Wolf J McFarlane: Relit and Ready at Known Unknown

Return of the mack! Just one of the tracks DJ Starvin Marvin had the crowd jamming to at September’s The Known Unknown at Measure Bar. The event, founded and hosted by Tika Simone, dedicated this showcase of musicians to re-introducing Wolf J McFarlane, a phenomenal artist, back on the stage with a vengeance.

Artistically inclined, wearing colored pants, a white shirt, a black tie and accompanied by an equally dapper, live band, McFarlane progressed through a variation of styles that included without any limitations, R&B, hip-hop, soul, funk, house and pop.

“The whole point of me doing this, was for every song to feel like a single,” he says. He smoothly transitions from each track to the next, diverse in genre but complete and together as a whole performance. No doubt, the man knows what he’s doing as an artist, remaining humble, saying, “but at the end of the day, it’s all still me.” His energy warmed the entire venue reaching the exposed brick walls with soul and charisma.

“The whole point of me doing this, was for every song to feel like a single.” – Wolf J McFarlane

McFarlane first established himself as a solo artist in 2009, releasing a CD, but later experienced a change of pace. “I ended up working on some new stuff, still wasn’t quite refined to the way I wanted it to sound,” he explains. Feeling as though he walked a road, paving it, but not quite experiencing all, he wanted to see another way.

“I ended up leaving, and traveling through Australia for a month, just to hit reset.” It was there the spark re-lit, as he ended up writing again, starting with “Moments”, the sixth track of his EP titled Live Your Life, Vol. 1, which released

in August. A second volume of Live Your Life is anticipated as producer Freeway Freddy, a.k.a. Don Fredericko, who was inside the event to support the local artists, alluded to possibly having a few tracks on the project.

“[Wolf J] is a good person to talk to about branding, and how to present yourself as an artist.” – Jaek DeLarge

Also on the bill were artists like Coleman Hell, who performed with an eclectic sound that complimented Wolf J McFarlane and Jaek DeLarge, who has worked with Wolf J on his own brand development in the past.

As DeLarge explains, McFarlane’s multifaceted nature in his music also trademarks in his artistic design abilities. “He is a good person to talk to about branding, and how to present yourself as an artist – I met him at a point where I was doing that...” shares Jaek DeLarge, another talented artist that had the crowd jumping, showing up with a crew of supporters full of energy and love. “Now [Wolf J]’s coming back officially.”

Words By. Dinusha Wijemanne + Photos By. Samantha O’Connor