Karl Wolf

[00:00:19] Speaker A: Step into the world of multi platinum recording artist, songwriter and producer Carl Wolf. As he chose takes you beyond the spotlight to explore the powerful connection between music and mental health. From navigating the pressures of a high demand industry to managing rising talent like Danny Doucet, Carl offers an honest look at the emotional realities of a creative life. And in this episode of Awareness, which is episode number 17, by the way, it features personal insights from Carl, shifts in the creative way process, and real conversations about wellness, resilience and the evolving role of artists in breaking down mental health stigma. You'll also get the inside scoop on new music, along with tour plans and what's ahead in summer 2025 and beyond. So whether you're an artist or an aspiring artist, a fan, or simply passionate about mental wellness, this podcast delivers authenticity stories straight from the heart. So without any further ado, I'd like to welcome you with my good friend, Carl Wolf. Thanks for being here. [00:01:26] Speaker B: What's up, buddy? [00:01:27] Speaker A: Good seeing you, man. Good to see you too. This is a great vibe, a relaxed environment, just chilled out. Just wanted to have like a cool, honest conversation with you because I thought, you know, we, we go back a long ways, Carl and I, so I thought, like, what, what better way to bring them onto this somewhat, you know, new podcast we're 17 episodes in, but I, we haven't really gotten a mental health perspective from an artist quite yet. So I thought why not bring in my good friend Carl and see what he had to say about mental wellness, mental health, and how it's, how he's balanced it throughout the years and such. And I mean, listen, you've done big things over the years and I've followed you religiously with your music through radio ever since working with you probably since 2006 on various radio stations across Canada. Carl is, of course, well known across this great country of ours and in the Middle east and into the States. So we'll get to a little bit of that. But first let's, let's just dive right into the mental health stuff because I'm so interested, because usually it's like I'm picking your brain about music, music, music all the time when it comes to radio station stuff. But I think, and you can attest to this as well, I think you had some frustrations as well during COVID and maybe the last few years when you, when you're on social media and you notice all the stuff about war and people, you know, banging heads, and you and I seem like people that we just want to bring people together. For love and fun times and just, you know, to not create division. We want unity. And you seem like that type of a person as well. You probably got frustrated maybe in Covid with. With having maybe. Maybe you didn't get frustrated lockdowns, but maybe it gave. That spurred your creative process again, something that we can touch on. But music can certainly be an emotional outlet. So for creating music for you, it's helped you manage your own mental health over the years. I would imagine it at some point in time. [00:03:39] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:03:40] Speaker A: It's like, what are you. Is it releasing experiences more so? Or is it. Are you. Are you singing about ex girlfriends? Are you singing about. There's a lot of that. [00:03:52] Speaker B: So music is definitely a big release for me, obviously, since. Since I started music. Listen, it's. Life has a lot of ups and downs. We go through stuff, you know, family stuff, friendship stuff. People steal from you, people hurt you, people cheat you. This is the life we are. Are thrusted into. And I think for me, music has definitely been my getaway from everything. That's why I kind of make my music late at night when the world is sleeping, you know, I, I E4am vibes, records, which I noticed. [00:04:27] Speaker A: Yeah. Middle of the night. That's your most important space. [00:04:31] Speaker B: Absolutely. It's just the world is asleep and no one's really, you know, your phone is not going off. [00:04:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:35] Speaker B: No one's trying to get your attention for anything. So you can focus on the magic of what, you know, creating music is, which is otherworldly. It doesn't come from me only, you know, it comes from above somewhere because it's. I. If you, if you ask me how to remake a song that, that was a hit, I wouldn't even know how to start. [00:04:54] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:04:54] Speaker B: You know, it's just a magic thing. And so I've been very lucky. My mom was a piano teacher. My dad was a musician as well, growing up in Dubai. And then I went into it. It wasn't. It was just a hobby, you know, for. For them. But for me, it was more like a. It's like a life force, you know, that I felt like it's powerful. I felt powerful when I was, you know, communicating through music to, you know, millions of listeners. [00:05:21] Speaker A: But when you. So when you write and you create in the middle of the night, don't you ever get nervous about, like, like, see for me again, being just such a mental health advocate. And listen, I'll tell you the same thing. I struggle with sleeping too at times. How do you create a pattern for yourself to like if you're going to bed at 5am, when are you waking up? [00:05:41] Speaker B: So I sleep four or five hours, maybe, maybe five, but like four, generally four hours a day. I don't need much for me I've got too much energy in general. Yeah, I don't need a lot more sleep. But you know, they do say it's important to get seven hours sleep. So I try my best. But if I, let's say I sleep at 4 in the morning or 5 in the morning, I probably, probably get up at 9, 30, 10, let's say 10 30, 10, 10, 10 o'. Clock. Sometimes earlier. I just. Because I love to do I want to be the last one to sleep, first one to wake up. It's just, and I feel good, I feel fine. You know, I