and the Circle of Wolves?

“I saw a group of very professional musicians, varied instrumentation, along with the lead guitarist being from one of America’s foremost rock groups of the 60’s Jefferson Starship Slick Aguilar.”

What is the energy you perceive when the band plays music or poses for a shoot? Is there a sensation atypical to other energies, or an energy that is worth describing, when you are in front of the Circle of Wolves in their prime performance mode?

“The energy was varied, always to suited to the material that they performed. They were not interested in posing for a lot of photos, as they told me, instead, they said that they would come out on stage, pose as a group, and then begin performing, so I stood in the center of the room waiting for them to line up until they gave me their high-sign, and I shot the group. Then, it was as if it was time to perform, and that’s the part I like best; photographing a band while they perform, catching those special moments and looks between the musicians as they build the energy through the song.”

(Photographer Courtesy from Joe Mack of The Hudson Valley.)