Shane DeGraaff, lead vocalist of Calgary hardcore band From the Wolves, says that his musical motivation came early: his father was into music, so when DeGraaff was a child he was already playing instruments. And when he discovered punk, DeGraaff picked up a bass guitar and started playing in punk bands.
DeGraaff says that playing music has been a good release for him; he says he gets his inspiration for his lyrics from his daily life and experiences.
“I just take from daily life,” he says. “Things that have happened to me. Things I see happening in the world. I try to stick with things that are affecting me personally, for the most part. That way I can feel like I can have more of a message behind it when I do put it to lyrics; then it’s not just some hollow, empty thing. I try to pull from those experiences. And if I’m seeing something in the news that is happening in the world I feel connected to, I might write about that.”
The message behind DeGraaff’s music, he says, is to question religion and deal with depression, death, and loss of loved ones. DeGraaff grew up in a very religious school, and is now an atheist. His lyrics, he says, are critical of all religions, not just one.
“I grew up in a very religious school and I’m an atheist,” he says. “In all reality none of us are religious at all. I think religion is a very stupid topic, and it has caused a lot of issues in the world. It’s not just one religion—it’s all of them.”
DeGraaff stands against religion and injustice; what he does believe in, he says, is being a good human being. He says he hopes that the band’s message will cause people to stand up for themselves.
“For me personally, I believe in just being good human beings, and a lot of the people that get written about that affect me are due to people being either backstabbers or liars or trying to put on a façade that isn’t really there,” he says. “I want to show everybody that we do have a very hard, aggressive style, and it comes off that we are very aggressive, but in all reality we are upset with what has happened and transpired in the past, and we don’t want those things to happen again. And hopefully, through the message that we bring, people stand up for themselves and for what they believe in.”
From the Wolves
Saturday, February 11
$12, Logans Pub
loganspub.com