think it does take a toll on me if I'm, let's say I'm working on a project and I don't sleep, you know, till 7 in the morning. It's one of those, when the light comes up and the sun comes up, that's when it's hard to like a couple of days in a row, that's when you can see red in my eyes. And then I'm like, okay, Carl, you need to like sleep, you know. And so I take the weekends off to do that. But I don't know, I just love what. It's so addictive to just work in the studio. It's not just about concerts and getting the gratification from fans on Tik Tok and, and all that stuff. That's fun. [00:06:41] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:06:42] Speaker B: But just the creative process of being in the studio alone and just feeling the vibe or with someone working on, on, on music with Danny Doucet, for example, my, my, my artist that I signed and when we work together, just bouncing ideas back and forth, just the creative process is so much fun. And I always chase fun. I always chase happiness and fun. And that's kind of where, where my mental health is at. [00:07:06] Speaker A: Yeah. Like I, when I analyze you, I kind of think like a 9 to 5 job would never work for Kyle. And I don't think I would want to. You wouldn't want. [00:07:14] Speaker B: No, I, I never wanted that. You know, my dad always taught me young in life because he lost a lot in his life by working for someone else, you know, and he always told me, whatever you do, just work for yourself. And that stuck with me at some point, you know, and I could just see everybody being so robotic. This who world is just like punch in, punch out. And I, you know, and I'm glad things are opening up for people. People don't have to abide by that anymore. It's. It's not the same as it used to be, you know, 10 years ago where people have to get a real job. [00:07:42] Speaker C: Right. [00:07:42] Speaker B: You know, this is like, now you could do multimedia and just make money off it on YouTube or whatever. I. I think that's great. This way everyone can be an individual, make a living doing what they love. I mean, that's. I. I haven't worked a day in my life, man. I've never had any other job other than music. [00:07:57] Speaker A: Music. [00:07:57] Speaker B: I've been the luckiest guy on planet Earth other than Akon and some other Michael. And, you know, I don't consider myself an A star, maybe a B star, but, like, still, I'm making a living and a fair living and taking care of my parents. Yeah, it's. It's been a great life so far. I can't complain at all. [00:08:13] Speaker A: So fantastic. [00:08:14] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:08:14] Speaker A: I mean, the music industry, of course, it can be, you know, super intense, competitive, long hours. [00:08:20] Speaker B: That's a different story. [00:08:21] Speaker A: Yeah. Like, I mean, you also got the constant travel. You have to go through the public scrutiny at times. So how do you take care of your mental health amidst the pressures of your career? [00:08:33] Speaker B: That's a beautiful question. There's so many answers to that. But my. Some of my main answers would be working out. So being at the gym, you know, just feeling what it does for. At least from my perspectives, it makes me feel powerful. Right. When I'm strong physically, I'm strong mentally. That means I can go up to anybody and. And it's not a fight necessarily, but it's, you know, it's a mental fight out there. You know, when you put yourself out there as a singer, you know, I could just remember a time, you know, when I put Africa out, when I first came out, and YouTube was just on this cusp of, like, this YouTube craze. Like, YouTube wasn't existing prior to that. [00:09:11] Speaker C: Right. [00:09:11] Speaker B: And. And I was one of the first artists sort of on YouTube. And people would. So the hater was born. Right. It was always the critique, the critic. But now it's beyond critic. It's like just, we hate you because of the way you look or whatever the case may be, or you're stealing a song, they used to call it, you know, you kind of. What do they say? You just. You're killing a song. Like Africa. You know what I'm like, are you. I'm paying homage to the song. That's the whole purpose of me remaking it, 50 of the people hated me, 50 of the people loved me. But that was why I became number one. People would fight over it, right? [00:09:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:09:43] Speaker B: But seeing negative comments kind of hit me funny. And I was like, whoa, what's going on? How am I gonna handle this? I mean, I do I really suck? Am I a really one hit wonder? You know what I mean? They would call me a one hit wonder and it was like, I got to prove this, man. I got to prove them wrong. So I guess just being at the gym, feeling strong, powerful, as, as, you know, physically gave me that mental strength to kind of stand up to anybody physically if I needed to. [00:10:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:10:09] Speaker B: You see, and that, that made me powerful and, and not really care if anyone's hating, you know what I mean? Because I feel like I take you on, you know what I'm saying? [00:10:16] Speaker A: 90% of energy, 90% of them probably don't even say to your face, it's all keyboard warriors. Most, right? Yeah, right. [00:10:22] Speaker B: Most. Not only 99% of the time, because I've met, I've met some of the haters, really, and I've converted them very quick. It was immediate. It was the second I shook their hand and I knew who they were. [00:10:33] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:33] Speaker B: And I remember. And then just the way I, I grasped their, their hand tight and strong, they were like, okay, I got you. I got where you're coming from. You know, right away was like an instant. [00:10:41] Speaker A: There's me. No haters. I remember you from your first, the first time I ever met you, it was the Virgin Radio Festival in, in Montreal. And you were, you had like a