We're in studio with the king of the West Coast underground. Through his label, Stones Throw Records, Peanut Butter Wolf has given the world important, and sometimes commercially successful music from J. Dilla, Madlib, MF Doom, Mayer Hawthorne, Aloe Blacc, and Dam Funk, among others.
He also crosses genres as if they didn’t exist, taking experimental, or just plain weird explorations into punk, psychedelic and other fringe sounds from folks like James Pants, Vex Ruffin, and Mild High Club. On top of all that, he maintains an active DJ career, a series of Stones Throw events, and was the subject of a 2014 documentary: Our Vinyl Weighs A Ton.
And although he has built a successful business — now celebrating its 20th anniversary and revered by music fans for consistently breaking credible and interesting acts — Wolf could hardly be called a businessman (although he is definitely a business, man). He’s much more of a cult leader, gaining (and possibly losing a few) devotees with each new release. How: He simply puts out music that he loves and wants people to hear, flying in the face of the reborn, data-driven music industry.
Listen in as we explore how he keeps his creativity sharp and what drives him to keep it moving into his third decade.
Mix Engineer: James Soriano
BONUS VIDEO CLIP