‘Bodies Of Christ’ is the comeback single from MK/Northampton act Sean Grant & The Wolfgang. New Boots talks rebirth and upcoming sophomore album ’33’ with the main man.
New Boots: You’ve reignited Sean Grant & The Wolfgang after some time working on the EGO project. Why?
Sean: Wolfgang will always be my main source for my personal musical diary, although it had come to a point where I had fallen out of love with it and had to put it down for a while. I honestly didn’t know whether I would pick it back up again, hence EGO. It was a great release with one objective, which was just to have a load of fun with my mates and fall in love with making music again. It definitely taught me a lot and I think coming back to my long term love affair I’ll certainly bring a new outlook to it. Once I realised I had a new body of work I didn’t even know if I would release it, but a resounding message kept coming to me that I still had work to do and that I carried a message. I believe this message to be in what I write, which is why – just like the last album – I’m releasing this stuff in support of CALM, who are leading a movement against suicide.
New members?
The new stuff coming out is all me. It started as a personal project that just kind of grew organically and turned into a body of work. It’s the first time I’ve produced my own stuff too, with some wonderful mastering by my good friend Nick Fisher up in Scotland. Live shows there will be new members, with only Phil remaining. Matty and Fiske have other things going on in their lives right now and they’re happy, which is the most important thing – and we’re all on good terms. The door isn’t closed, it’s been left ajar.
The last Sean Grant & The Wolfgang album The Shadows Are Lengthening was something of a triumph, but you weren’t around to promote it very long. How do you view that album now?
Thank you for saying so. I think from finishing the recording of the album it took two years to come out with regards to mixing, mastering, record labels, etc. As you can imagine by that time it took a lot of energy to do the promotion and tour that we did but we just ran out of energy and love for it to be honest. We were all tired: I was in probably one of my worst mental states, and we all just needed a break. I look at it with fondness, although I look at it also as a bastardised picture of what I wanted to paint. Not that that’s all a bad thing, but I think when you have a vision of what you want to create and give your paintbrush too willingly to too many people it becomes something different. Don’t get me wrong, in places it’s better than I could have imagined, but it doesn’t feel like the picture I set out to create. I guess that’s why with this new record I wanted to make it all my own, to see what kind of picture I would paint left to my own devices.
Moving back to today, how do you feel you’ve developed musically, and lyrically with this new phase?
I think today I just want to be my untainted, unfiltered creative self and what I’ve done in this record. How I’ve used my voice or what I done musically is just from my source, or from my heart, without much critical thought over it or revisit. I think that’s when I’m at my best, and also what I enjoy doing the most – so that’s what I’ve done. I rediscovered why I would continue to make music, and just ran with it.
The album is called ’33’. You’ve developed a theme for this number based on science and mythology, right.
Most definitely. 33 or the number 3 was a number that kept on cropping up for me throughout the last year, through my striving to get well, be a better person and work out the meaning of life and everything. I turned 33 in December as it happens too. It’s all in there lyrically for listeners to unravel; let’s just say that there are 33 vertebrae’s in the spine, Jesus was supposedly 33 when he died, and Chapter 33 in the Tao is all about knowing yourself.
The first single ‘Bodies Of Christ’ references darkness and chaos. You’ve been on quite the journey in recent times haven’t you, seeking personal betterment.
Definitely. I just felt ill, sick in body and in mind and I had exhausted the external material lifestyle that had slowly increased over time. I was at my worst suffering with my mental health and insomnia. It was a choice of continuing down the same path, or taking responsibility and start to look after myself. Having lost two friends in the music business in the space of a year to suicide I knew where I was headed, so I decided to change everything. I started exercising, meditating, became vegan, starting living a more minimalist lifestyle – and most importantly I started feeding my brain with educational and spiritual information.
Tell us about the video for ‘Bodies Of Christ’.
It’s telling the tale of searching for enlightenment. I was reading something about the original Eucharist wine being spiked purposefully to enhance the spiritual experience. I guess like that of Ayahuasca or DMT, and the video was kind of inspired by that. Through my own experiences with meditation I believe that there’s certainly the ability to access something much greater than ourselves and the video is I guess combining these things together, be it religion, Witchery or whatever you want to call it.
Has lockdown helped your creativity, or stunted it?
Personally it’s definitely helped me. It’s given me time and space to really think about what I enjoy doing, and what I wanted to create.
You missing the scene? Any hot new tips?
Most definitely. I really miss live shows, even just places where people go to hang out and share and have a laugh. I’m obsessed with Enjoyable Listens at the moment.
What is your burning desire for the band to do in the future? What plans do you have?
I decided that I would like to release something every year till the day I die, be it an album, EP, single etc…So this last year has all been about putting myself in a position where I can do it all myself without having to rely on anyone, or wait for anyone telling me what I can or can’t do. Other than that I have no expectations, and I’m just happy to be making music again.
‘Bodies Of Christ‘ by Sean Grant & The Wolfgang is out now via the usual digital platforms, with the album 33 following on May 21st via Shrink Your World Records