lineup out the, the, the provincial park or whatever. Where, where were you again? You're in park genre po. That's where it was. And it was a lineup way out there coming to get pictures with you, autographs and everything. And I'm like. And you made time for every single, but you didn't let one person leave without being appreciate that. And I remember you that day. [00:11:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:11:10] Speaker A: Because you had a lot a huge lineup. And that's something that should certainly be noted and show that you don't deserve any haters. [00:11:18] Speaker B: We're trying to spread love, man. That's what we make with music. You know, I mean, it's hard to see the state of the world that it is in today. You know, with wars and what's going on out there. I mean, it affects everybody. We see it on socials. We see. You can ask a kid who's 10 years old, they'll know what's going on with the world? [00:11:32] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. [00:11:32] Speaker B: It's prevalent. It's in our face. And our job is just to keep it. Like, you know, watch here. We're. We're trying to keep you happy. Like, you don't have to always deal with that stress that could be hard on people, you know, so maybe I'm doing a good job without even knowing it, you know. [00:11:47] Speaker A: So you yourself, have you actually ever experienced anxiety, burnout, or depression during your journey in music? Just in life? [00:11:58] Speaker B: Absolutely. I mean, listen, this whole. This whole game of the music industry is such a struggle, and you got to fight through obstacles, jump through fire. I mean, it's a whole thing. People judge you based on image. That. So the first interactions with. With people in the music industry for me was in Montreal. And I don't want to name any names, but ultimately, you know, I've had an extensive career and I've had several lives with it. I've had, you know, I was part of Sky. I was part of Dubmatique before that, which was a rap group in Quebec. I was on my own independent. I was with Tenzen, which was kind of a massive attack. Portishead, kind of. What would they call it, like, trip hop group. Then I was a producer for Star Academy. [00:12:44] Speaker C: Right. [00:12:44] Speaker B: Then I went on to Sky, I said. And then we toured as a. As a solo artist. I mean, I've had many, many lives. [00:12:50] Speaker C: And. [00:12:50] Speaker B: And it's always been, you know, every. Every stage was fighting a battle, you know, fighting obstacles. Whether it was my image, what I was, whether I was not, you know, I was too ethnic and I was, you know, I was not white enough or something. You know, I don't know. It was always like that. And I never understood it because to me, I see music and I see people as souls and like spirits. Like, if you're an. You're an asshole. Like, if you're a good person, you're a good person. So I. I never judged my whole life. Even in high school, I remember this. The cool people, I didn't care for much. For them too much. What I cared about was if they bully someone, I'd side with the bully and I'd side with the. With the victim. Sort of getting bullied. [00:13:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:13:33] Speaker B: And everybody thought, why? You're a popular guy. Why would you care to hang out with that guy? And it didn't make sense to me. It never made sense to me. So this is. But the industry does want to fight you down and bring you down. And I do remember some moments early on, where they were like, yeah, you don't have what it takes. You're never going to make it. You're, you know, and this is the industry. I'm not even talking the fans, I'm not even talking the public. The public is who saved me. Yeah, they're the ones who gave me a chance, not the industry, I'll tell you that much right now. You know, this is for everyone to know. The labels never wanted to sign me. No one ever, anyone who had any standing in the music industry, who was, who was like, of serious stature in the music industry gave me a chance. It was literally the public. [00:14:16] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:14:17] Speaker B: And, and that's how I got to my, to where I am. So through that scrutiny, I had to prove myself. And at that point, that's when the public gave me a chance. [00:14:26] Speaker A: Yeah, right, sorry. And, and no, no, it's all good. And through the scrutiny, I mean, you must have had to find ways of cope, coping. And you said, obviously working out helps. And just let's say for anybody else that might be going through this, an up and coming artist or an artist that's of your stature, what advice would you give to others facing these, these similar challenges? [00:14:47] Speaker B: Well, there was a lot of moments, you know, like in my room at the time, like breaking down. I remember, you know, a deal not going through or them telling me that it's, you know, they're not going to sign me, but they're just going to take my song or something like that. It's just, you know, many times, I remember many times in Montreal just being in my room and breaking down. Yeah, you know, it was, it was hard, but that. I always remember saying this to myself, okay, they're breaking you down at night, but then you rise up in the morning and you build yourself up. That's kind of how it was. You know, I sort of mentally forgot about what happened last night and just said, you know what, we got to take the rest, you know, and you know, break the barriers in the day. So what advice would I give people who are going through something like this is exactly that. At night it's okay to cry. It's okay to feel the feels right. Feel it, feel it, know why it's happening, whatever, whatever. And then the next day though, you got to be that, that, that wolf. You know what I mean? You got to go get it, you got to see the light. You got to always envision where you want to go and, and, and, and you're gonna fight people on the way, but never lose sight of the goal, you