Wolves At The Gate

There' s something special that happens when just the right people come together at just the right time with a like-minded goal. Such is the case with the rapidly emerging post-hardcore outfit Wolves at the Gate. "We aren't trying to appease anybody." says guitarist/vocalist Steve Cobucci, "If we never get to play music for a living, this is awesome." Saying this, Cobucci is speaking of the bands explosive "We Are The Ones" EP. However, with the imminent re-release of that EP via Solid State Records, things are about to get very busy for the enthusiastic 5 piece. Originating from the small town of Cedarville Ohio, the men of Wolves at the Gate never saw themselves ending up here. Forming in 2008, each member was on a completely different track in life. While all attending college in Cedarville, music was a passion for each individual, but wasn't where they saw their lives going. "I got my degree in History Education." says Cobucci "Jeremy got his degree is communications, Ben got his degree in marketing and I actually taught high school history for a year" However, as it turned out, there was more in the cards for the hopeful college students than looking for a job after graduation. "I was always going to shows and seeing bands perform. I always loved being the listener. Listening to it so much though, I really wanted to create my own version of all the music I liked. Just to combine all the things I really appreciate about music." This drive led Cobucci to join with vocalist Colin Jones, bassist Ben Summers, guitarist Jeremy Steckel and drummer Ben Millhouse to form… Goodnight Doctor? Cobucci explains: "The first few shows we ever played we were called "Goodnight Doctor" That was a phrase my dad would say when he would stub his toe or bang his head on something and we thought that was hilarious, but when we realized we wanted to start trying to be a real band we wanted something that had a real meaning to it." And meaning they got. The origins of the name “Wolves at the Gate” are explained by Cobucci: "The name comes from the bible in Acts 20 24-32." He continues to explain the verse which is spoken in whole on the first track of the bands EP- "Toward the end of that passage Paul says that there will be a time that savage wolves will try to come in and try to distort the truth, and that's just what we see today. People not giving a clear depiction of the gospel, so as it says in our album, we aren't the wolves at the gate, we are the ones who face them." From that point on, the band had a unified mindset, started writing better songs and set out to put their ideas to tape. The group jumped into recording their EP with an impassioned fervor. "It was pretty grueling." reminisces Cobucci, "We all worked full time jobs, so basically for about a month we would go to work, then be at the studio until 3 in the morning, then back to work at 7:30 in the morning." The result of this diligent schedule would become the exceptional "We Are The Ones" EP. An intense and equally moving piece of work, We Are The Ones is an exciting look at a band with creativity completely flowing out of them and striving to give it a proper outlet. The first track/intro does an exceptional job of setting the tone of what's to come while at the same time making the clearest statement possible about the hearts of the men playing the instruments. Next is Vapors- a high-energy assault right out of the gate before turning the corner with an ending of soaring vocal melodies and equally big guitar playing. The tracks following do an uncanny job of carrying the listener from one peak to an equally impressive and dynamic valley, all leading up to the closer Oh The Depths. This lead single from the EP holds a special place in the bands heart… as well as well as the hearts of some lucky fans as well. Cobucci explains: "I remember once we got the gang vocals done at the end of Oh The Depths, that was really special. We wanted to build a sense of community within the sound of it, so we posted on our Twitter and Facebook that if anyone wanted to come sing on our record to come on down. We posted it only about an hour before we wanted to track it, but there were over 30 people that showed up to sing. It was really special." This moment tops off a piece of work filled with an amount of urgency and feeling so big, that it can't help but shine through. Looking forward to the future, Cobucci says the band is anticipating going different directions with their craft. "We are extremely proud of our EP, but we are all about our music progressing. It's not fair for the listener for us to keep doing the same thing with different chords. We are really looking forward to getting into a legitimate studio and working with people who are really going to push us." Already having music in the works for the future doesn't dampen the excitement that the band has to finally be able to showcase We Are The Ones on a bigger scale though, via a re-release from Solid State Records. "We got an email from Solid State and we didn't think it was real. We thought it was a mass email telling us to buy new albums or something. We couldn't be more excited to be part of the family." The chance to have a more widespread audience and be able to spread their message to a growing number of people is something that couldn't come soon enough for these 5 Ohio natives. With a tone that can't hope to hide his excitement, Cobucci exclaims: "We just want to get on the road! We just want to get out there and support the EP as much as possible." When the perfect group of people come together with an idea to create something, something bigger than themselves, something beyond any one of them individually, extraordinary things can happen. Something extraordinary has happened…in the form of Wolves at the Gate… and they're just getting started