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Miss Mixtape’s Band of the Week: Wolff and Tuba

Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Anna Wagner
Her Campus Placeholder Avatar Molly Zimnoch
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Quinnipiac chapter.

Who He Is

Let’s discuss the common misconceptions about tubas, shall we? Most people will agree that they are weird looking, loud, and often played by awkward high school students during half time. Well, add a couple of distorter peddles and a soundboard and you can throw those misconceptions to the wind. Brian Wolff started playing tuba at 24 and partnered with drummer Tony Nozero to start the band (blatantly named) Drums and Tuba. Drums and Tuba have toured with Cake, Primus and Ani Defranco, who signed them to her Righteous Babe label in 2001.After several years Wolff and Nozero parted ways, which led to Wolff’s solo career. Wolff creates a trippy yet intense industrial electronica sound that not only makes you move, but hypnotizes you. Yes, electronica with a tuba. Wolff truly utilizes this instrument to its full potential, not simply using the tuba’s low grumble, but its higher pitches as well.  Wolff’s music is a peculiar (but completely creative) twist on this traditional instrument.

Why You Should Listen to Him

Last month, I went to Toad’s with my friend to see Buckethead. I knew the experience ahead of me was going to be pretty freakish, so I braced myself. As the lights dimmed, Wolff and his glorious tuba appeared on the stage.
The minute I saw the tuba I was instantly curious.  The crowd was understandably hesitant. A one-man tuba band is delicious fodder for a heckler. He blew one single note and distorted it, to make an ear-grabbing and brilliantly unique sound. It was like Jimi Hendrix in band geek form, and I completely ate it up.  Wolff was one of the most passionate artists I have seen live, even with this huge awkward instrument; he played with everything he had. I can truly say, seeing him live was an amazing concert adventure. If you want to get the full experience, see him live. Every weekend Wolff plays a show at Pianos: A trendy club venue in New York City.  Because of he regularly sells out shows the club implemented a rule for those show goers: if they want to see Wolff, they have to be there early, because the show fills up fast.

 

When should you listen to him?

  • When you want to tune someone out. (Perhaps the annoying bro walking in front of you talking about how he hooked up with some chick at a Wiz Khalifa concert)
  • When you want to think about philosophy and other deep things
  • When you are showering
  • When walking back to your dorm after a night class
  • When driving alone
  • When you are creating art (or writing a paper, come on, you have no time for art in college!)


Your Mix Tape: Suggested Tracks

Bull Elephant, Broken Words, Tomorrow is a New World, Puercoespine, Blue Monday, We’re Not Gonna Take it (Twisted Sister cover)
 
Linkage
http://www.wolffandtuba.com/music.php
http://www.myspace.com/wolffandtuba

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Molly is a senior print journalism major and psychology minor at Quinnipiac University. She enjoys cooking, baking, reading, and spending as much time on the beach as possible. Molly loves to travel, and recently brought home a dog, Kodiak, from Rincon, Puerto Rico in January 2011. She is an aspiring food writer for publications such as Gourmet, and Fine Cooking. In preparation for this career, Molly spent the summer of 2011 working on an organic farm, and hopes to attend the Culinary Institute of America after graduating from QU in the spring. Having been a transfer to Quinnipiac in the fall of her sophomore year, Molly knows the importance of being outgoing and friendly, and hopes to make many wonderful memories during her last year in Hamden.