know, I think that's kind of where it was for me. [00:16:01] Speaker C: Right. [00:16:02] Speaker A: So many people, obviously, they see the glamorous side of being an artist, a singer, the stage life, but not always the struggles when the, when the curtains close. What's something that people might be surprised to learn about the emotional toll of your profession? [00:16:25] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it's definitely not a glamorous thing when you're fighting all these battles. So starting an artist, starting off in every level of being a celebrity artist, whatever, someone in the spotlight, you're going to have battles and fights, you know, so whether you're starting off, you're going to have those issues where nobody believes in you. When you've, when you have a hit, people are going to call you one hit wonder. When it's. So you got to somehow get used to it and, and have thick skin. Is. It is. It's something you learn to be honest, and it just takes a couple of tries. It's like, you know, boxing, you know, you got to go in and. And practice and shadow box before you actually go into ring. And it's the same thing with, with people hating on you. [00:17:08] Speaker A: Right. Yeah. Well, you've done a good job of being resilient, I must say, and you've come a long way. And I mean, I remember so many times that we've added songs to playlists, a radio station with your name on it, and I remember being in music meetings and. And you were amped up about a certain song. And I feel that as an artist, because we're all like, we have that inner artist in us and just your passion came through so much. And it's like if I were a music director anywhere, if I could recommend to any music director, when you see something coming out from Carl Wolf, please give it an attentive year and like, you know, truly add it to your playlist. I would just, you know, it's kind of like a Taylor Swift, but for Canada, like, you know, like Taylor Swift, you instantly know the name. And you're adding that song for, for Canadian content. I see something coming up for you. You got to take that seriously from Karl Wolf. And that means I have all the time. And I wish, you know, I know you say in the game, but I, I push it, but then we're always supportive. [00:18:07] Speaker B: I appreciate it. [00:18:07] Speaker A: No, I. I have. And speaking of your specific songs and. And ones over the years, were there any that were born directly from personal struggles or emotional experiences? [00:18:21] Speaker B: Many, many. One of them was called Summer Days in Beirut. [00:18:25] Speaker C: Okay. [00:18:26] Speaker B: Which was My dad was born, you know, I was born in Beirut, actually, but I left when I was three. [00:18:30] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:30] Speaker B: Grew up in Dubai. But my dad, you know, during the civil war, he had. Which was in this late 70s, early 80s, you know, he had lost a lot. Like, he lost his house, he lost. He got shot. He was, you know, and I. I was. I remember being like, believe it or not, I was like a year old. [00:18:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:18:49] Speaker B: And being in bunkers. Like, I remember that stuff. And it was just. Just the whole Middle east has a lot of history and a lot of turmoil and it's always been for many, many years. And not that I've been through it, but I. I felt it through him, you know, and his stories, and I wanted to kind of shine and say something about that. So talking about sort of his dreams, being lost in. In that whole, you know, era and. And me having a second chance, bringing us to Canada and, you know, so my fight is sort of to win for. For him, you know, essentially. And that's what Summer Days in Beirut was about. Another one was Amateur at Love featuring Cardinal Official. [00:19:28] Speaker A: I remember that was from. Was that like 20 2008. 7. No, no, no, no, no. Later, later. 11. 15. 15. [00:19:36] Speaker B: Yeah. Amateur love with 2014. [00:19:38] Speaker A: Something else. [00:19:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:39] Speaker A: Shortly. Shortly after Africa. [00:19:42] Speaker B: After Africa was Carrera. [00:19:43] Speaker A: Carrera, that's the one. Yeah. [00:19:45] Speaker B: Yeah, those two. Yeah, yeah. So. So several of them came out from. Well, Amateur Love definitely came out of something, you know, which was, you know, ex girlfriend, you know, whatever. Cheated on me and stuff like that. So that was. That was really a tough one to. A tough pill to swallow after being with. With someone for that. For a long time and then. Then just one day just boom. And you know that they're not there anymore. It was really hard. And you. The concept of that song is I took it in as if I did something wrong and I was the problem. [00:20:14] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:20:14] Speaker B: You know what I mean? And you kind of go inward, you know, and say, hey, what can I change? As opposed to maybe someone else had an issue at that point, you know. [00:20:21] Speaker A: Right. Well, what about. And I love this brand new jam that came out in January of this year, Gimme Life. And I looked. I've looked it up far and wide on the Internet, including Chat, GPT. And it said that you haven't really publicly said if the. What that was all about or how. Why can't. Can we drop that bomb on awareness and bring it into awareness as to what the song, how it was created or what. What was it that stirred that. That song and how it came up for you. [00:20:51] Speaker B: So basically it's about Forbidden Fruit in a way. You know, it's like, even though I know that things are not going to be good for me. [00:21:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:01] Speaker B: I'm gonna go for it. And, and, and, and, and, and maybe it'll be great. The greatest thing ever. So taking a chance on something, you know, it's very positive. Ultimately, you know, it's like give, you know, believe in something and, and hopefully