Wooli has been one of the bigger names in the bass scene for the past few years now and the dubstep DJ and producer has been continuing to make waves with his heavy sound. He has recently announced his upcoming tour ‘Impact,’ has new music with Excision coming, and plenty of other news which he shared with us ahead of his set at Decadence Arizona. To learn about what’s in store, some of his favorite places to play, and some fun stories, keep reading on in this tell-all interview!
TSS: You just announced your new tour Impact last month. Can you tell me about how that, what’s unique about it, and what’s going into it?
Wooli: So the Impact tour I picked, we wanted to pick the cities that I thought were some of my favorite cities to play. They asked me, where do you want to play? We’re gonna do a small little run, but we were gonna do it on a larger scale, larger than I’ve ever done before. So it’s the first time I’ve ever had to build a stage, which is very unique to me. Cause I’ve never had the opportunity to build my custom stage from what’s in my head. It’s always whatever somebody else decided, you know? So that’s like, I’m really, really looking forward to it. It’s been a lot of fun, the process of making a stage for the first time. I’m playing Montreal, Chicago, San Fran, and Denver. Those are some of the cities that I believe have the strongest crowds right now. I even asked to play Arizona but there wasn’t a venue available, so hopefully we get to do an Arizona date, pretty soon as well.
TSS: Well, that’s a bummer that you can’t come back here. But I’d say other than just like you feeling the crowds there, what else about those cities resonates with you?
Wooli: Montreal was lone of those first crowds where I just felt instantly there was something different. The crowds were just like, they knew every single song. They were very, very educated and everyone always says Denver is the Bass Capital of the world. But I was trying to push this narrative that it’s actually Montreal, don’t get me wrong, Denver is still like the bass capital of the United States, but the world, I haven’t seen a crowd that gives that kind of energy quite like Montreal. And it’s really like, everyone kind of is like, okay, yeah, I get it. And then they finally go there. They’re like, “oh my god,” it’s just a different breed.
[Image: wooli4]
TSS: That’s awesome. Yeah. I saw the four cities that you picked, so I know there had to be probably some special connection to that. So other than that tour that you’ve announced, so just any other plans that you have set in concrete for 2023 right now?
Wooli: Yeah. I’m still chipping away at my album. I have to finally put out the EP with Excision. We’re doing our second EP. That will start coming out at the end of January, 2023. I’m gonna be trying to do my own bus tour for the first time at the end of the year. So that’s something to like, have a bunch of anxiety about. A ton more festivals, going to some new countries for the first time. I think things are kind of like, you know, especially Europe, things are getting a little bit more relaxed with the whole Covid thing, so I’m excited to go back out there and see and reconnect with some of my European fans and stuff like that.
TSS: So how would you say the bass scene in Europe compares to the bass scene here? I know I heard it’s kind of a little bit prevalent there, but I hear it’s kind of picking up some.
Wooli: It’s hit and miss. It all depends on the promoter in the city. Like, I played places in Paris where it’s just insane. I played places where I thought dubstep would work more, where they wanted drum and bass, which is, that’s what they knew, you know,. In the United States that’s not like that anywhere. So it was kind of interesting to see what the crowds are like. I would say that if you’re gonna play dubstep in Europe, the two places I would go to are Paris or anywhere in France really and also Germany. The Boats House Club has a really, really, really good in-house dubs and fired-up crowd.
Excision & Wooli – Name Drop |
TSS: So would you say you tailor your sets to kind of the places you go to? Or do you just stay true to your own sound and play what you normally do because that’s kind of your identity?
Wooli: Right. So I try not to plan my sets too crazy and meticulously. I like to go with the flow and like to vibe out with the crowd. However, when I was just on this tour with Slander, they were on their bus tour and I’d joined them for a couple dates and they were kind of making fun of me because I would do special things for every city. So like Buffalo, I’m from upstate New York and I’m a huge Buffalo Bills fan. So I played like the Buffalo Bills shout song. Like when they scored touchdowns, I made an edit with that. Or in Montreal, I made a song when the Canadians score or a goal, there’s that song they play, like, I just have little tiny hints. In Chicago, I played the Chelsea Dagger song. I try to add little flavors to the city, keep it fun, keep it feel special and like, you know.I think it’s important to keep it where the fans think that you actually care about them because you do. And if you’re just playing the same set over and over, it’s not that special.
