Night of the song hunter
Does Lou Reed remember Flemish band Oscar and The Wolf ? If he’s been to see them, he certainly will do, since they’re captivating live. But why on earth would Lou Reed go and watch them in the first place, you might wonder. Because they opened for him in June last year, in Luxembourg’s Rockhal.
Flemish band Oscar and The Wolf close a chapter with an EP compilation
“I would be surprised if Lou Reed chooses his own opening act,” says Max Colombie, the singer and mainstay of the fivesome Oscar and The Wolf. “I think it was the organiser’s choice.” And no, he didn’t speak with the New York musician. “I could have if I had wanted to, since I saw him backstage and in the canteen. But he looked tired, as if he didn’t want any contact. I didn’t feel like it, anyway: I’m shy when it comes to talking to famous people.”
New direction
While still working on an official full-length debut album, due some time next year, Oscar and The Wolf have released EP Collection, a combination of their two previous EPs, Imagine Mountains and Summer Skin, plus two previously unreleased tracks. The band play contemplative folk rock with lovely harmonies. At least, that’s what you’ll find on EP Collection, because the next release will show a different face of the group. The present release closes a chapter in the band’s history.
Until now, the music had not been dissimilar to that of Bon Iver or Isbells. But change has come. “It’s important not to keep repeating yourself,” Colombie says. “I’d like to describe the new songs we’re recording as we speak as both sexy and dark: You can dance to them, but they can also make you think. They’re more electronic, I’d like to create a party, albeit a dark one. I hope the music sounds futuristic. It’s the influence of bands like Flying Lotus, Darkstar or Kuedo.”
Whatever music Colombie plays nowadays, he’s come a long way since 2005 when he came second in Eurokids, the Flemish selection event for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. “I was 13 going on 14. I wanted to be on a stage, I signed up and was selected. I wouldn’t advise it for children younger than 12, because it’s very weird to suddenly have 100 friends instead of four. I also discovered that children can be very cruel. But I was 14 and could already put things in perspective.” Laughing, he adds: “It left me unharmed.”
Colombie started Oscar and The Wolf four years ago, with guitarist Filip Brans and bass player Roland Spooren. He’s from Dilbeek, the two others are from Lommel, in the northeast of Limburg province. “But we met when we were studying in Ghent. I was enrolled at Sint Lucas, where I studied painting. I quit because in class I was playing music more than painting. My teachers understood very well that music was a higher calling. But I still like to paint. I often associate images with my music, and vice versa. It’s impossible to separate them.”
Spooren recently had to leave the band for medical reasons. He’s been replaced and the band also has a drummer and keyboard and guitar player, but Colombie, who writes the songs, is undoubtedly the man behind Oscar and The Wolf.
Of course, melomaniacs will associate the band name with “Peter and the Wolf ”, the musical fairytale by Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev. Colombie says: “I’ve been told this several times already, but honestly: I had never heard of it when I chose the name.”
So, what is the story behind the name? Colombie: “I opted for an alter ego because when writing songs, I feel like someone else: I go into a trance and can’t be disturbed. I like to work at night, too, and I’m very intrigued by the moon. I think it was Nietzsche who once said that the moon is a medium that makes us humans feel lonely. It became my motto when writing songs. From the moon to a wolf is a small step. And Oscar sounds better than Max. Oscar is the boy who sucks up life during the day and uses this inspiration at night.”
A smile appears on his face. “People sometimes ask me if I’m unhappy.” And? His answer is emphatic: “No! I make dark music because the intensity of the deepest pain is, certainly at my age, much stronger than that of happiness or ecstasy. I love art that is cheerful at first glance, but is full of irony: the music of The Smiths. Or the paintings of (the Flemish luminist) Emile Claus: His works, with colours as eye-candy, appear to be celebrating life’s beauty, but underneath lies a strong melancholia.” Let that be precisely what you find on EP Collection. And what the future will hold, only the future can tell.
27 JULY
Bruksellive
Groentheater, Brussels
Boomtown
Kouter, Ghent
www.oscarandthewolf.com