it'll be the greatest thing, you know, and just sort of trust your gut, essentially. [00:21:19] Speaker A: How does your creative process change depending on your mental state? Like, do you write differently when you're feeling down versus inspired? [00:21:31] Speaker B: You know, everyone always tells me, listen, you. So you have a breakup and you're going through something, now's the time to get in studio. It's easier said than done. That's so hard to do. [00:21:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:41] Speaker B: Because when I'm depressed, which is very rare. [00:21:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:44] Speaker B: But the only reason I get depressed is when someone stole my money. [00:21:49] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:49] Speaker B: Like a friend of mine who I've lent money to, for example, just completely never paid me back. And just. I lost a friend because of it. [00:21:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:21:57] Speaker B: Or obviously death in the family, or someone, you know, cheated on me. You know, anything that someone has caused me. I feel depression. I don't know if you call it depression. I'm not clinically aware if that's what it's called. It could be ptsd. It could be. I don't know, whatever it is. Sadness. [00:22:15] Speaker A: I don't know. [00:22:16] Speaker B: But that feeling, I just sleep it off. I cannot. Maybe after a couple of days, I go back in the studio or something, but it's impossible for me to do that. What is possible is once it's all done said and done and I'm not feeling that sadness of depression no more, then I can go back and recollect what feeling I felt. And so I can kind of reenact that, you know, being in that position, but not at that moment. [00:22:41] Speaker A: Okay. So in the moment, it's hard. It's almost impossible. [00:22:45] Speaker B: I would have. That's when you asked me how long I sleep. [00:22:47] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:48] Speaker B: I'll sleep for 24 hours. You know, when you need. That's when I can. Yeah. That's why I'm excited every day, because four hours is because I. I can't wait to wake up. [00:22:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:55] Speaker B: And. And really win. You know what I mean? [00:22:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:22:57] Speaker A: No, you want. You want to win your day. And you have. [00:22:59] Speaker B: We're here. Right. [00:23:00] Speaker A: You look up to. Yeah. Something to wake up to in the morning. You Want to, you know, not make it necessarily a job. It doesn't feel like that you're not. [00:23:08] Speaker B: That's when you love what you do. [00:23:09] Speaker A: When you love to do. [00:23:10] Speaker B: When you love what you do, you don't work a day in your life. [00:23:12] Speaker A: Right, right, right. With music in mind, can music, both listening and creating, do you find that to be a healing tool for mental health, in your opinion, perhaps in your own mental health? [00:23:24] Speaker B: Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, I think that's why I do what I do. I don't. You know, as far as I can remember, I've always wanted people to feel good around me. I wanted people to be happy. I want them to feel what I feel. You know, maybe I'm seeing a light that someone else. That. That doesn't have the, you know, the. Is not fortunate enough to see that light, and I want to share that bright light. That's literally what I do. Beyond money, beyond success, beyond the notoriety, all that. It's just. It started when I was. When I saw people being bullied in school, and I would, you know, and I see people fighting, and I always. I never understood this concept of, like, hate and fight, and I wanted to stop that and affect that somehow. And I think music was a way where people would listen to me, you know, as opposed to talking. You know, I felt like, wow, people are listening. Everyone's sort of shutting up right now, and I'm listening to what I'm doing, and it felt like I'm giving peace to the world. [00:24:19] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:24:20] Speaker B: And that was my way of bringing peace. [00:24:22] Speaker C: So. [00:24:23] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. [00:24:24] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. For fans, because we were talking about fans earlier in the episode, and. [00:24:29] Speaker B: And you. [00:24:30] Speaker A: My gosh, you have a lot of them. And I've just. The views on YouTube for song. I think Give Me Life on YouTube has like 72, 000 views already. Like, and that came out in January. Oh, that's dope. Like, man, you're. It's unbelievable. So have fans ever shared with you how your music has helped them through tough times? Specifically, how does that impact you as. As an artist when you hear that? [00:24:55] Speaker B: Absolutely. I mean, it's. It makes me really happy. But it also makes me very sad because I've had. Throughout my career, I've had young people write me, you know, whether it's on any app, and just say, I've had several that said, you know, Carl, I don't want to live anymore. I'm, you know, I'm in high school, I'm in. I'm in whatever. And even younger sometimes. And they're writing me and saying that, and I just. Right away, I stop everything I'm doing. [00:25:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:25:20] Speaker B: And I write them and I go forth and I say, no, listen, life is tough. Life is hard sometimes. I've been there because they asked me, have you been there? Have you. You know, was it easy for you? I'm like, listen, that's the great thing about it, is that you can wake up the next day. Tomorrow's a new day. For real. For real. It's not just a saying. Tomorrow is a new day. And you have to always remember that. You could. You could be sad, you could be upset, but you got to wake up the next day feeling. And you. Because every step forward, every change that you. Every little