SEPTEMBER 22ND, 2023
Jeffrey Wight, known in the artistic world as Will the Wolf, creates music that exudes an undeniable magnetism. With each release, he invites us on an epic journey, unfolding tales through music and video that range from whimsical to intensely heartfelt. You can’t help but be swept along.
Hailing from the vibrant Caribbean Island of Trinidad, an island pulsating with the rhythms of Soca, Calypso, Reggae, and the recent Trinibad dancehall scene, his venture into Hip Hop, R&B, and lo-fi music is a bold divergence. Will’s genre-bending tunes defy expectations, capturing the very essence of artistic innovation and pushing the boundaries of his island’s auditory landscape.
From the moment Will the Wolf appeared on our radar, his antics and his music captured our attention in a way that we couldn’t ignore, and we suspect it will hold yours just as tightly. Between his multifaceted roles as a singer, songwriter, musician, filmmaker, and activist, it’s evident that he is as eclectic as the melodies he crafts – enchanting, compelling, and most importantly, undeniably captivating.
First, I really like your house.
Will: We built this home a few years ago, and it’s obviously a privilege to be here. It’s a beautiful home. My mother always had a knack for design. It’s one way that we keep her around now that she’s gone.
When you were young, were you really close with your mom?
Will: Always. She’s always been my everything. The best things about me came from her. She was an incredible woman with an amazing eye for design & visuals in general.
She was also kind and giving. She did have an unfortunate tendency to disparage her own work though. I remember she drew a picture for me of this cartoon “TinTin” when I was a kid.
I was so blown away that my mom could draw so well, but she just talked down about it. She really was incredible. A good storyteller. An amazing mother, & a remarkable woman.
I know. She was very loved, because when I couldn’t make the funeral because it was a workday, and I couldn’t get the time off…
Will: Thank you. Thank you for even thinking of coming.
I work right there. It would’ve been easy to get there if I got the time off.
Will: Yeah, I’m sorry you couldn’t make it, that sucks. But thank you. Thank you for thinking of me. I appreciate you.
No problem. I saw all the highlights. I saw so many people posting after the funeral. A lot of people that I didn’t even know knew your mom. I personally don’t know what she does or what she did, but I just realized she is so well known, it was beautiful to see.
Will: People get well-known for all sorts of reasons, but she was loved for the best reasons. She would listen to people as if they were the only person in the room. It would just be you and her.
Do you feel like that’s a trait that you got from her as well?
Will: I hope so. I don’t want to just be a yes-man, but I do want to spend more time highlighting the good and making people feel loved and listen to.
In many ways, me wanting to do that has a selfish aspect to it, because I want to be loved and listened to. So, I think it’s important to give that to people.
Fairness is big for me, and I probably got a lot of that from my mom and my sisters. Many of the women in my life have been remarkable. I think I want to be fair to other people because I expect that in return.
And that’s one thing that I can be demanding about, is fairness. Which can get sticky because what is fair for some isn’t fair for others. So, it can be a volatile thing when I decide I’m right.
So, in terms of fairness, do you feel like Trinidad has been fair to you with your creative endeavors?
Will: Yes. I might think some work that I’ve done is worth, more viewership, more accolades, whatever. However, I do think it’s all fair because I know people who I believe are more talented than me who get less than me, and they deserve more than me and I get more than them.
The difference between people being more successful and less successful can oftentimes be so arbitrary. It seems like it’s without reason.
I think it’s on me, you know? Ultimately, I might not be happy with where I’m at yet, but do I think it’s fair? Yeah, one way or another it is.
In terms of productivity, how has that been in your creative endeavors?
Will: Obviously, things are a balance. My mom passing recently really pumped the break on everything. I feel a little behind. I can’t blame myself in this regard though. My mother really was everything to me. Our mothers are our first homes.
There’s this unique way that you do your visuals and your music videos that’s different from other artists locally at least. I feel as though there’s not a lot of artists that do the kind of visuals that you do here in Trinidad. It comes across very cinematic, like you’re telling a story and while we do have videos that tell stories, it’s the level of story and even the level of detail within your stories.
Will: Yeah? Well, I’ve always been very ADHD & dyslexic. For whatever reason, I think perhaps it gave me this wild, unhinged imagination. Eventually I grew a determination to tell these very detailed stories. I like creating worlds in my head.
I also have ADHD and if it’s one thing that people don’t get, it’s how creative it can make you.
Will: Yeah!
Outside of the fact that you can’t pay attention to a conversation for too long, depending on what type of conversation…
Will: It’s a gift and a curse.
Yeah. So, you can zone out so easily in a conversation.
Will: Constantly. Involuntarily.
Knowing your background in storytelling and knowing that you come up with these crazy ideas, do you feel like you must try to confine those ideas in any way? especially when it comes to the visuals?
Will: I mean, sometimes the ideas are just too big for what is more feasibly possible. I try to taper them to fit. Most of what I end up producing is like 50% of how intense I originally envisioned it. Perhaps, in time, with bigger budgets – I can create crazier stuff. I’m trying not to push myself too much to create things for keeping attention’s sake. I want it to come when it’s meant to. When it’s quality enough.