TSS: That’s awesome. So kind of getting into the festival (Decadence Arizona, you’re about to hop on stage here, so as a staple NYE event in the area, what does it mean for you to play here tonight?
Wooli: Decadence has a really prestigious name. I know Decadence in Denver and in Phoenix.I mean those are like, if you’re playing those, you’re doing something right. So I’m really honored to be here and I can’t imagine like I’m playing at midnight tonight? It was like, couldn’t get any better than that. For some reason, it makes me feel important inside.
TSS: Well that’s cool. Glad you feel that way. Yeah, you deserve it for sure. Anything special in store for your set, for those who are about to witness it and those who are about to read about it once this article goes live in a couple of weeks?
Wooli: Well I get to play play for an hour and 15 minutes, so usually when they gimme another 15 minutes I try to play more deeper, melodic stuff to break it up. And then just crazy new double drops that I thought of on the ride here.
TSS: Awesome. So for NYE, do you do anything different for these kinds of sets or are they similar to your normal sets at another festival or on your tour?
Wooli: As of late I’ve been trying to showcase a lot more of my own music. I’ve been able to build up a catalog of my own tunes where it’s filling up more predominantly in most of my sets. I’m definitely gonna do that. And then a lot of my favorite tunes that my friends have been sending me lately. I’ve had a couple, like three weeks off now, which feels like forever. I was able to dig a little bit deeper. I finally was home, get to go on SoundCloud, just check out like who’s making what. And so I’m gonna try to play some new tunes tonight.
TSS: Cool I’m sure you don’t get that kind of lay down time to actually find new music that often.
Wooli: Yeah, the holidays are a great time to recharge for sure.
TSS: Any New Year’s resolutions that you want to share?
Wooli: I think next year I’m gonna cut out more video games out my life and other time wasters. I want to l really just try to devote myself to something productive in my space that will further help my career. And in some way, yeah, I feel like I got too sidetracked when if I get home. I get too sidetracked playing video games where I’m not being productive and then I l get down on myself. So I think that’s gonna be important and just like trying to be healthier overall.
TSS: Yeah, definitely. It shows you’re down to earth and I’m sure a lot of your fans are the same way, so I’m sure that will resonate with them at the very least.
Wooli: Yeah, absolutely.
TSS: Do you have any crazy New Year’s Eve memories that you’re able to share?
Wooli: Uh, yeah, I guess so. Like, I think it was like 2019, this was like pr- pandemic. I put out this song around that time with Excision called “Lockdown” and it turned out to be one of my bigger tunes. But I rememberI was playing an Excision New Year’s Eve show, and he was the headliner. Of course he’s Excision, so he does like the countdown and I was so excited that it was still a fresh tune at the time that he was doing the countdown with “Lockdown,” it was like five or three and he timed it to the balloon drop and I was so excited. I went to go film it and then I turned around, I was like, wait, what am I forgetting right now? And I forgot to kiss my girlfriend, and she’ll never let me forget.
TSS: Oh no!
Wooli: Yeah, so I haven’t forgotten since.
TSS: Good luck. You got this this time. And then just reflecting on 2022. What did you take away from the year and what did you just learn from 2022 that you’re gonna take into next year?
Wooli: I think that I’m gonna take it next year just like how every action has a reaction. Like what I said about my resolution is gonna be, I experimented adding and cutting out things in my life and seeing the benefits and the reaction and the long term effects, like actually seeing like actual visible changes and fans are noticing things that are different. Like “your sets have gotten better” because I uninstalled all my video games. I’m gonna rechange all my sets. I wanna change everything. People are like, “what happened? Your sets got like 10 times better.” I was like, okay, I’m seeing if you actually do things, good things can come out of it. You just gotta apply yourself and then actually go ahead and do it. So I think that was like something this year that I was able to finally grasp.
TSS: That’s great. And yeah, last question. Anything else that you want to add that you want to say to your fans and readers?
Wooli: Yeah, I’m stoked to see y’all coming up with the Impact shows next year. Hopefully gonna be seeing you on a bus tour next year too.
So there you have it. It was great talking to Wooli and learning what he has going on and what’s to come from him. Expect a huge year from the guy and we are excited to his tour and all the music to come!
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