change that you make will have the universe affect you in a different way. That's what I realized. Like, no matter what it is, let's say I'm getting bad news right now. They didn't sign this, or we didn't sell enough records or whatever. Or there's whatever negative things that can happen the next day. If you make a different. Your foot just does this and you zig instead of zag, the universe will pay you a different dividend, you know, so. And that I've learned. And it's. It's great. And it surprises you, man. It's like when you're down, something good happens. It's possible, but you gotta wait for that next day. You gotta wait for that next, next day, and it will come. Because those, as much as bad things don't last, you know, neither do good things. Nothing lasts, so. So don't worry about it. If there's a bad day, that means something good is coming, and then the good is going to go away, and then another bad. And then you just got to learn that that's kind of the process of life, you know, But. But it did happen. And, And. And I've saved many, I think. [00:26:44] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:26:44] Speaker B: You know, they were always, like, good. Oh, thanks, Carl. You're amazing. It was incredible. Just saving lives. You think a doctor only saves lives? [00:26:51] Speaker A: No, musicians can. [00:26:53] Speaker B: I can. [00:26:53] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:26:54] Speaker B: And it's. And it's happened. And I've. [00:26:55] Speaker A: Yeah, I've experienced that. Good on you for that. Thanks. I mean, that's. [00:27:00] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:27:00] Speaker A: More than just an artist, for sure. So the conversation around mental health, it's obviously growing, but there's still a whole lot of work to do out there. What role do you think the music industry, artists and public figures can play in breaking down the stigma? [00:27:19] Speaker B: I think a lot. I mean, it's happening Right. I know, you know, I can't mention, you know, certain companies, but they're, they're, they're doing things like that and they're getting artists involved in it. You know, listen, if you ask me the truth, I think artists are not all, but they're more than not into themselves, a lot more than, than, you know, I wish they would help a little more, you know, instead of being. [00:27:43] Speaker A: Into themselves so much. [00:27:45] Speaker B: Listen, I'm, I've fallen victims, victim to it too. You know, I, I try to be as, as, as helpful as possible, but you know, obviously you've got to grow your business. It's a business at the end of the day. So I get it. You know, so we're focused, we're self involved, etc, at the end of the day, let's, let's try to help each other. Let's help other people out, you know, whether it's in the music industry too, by the way, because people in the music industry who are starting off also go through this and it's not an easy industry at all. What, what, what, what business doesn't pay you for the long, for all your hard work for a long time and then one day you do get a record deal or whatever and they pay you somehow that and that money will fly away and then you don't. It's so hard to deal with. [00:28:26] Speaker C: Right? [00:28:27] Speaker B: You're not, you know, you're struggling all the time. You know, I'm one of the few lucky ones, man, and, and I hope, you know, people can, can see and get the energy from me and just understand that you just got to be optimistic at all times and be sort of not happy at all times, but bring the light from within. And that's not easy. That's why you got to work out. That's why you gotta, you know, you gotta feel 100. You cannot fill someone else's cup if you're not 100. Right. So what's the saying? You can't fill an empty cup if the, if you don't have a full cup. Something like that. [00:29:00] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, something like that. But I get what you mean. Totally. I certainly want to know what goes through your mind when let's say one radio station, maybe, maybe it's two. Add the newest, biggest Carl Wolf record out there, but the others don't, so follow suit. But then this song decides to blow up everywhere that those other stations and channels or whatever it is, has no choice but to add it as well. What, what goes to your mind? Is it going to be like I Don't I. The I told them so? Or do you just leave a straight face and you just know. You just do your job and you know in your mind that you. You did it and you don't say boo. What do you do? [00:29:45] Speaker B: Let's unpack that. Because there's several levels. Again, there's so many levels to all the questions you're asking. [00:29:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:50] Speaker B: Because I feel I. I wear so many hats. I'm a producer. I'm the executive producer. I'm a producer, music producer. Did I mention that? I did. [00:29:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:29:59] Speaker B: I'm a singer, I'm an artist, I'm a businessman. So I wear all hats. [00:30:04] Speaker A: Right. [00:30:04] Speaker B: And so it hits me everywhere at different levels, at different things. [00:30:08] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:30:08] Speaker B: You know, as an artist, if someone doesn't add, let's say, one. One. What. What radio programmers don't understand is that if you add the record, even one, we are, like, over the moon. We. We just want people to hear our songs. It's so much love that goes into making music. [00:30:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:30:25] Speaker B: More than food, more than, you know, how chefs get. Get renowned and Michelin and this and that. Artists are. Are not only making food for you, they're making souls. [00:30:35] Speaker A: They're pouring their soul out. [00:30:37] Speaker B: Right. So it's very personal. It's not. Oh, you know, Carl, you're taking too personally, you know, that we don't add your record. [00:30:45] Speaker A: Dude, this