Completely relatable! So, feeding off that, do you feel like your music is more for you than for your audience?
Will: I wish it was more for me. I would say it’s a certain percentage for me. I’m not really proud of myself as an artist yet. And there’s a certain number of cynical moves that you make as an artist when you’re trying to make it.
There’s a certain number of things you don’t do for yourself. One of the most authentic artists is I know is Bjork. But maybe Bjork feels like she’s a fraud you know? I wonder if Tyler, the Creator hates his older stuff now. I certainly feel like that about a lot of my past stuff.
There was one thing he said (Tyler the Creator) recently on an interview for Converse. He mentioned, not care who sees your work, just do it, do it for you and put it out. That’s how he found Rex Orange County and he had like four views on YouTube.
Will: When Tyler found him?
Yeah, when Tyler discovered him, he had four views on YouTube. And to me, that is crazy.
Will: Yeah, that’s amazing.
Damn right, that’s such a good reminder. I hope that gets into the interview because this needs to be something that everyone is reminded of. If it’s important to you and it gives you something, man, even if you’re not successful, just do it anyway.
Because we get one life. I have, in the work that I’ve done and the people I’ve met personally, met actual billionaires. And I promise you, they are not happier than the average person.
Everyone finds a way to be miserable. So, the thing is if you’re passionate about something you love; do it. And then if you don’t want to do it anymore, then there’s a decent chance you weren’t that passionate to begin with. It’s not absolutely for sure that you weren’t passionate, you know what I mean? But it’s a pretty good indication that maybe it’s something that you don’t need to be doing rather.
Do you feel as though because we’re so prone to finding misery in life, that we’re also prone to connection?
Will: You mean as artists? Um, probably. I’ve always had such a big heart for other people who I perceived were suffering because I feel like I’m seeing myself all the time and I want to be loved, so I want other people to feel loved, you know?
And you will always have conflicts with people, and you may fall out with people or whatever, but it will always be love. You know? Even when you fall out and you realize you must put up a boundary with someone, there’s still love, there’s just a boundary.
Agreed.
Do you feel like a lot of artists know that they’re seeking love?
Will: Artists might be more likely to recognize these kinds of things, but I think people in general have a hard time facing these kinds of realities that they’re seeking something. I think it is so rare for human beings to not seek love. So, I think that it’s a likelihood for us all. And then artists tend to be so much more exposed to the love and the hate that I think it does inevitably come along with it.
I feel like we were born to connect…
Will: Yeah, course.
Is there anything with music that you feel you want to do but you haven’t done yet?
Will: I mean, I love all kinds of music, but it’s hard to feel like I have a place in certain types. But I think if you truly love whatever it is & pour yourself into it? It can be sincere. I just want to be able to do whatever I want and whatever I feel comfortable with. I want to trust myself to be discerning enough to not go into things that I don’t think are for me. You know?
Is there anyone who supports you that you are grateful for?
Will: Many people. I feel so grateful to my family for supporting me as best as they could. People like Dane Padmore, who I work with quite a bit with such a good team.
He’s like a little brother to me and he teaches me so much in film. I’m grateful for Alasdair Bell who also teaches me a lot in film and he’s learning alongside me, but he’s so adaptable. He’s such a quick learner.
Choppi helped me with my writing, as did Jimmy (October). Kalpee too. There are so many friends I’ll inevitably want to mention. I think I do have to mention my best friend, Johann, I’d even say I’d like to mention Sinead Mohammed and Johann Keens-Douglas right alongside each other, because they have supported me through so many difficult times, and they’ve been so important through those times.
Shania Perez as well, who you know. She’s helped me so much with production. Isabelle Luces, who you’ll be familiar with as well. She’s incredible. So many people that I have been beyond lucky to have worked with. Graeme Nath & Karilee Fifi, my publishers.
I think if there’s anything that I want to touch on it’s the gratitude. It’s easy to feel like you have been wronged or that you haven’t gotten what you deserved for whatever myriad of circumstances. But I think too often we forget how lucky we’ve been. It’s easy to see the tough things, but sometimes we forget the good things, you know?
And I really, really want to train myself over and over and over, to be grateful. I want to train myself to be more grateful than anything else. Also, one last thing to touch on is for young up and coming artists or even older artists who are enduring. If you love it, don’t give up.
Be grateful, don’t get too hype on yourself. Something my cousin Mampru. That’s someone I’d like to mention, Mampru Stollmeyer. “DGH”, “DGH” is something he’d always say. Means “Don’t Get Hype”. Mostly when we’re excited about a sports team winning a game & we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. In a broader sense, stay humble.
Stay grateful, stay motivated and if you’re not motivated and maybe you don’t love it that much and it’s ok to slip out of it, and maybe go back to it when you’re ready… if you become passionate again. Music and creating is going to be a tough ride.
But it’s worth it one way or another. You know, you don’t even have to be successful. You love it? Then you do it! If you love storytelling, tell your stories. This world is not a fair place. It’ll find ways to be unfair. Fill it with what you love regardless.
Interviewer: Jerel Ramsey | Editor: Sádé Budhlall | Photography: Wendell Bess | Creative Direction: Jerel Ramsey & Jeffrey Wight
