Remi Wolf is Pop Music’s Best Friend

The eccentric genre-bending superstar wants your attention — and she deserves it. 

by Aurora Zboch

Photo by Haley Appell

Remi Wolf is sitting in her hotel room hours before the first show of her two-night run in Toronto, opening for the incomparable pop powerhouse that is Lorde. The titles of all of Wolf’s musical projects have been canine-themed, and it shows: her red-tipped curls overflow like a poodle under a wool bucket hat. Looking comfy as can be in a fluffy pink and purple knit cardigan, she radiates friendly and laidback golden retriever energy. Wolf’s latest release, Juno, is affectionately named after her French bulldog who peed in the studio more times than she cares to recall during the recording process. Much like her fashion, all of Wolf’s music is bright, larger than life, and chaotically harmonious. 

The LA-based songwriter’s identity has been tied to being a performer since she was 10 years old. To this day, she writes with the clear intention of having fun material to give her absolute all to while performing on stage. “It’s in my blood, it’s in my DNA, it’s in the DNA of the songs,” Wolf says. 

With the dog days of the pandemic over, Wolf throws that intrinsic power into live performance mode. She feels gratitude as she watches audiences in every city getting out of their seats to dance. Later that night, Wolfe channels her balmy west coast charisma as she warms up the crowd at Toronto’s Meridian Hall, belting her heart out in a bright sporty jumpsuit. Her vocal talents are simply outstanding, proven by the ease with which she growls and screams into the mic between melodies. And Wolf never misses – she kills the vocal endurance test that she creates in her own setlist. The crowd cheers as she shares hit after hit, including “Sexy Villain,” “Disco Man” and a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” infused with her signature swagger and powerful belts. 

Wolf’s music has taken the internet by storm over the last few years, and it’s hard to not stay intrigued by her eccentric antics. Her IG bio reads: “Remi Wolf is spayed, microchipped, flea treated, dewormed, and is current on vaccines.” Wolf’s viral hit “Photo ID” currently has over 211,000 hits on TikTok, which helped launch her big personality and riveting funk sound to the masses. The overflowing comment sections on her work shows how deeply she moves listeners with relatable and brightly-hued jingles. 

Every story Wolf has behind a song comes down to a reflection of the friendship she builds with her collaborators, a good indication of why it’s so easy to connect to the earnest and infectious energy emanating from each one. “I only like putting the songs out that have really good, solid memories with the people I’m close to,” Wolf says. “It really makes me feel like I’m doing something with my life. It makes it more fun and more meaningful at the end of the day.”

Her single “Pool” with Still Woozy is one of many tracks to grow out of a pleasant bonding experience and songwriting session. Wolf’s chill Californian timbre comes out as she tells the story behind her latest release. “It all just happened in the moment,” she says, describing working on an uncharacteristically gentle vocal arrangement. The idyllic music video captures the two unable to resist headbanging and jumping even during one of the most tender moments in her discography so far. “For both of us, the song was filled with a lot of strong emotions. We were both going through a lot at the time. We were both overwhelmed with life and both stressed and grateful for everything, and grateful for each other’s friendship during the whole thing,” Wolf says. 

Wolf’s producer and co-writer Jared Solomon, aka Solomonophonic, has been one of the most consistent collaborators and kindred souls throughout the process of creating her debut record and previous EPs. They distill the genius of songwriting into the subtle art of vibing and shouting out ideas as they come to mind. Wolf feels lucky to have conjured ideas out of thin air and turned them into well-crafted songs. 

After years of perfecting and performing her song “Liz,” Wolf satisfied her longtime fans (lovingly referred to as RemJobs) with a studio version last year. It reflects on lessons from her close friend and the sister-like bond they share. The making-of mini documentary of “Liz” looks like a cottage weekend with a tight-knit group of mates sharing the gift of music in its purest form. “I’m not just a frenzy, spur-of-the-moment mania writer, although I do enjoy that —  A lot. I really like instant gratification, so songs that make me happy in the moment,” she says. 

Wolf goes on to explain the meaning behind “gwingle gwongle,” a fun set of syllables to musically murmur, and the name of her upcoming tour. “It’s the devil and the angel, but it’s also the human experience. It is what it is – we’re all going through this shit at the same time and there’s no real way to define it. Time doesn’t exist and it’s just gwingle gwongle, man.”

Wolf embarks on her headlining Gwingle Gwongle Tour this fall, stopping for another two back to back nights in Toronto on October 15 and 16. She takes a moment to think of her plans for when the current tour with Lorde ends. In her short stint of time off she’ll be running around her home base in LA, going on writing trips, and hopefully taking a vacation to turn off her mind and experience being human again. At least, as human as she can be.