is all. This is my life. [00:30:47] Speaker B: Everything that I've ever experienced going into one thing to show you, you know, one. One magical frequency. Right. So when. When. When a radio station or two, you jump on the record, it's the greatest feeling ever. Okay. And then from there, let's say, ask the artist for a second. The artist, it hits us the most as a mental health scenario because we're like, okay, what about the rest? And how come the rest are not adding it? It's so frustrating because you're like. You're trying to make a case in your mind. Right. Like, how can this work? And. And look what they're doing here. So I guess you got to just know that. You got to build a case. You. You learn in time. I wish you asked me this 20 years ago. I would have been so much more hurt than I am now. I totally get it now. Now I understand. You just got to build a case just like anything, and show that. That it's succeeding, that it's working. The numbers are going up. [00:31:38] Speaker A: Boom. [00:31:38] Speaker B: It's all business at the end of the day. But. But when you're starting off, and if I can go Back to that moment. [00:31:43] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:31:43] Speaker B: You know, when I was younger, I mean, it would frustrate me. And not only frustrate me, I would, I would want to make the case to them. I want, I want to show them like you, you don't know what you're talking about. You're going to see, you know, and then when it finally does. I was classy about it. That's the thing. Because all I wanted was that. I don't care to say, you know, you were wrong. [00:32:04] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:32:04] Speaker A: You know, you're just classy. [00:32:05] Speaker B: I was just not even. [00:32:06] Speaker A: Yeah, that, that. [00:32:07] Speaker B: I'm not saying classy about it. I just knew that I got what I wanted. [00:32:10] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:32:11] Speaker B: I wanted everybody to hear my song. That was the goal. So you got to know, you know, it's not about showing, you know, showing off or whatever. [00:32:17] Speaker A: It's just, you just want it to get to the masses. Right? [00:32:20] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:32:20] Speaker A: And that's it. [00:32:20] Speaker B: That was the goal. That was the love for the music. [00:32:22] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we talked about fitness and that's a, it's a huge part of your routine to manage your mental health. What are your go to practices for protecting your mental health. Otherwise, could it be, do you do mindfulness? Do you simply unplug? Because I notice you're, you have to be on your phone all the time. You're constantly in touch with fans, with man with managerial day to day duties. Do you throw your phone away one day a week and say, that's it, I can't do this anymore. Just for one day a week or something? How else do you unplug, man? Or take care of the mental side? [00:32:57] Speaker B: I don't know. I'm, I, I'm telling you, the only thing for me, because I love the whole industry, I love again, every level. This, we should call this show levels, levels. Because, because every level of this industry, I love. [00:33:09] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:33:10] Speaker B: So I love it all. I love being in touch with the fans. I love checking all the back end on, on the, on the Spotify. I love talking, you know, with my manager about money and business. I love every part of it. It's so much fun. [00:33:21] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:33:22] Speaker B: But every one part of it could be stressful, right? So if you're focused on just one side, it could be stressful. And that's why I just shift. That's my, that's my trick. I shift from businessman to artist when I'm fed up of the artist thing and I can't come. I mean, I've got a blank, blank mind. I go to the fans, the fans are giving me a little bit too much, then I go to business and money. If the money's like, I'm not in the mood, so I shift. Chip, chip, chip, chip. But the one thing that I swear by day after day for the rest of my life, since the beginning of it all, is training is working out. Is my body, the. My heart rate, my blood pumping. [00:33:59] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:34:00] Speaker B: I. Feeling alive, Feeling strong. Strong physically means strong mentally. I will never say anything other than that because that is the secret of my continuous movement. [00:34:11] Speaker A: Is medicine. [00:34:12] Speaker B: Absolutely it is. And. And I swear by having a trainer, personal trainer, that is worth every dollar that you pay out. This is for the rest of my life I'm gonna have a personal trainer. I've had one for almost 20 years. Yeah, 20 something years I've had a personal trainer because this way I could shut my mind off from all the craziness in the world. And. And I. I do put my phone aside for that. And then we just. He just works my. He works my body. [00:34:36] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:34:36] Speaker B: Or. Or she, whatever, you know, so basically telling me what to do and I'm like a. Whatever you want, you know, I'll just do it. And then by default, your body's feeling great and then your mind feels great. [00:34:49] Speaker A: So personal trainer. [00:34:50] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:34:51] Speaker A: What about a personal chef? Because what's the. What's the, what's the correlation? 80. 20. 80. Food. 20 is. [00:34:58] Speaker B: They're made in the kitchen. 