Behind the Sound: Torii Wolf
Epidemic Sound’s artists make our company sing. Join the unclassifiable, genre-bending Torii Wolf for the sixth edition of Behind the Sound.
Epidemic Sound is a next-level soundtracking platform because of our artists. Together, we help everyone from solo creators to multinational brands find their voice — that’s worth shouting about.
Today, we’re heading into the sixth edition of Behind the Sound, in which we celebrate the musicians who’re taking Epidemic Sound to the next level. This month, it’s LA-based artist Torii Wolf.
Their music is stellar, unique, eclectic. They’ve worked with mainstream icons like Macklemore, but their debut album was produced by cult legend DJ Premier. Their style is singular in its variety, drawing comparisons to everything from Björk and Radiohead to Portishead and Lorde.
Trip-hop, synth-pop, alternative rock, indie-pop, trance, EDM — they’re just toys to be played with. The primal, sensual style doesn’t slot into neat genre boxes, nor does it need to. Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, and more have all used Torii’s haunting, idiosyncratic music in their content.
Torii Wolf is always undeniably Torii Wolf, and no less on their new EP, Better Off. Ahead of the record’s release on July 18, we sat down with Torii to unpeel their musical curiosity, their unending love for Sigur Rós, and the power of ‘the spiritual trumpet.’
With a career spanning 15 years and multiple genres, how do you keep your work fresh and relevant?
Torii Wolf: “Collaboration has been such a phenomenal source of inspiration. Much like conversation or any form of intimacy with another source of life, collaboration by way of sound, powered by emotion, is a language. We get to expand on [it] in a space of being vulnerable, sharing who we are and where we come from.
“Curiosity, depth of feeling, and keeping the eyes of a child have always been the driving force of my experience here on this planet.”
You aim to create a safe space for listeners through your music. Which artists inspired this approach, and how did they influence your sound?
TW: “Sigur Rós has been my guiding light in a lot of ways. Jonsi’s voice is so beyond angelic, and I feel it deep inside my soul. His voice has held me through the darkest and most beautiful of times in my life.
“It was never about the lyrics, but the emotion that felt so deeply relatable. I would say that his sound is what my emotional body sounds like, and that connection is such a gift.”
You’ve worked with some big artists. What’s been your biggest takeaway from doing so?
TW: “Everyone is just a small child in a grown-up body. The more youthful and vibrant the soul, the deeper the connection I have found in the sound.”
If your sound had a scent, what would it be?
TW: “I feel it would be a mixture of wood and ocean — warm, earthy scents are what I live and breathe.
“I love to keep Palo Santo [a tree native to South America] with me all of the time. I believe in Palo Santo’s deep healing and cleansing properties, [and] I believe in music’s deep healing and cleansing properties.
“I would [also] probably say sandalwood. I love to burn wood. So maybe that. Maybe a little bit of the ocean.”
What’s something in your creative process that probably makes no sense to anyone but you?
TW: “Where I don’t like to do any human being [stuff], especially during creative time. Like, I don’t want to go to the bathroom or eat food — anything to alter my vessel. I want to be a completely clear channel for whatever is trying to come through.”
You’ve called your voice a “spiritual trumpet.” What’s the most important message it’s sent out so far?
TW: “I believe that the most important message that has come through my music is that we are never alone. We are energy, and energy cannot be destroyed. Our souls transmute. We are always here.
“I believe that in deep connection, we’ll always stay connected in whatever form that may take. Infinitely. Ever-evolving.”
Do you create from instinct, memory, or something else entirely?
TW: “I typically find that I create from tapping [into] the spirit. A lot of the time, I feel like I’m kind of communicating in my human body from the spirit realm. To share messages through sound and song.”
When someone listens to your music, what’s the one thing you hope they walk away with?
TW: “A sense of feeling that they belong and that they feel held and understood. I feel that music has a way of being a container for us to surrender to our feelings and [process] our experiences here, being humans. I can only hope that the songs I create can be safe containers for others to feel closer to themselves.”
Your music feels like it’s guiding people — do you see yourself as a lighthouse or a wanderer?
TW: “I feel I am both the wanderer and the lighthouse. Every guiding light has had to wander some to find their glow.”
Torii Wolf’s latest EP, Better Off, is available on all major streaming platforms from July 18.
Listen to Torii Wolf’s Epidemic Sound discography below, and keep an eye out for the next edition of Behind the Sound.
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