Wall of Sound presents: “2021 YEAR IN REVIEW” By Bad Wolves’ Doc Coyle
2021 was a massive year of change for Bad Wolves.
The band underwent a lineup change that pushed their trajectory further than anticipated after welcoming new frontman Daniel “DL” Lasckiewicz to the group (scene kids may know him for his work previously with The Acacia Strain). The band also released their highly anticipated album Dear Monsters and have been setting themselves up for a massive return to the music scene post-covid.
We caught up with mastermind/lead guitarist Doc Coyle to find out more intricate details about his year and what the band have to look forward to going into 2022 and beyond as they continue their world domination!
TOP 5 ALBUMS OF 2021
#5. Mastodon – Hushed and Grim
#4. Architects – For Those That Wish To Exist
#3. Gojira – Fortitude
#2. Mammoth WVH – Self-titled
#1. Turnstile – Glow Up
TOP 5 SONGS OF 2021
#5. Bring Me The Horizon – ‘Die4U’
#4. Ice Nine Kills – ‘Hip To Be Scared’
#3. Turnstile – ‘HOLIDAY’
#2. Mastodon – ‘Teardrinker’
#1. Silk Sonic ‘Leave The Door Open’
BEST MUSIC VIDEO OF 2021
Turnstile ‘TURNSTILE LOVE CONNECTION’
This is a composite video of 4 tracks from their album Glow Up, and it’s what turned me on to the band. Besides having great songs, there is a unique style and presentation to the video that makes you feel like you are getting a sneak peak into a very organic and cool youth culture. The production value is off the charts. This looks like it could be a fucking commerical for The GAP. I had a very similar feeling after watching this as when seeing the Refused ‘New Noise’ music video for the first time.
LAST GIG YOU PLAYED BEFORE COVID HIT?
March 8th 2020 in Columbia, SC with The Wedding Band. The Wedding Band is an All-Star cover band I’m in featuring Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo from Metallica as well as Whitfield Crane from Ugly Kid Joe and Jon Theodore from Queens of the Stone Age. This is pretty crazy band that somehow I ended up in with some of my musical heroes. We play an eclectic collection of music from Judas Priest to The Ohio Players to Billy Idol to Cheech and Chong. There was a shop around the corner from our hotel that sold these loud church suits so we all dressed up very loud and very debonair. It was an absolute blast and ironically my first show since then will be with The Wedding Band this month in San Francisco.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT RETURNING TO THE STAGE?
I’m feeling somewhere between restlessness, eagerness, excitement, and even a little nervousness if I’m being honest. Bad Wolves has been through so many changes and with a new album, it’s kind of like staring into a dark tunnel where you can’t see the end. It’s the unknown and I think I have control freak tendencies where I lean into preparing as much as possible. I’ll feel a lot more at ease when we can get knee deep in rehearsals and just making the show sound great. I am really looking forward to just getting away. The pandemic has made reality even more real in a way that can be negatively introspective and there is an escapist quality to touring that I really miss. It allows you to be in an active and connective routine that is really centering for me. I’ve spent most of my adulthood on tour and it will be almost 2 years since I’ve done the thing I know the most.
HOW DID YOU STAY BUSY THROUGHOUT THE PAST TWO YEARS?
I feel like I worked harder in the last couple years than I have in a while. Bad Wolves spent a good part of 2020 creating content for our Patreon page and that gave us an incredible opportunity to connect with fans in a very intimate way. I invested in my home studio, added more to my guitar collection, and bought a lot of camera and lighting to get more self-sufficient with recording, streaming and creating content. Bad Wolves made an album over the course of around 18 months. I really got to focus on my podcast, The Ex-Man and even joined another show, Last Words, on The Pit for almost a year as a host. I also lost 2 parents within a years between 2020-21 so I think like most people around the world, the pandemic was perhaps the most challenging time of my life. But I’m sure I’ve grown due to coming through the other side of the adversity.
BEST ADVICE GOING INTO 2022?
People always use a phrase, “You are what you eat”, which is certainly true, but what I think is also true is that you are what you think or what you focus on. I think being locked down and away from people has made many of us dive deeper into internet and social media bubbles and echo chambers. Many of us spend a lot of time focusing on really negative things, bad news, and cherry picking the worst of evidence of groups we’ve decided we don’t like and consume it ad nauseum. This creates a funhouse mirror version of reality that many people are convinced is objective. My advice would be to unplug and monitor your media/social media diet. Drowning your mind in all the bad news happening throughout the world all the time might make you somewhat more informed, but it will certainly make you have more anxiety and create more disdain for your fellow humans.
WHAT ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2022?
I’m looking forward to a true end to the pandemic (which may not happen in 2022). It would be nice to be able to travel around a bit more carefree at some point. I know it will be a new normal, but I’ll take what I can get. I am also just looking forward to something different. Some true excitement. The biggest downside to me of the last couple years has been monotony and a lack of stimulation. I am someone who enjoys novelty. I’m hoping life becomes more lively.
Written by Doc Coyle @DocCoyle
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