100. Yeah, I. I agree with you. That's the hard part. That's the part where if life is treating you hard, then you gotta eat what you want to eat. Yeah, but there are rules, you know, More protein and, and less on carbs. [00:35:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:35:12] Speaker B: Not as much sugar. Eat fruits instead of drinking fresh. Fresh juice because that's all sugar. Instead of getting the fiber. I mean, there are balances to it, of course. You know, Do I fail at it almost all the time. My trainer is going to kill me hearing this. But you, you can't be perfect, man. This is this life. Or else you'll live to a thousand, you know, but we don't. [00:35:34] Speaker A: Do you still intermittent fast. You mentioned that to me. [00:35:36] Speaker B: I tried. I don't do that anymore. Yeah, No, I used to do it by default, just by mistake. You know, just I wake up and I. And I just work, work, work, work until like 2, 3pm, right. And then. Oh, I got to eat. Oh, yeah, true. So. So I still follow. I fall for that as well. Yeah, I still do follow that routine. [00:35:52] Speaker A: Nice. [00:35:53] Speaker B: By default. By mistake. Not. Not on purpose. [00:35:55] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:35:56] Speaker A: Small awareness in terms of bringing things into awareness. Your coffee and so you like that shot in the morning? Is it espresso? Are you putting milk in there? Are you a black coffee guy? Yeah. [00:36:06] Speaker C: Go for it. [00:36:06] Speaker B: I don't drink coffee. What? Never? [00:36:08] Speaker C: No. [00:36:08] Speaker B: Never drank coffee in my life. [00:36:09] Speaker A: How do you stay so amped up and jacked up and do shows and not have coffee? [00:36:14] Speaker B: Not coffee. I've never had a drop of coffee in my life. I don't do coffee. [00:36:19] Speaker A: So what do you do? [00:36:20] Speaker B: I do excitement, man, excitement. I'm excited. I fulfill every dream I have. [00:36:25] Speaker C: Okay. [00:36:25] Speaker B: If there's something that I'm excited about. [00:36:27] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:28] Speaker B: I listen to my body and I say go. [00:36:30] Speaker A: Okay. [00:36:30] Speaker B: You know, and I don't hold myself back on that. That's. That's pretty much this. The secret of the energy. [00:36:35] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:35] Speaker B: Because I'll tell you this much, when I'm sad, you, I have no energy. I will be like this. And that's when I sleep. [00:36:41] Speaker A: Right. [00:36:42] Speaker B: So I stay happy. Somehow I just dream the big dream, man, and just go for it. What else do we got? [00:36:47] Speaker C: You know? [00:36:47] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:36:48] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:36:48] Speaker A: Couple. Well, I. I don't know. Maybe I got to try that sometime. That's, that's, that's a new one. I don't know. I'm open to it. Maybe one day, right? [00:36:55] Speaker B: I hope so. [00:36:56] Speaker A: A couple more things I wanted to touch on for this episode is that recently you may have not been aware of this bringing into awareness that you have been managing an artist by the name of Danny Doucet, who is very talented. Had the chance to meet her and see her perform actually at. What's the name of that resort again? We were in Friday Harbor Resort in north of Barry in Innisfil. She's very talented. What can you tell us about your experience in artist management? How do you find managing compared to performing, writing and producing? [00:37:31] Speaker B: The hardest thing ever. And it's not nothing to do with Danny Doucette. She's an amazing artist. The problem is, is that having a successful artist means having a stubborn artist. [00:37:44] Speaker C: Okay. [00:37:45] Speaker B: Because I told Pascal this we. I don't want to have an artist who's not fighting and bugging us either. That means they're not going to win. [00:37:52] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:37:53] Speaker B: So it's such a double edged sword. [00:37:55] Speaker A: Okay. [00:37:56] Speaker B: So you're working with someone who's really strong minded that wants to always, you know, get your attention, to get things done. [00:38:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:38:03] Speaker B: And that's annoying. Not annoying, but that's on your case every time. But I always tell Pascal, who's my manager and Essentially, we manage Danny together. I tell him this is good. As much as it's annoying right now, it's amazing because we need an artist who's sort of fighting for her own. Right. And Dani's an incredible person, and by no means is she annoying. She's incredible. But I'm just saying the time that speaker sometimes, like, let's say I'm working on something, and then she needs something for that. So it's almost like. I won't even call it. I don't like the word babysitting, but it's like chaperoning, especially that we know the business and we've been through it. We've. We've started the Carl Wolf project from the beginning, so we know all the mistakes. And why would we want our artists to go through those mistakes when we know we can give you a sort of a cheat code? [00:38:56] Speaker C: Right. [00:38:56] Speaker B: You know, and that's kind of what we do for artists now. We're mandated to sign, like, four or five different artists. [00:39:02] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:02] Speaker B: But I've been focusing on Danny because, you know, we almost top 30 with her. We were top 30 with fire alarm. [00:39:08] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:08] Speaker B: And I know we could get to top 10 with her. I know she's an amazing Canadian artist and deserves and. And is going to get the limelight in her time. She's been. She's been snubbed. [00:39:19] Speaker A: Okay. [00:39:19] Speaker B: A lot by the industry, in my opinion, and I think she deserves what's coming to her. So we're fighting for her. You know, my whole team is fighting for her, and I think she's. She. The reason I say that she deserves it is because she's been working so hard at it. [00:39:33] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:39:34] Speaker B: And she's talented. She's a great writer. She's. She used to be a former model. Like, she looks fantastic. She's a great director in her own right. When she makes videos and concepts, she's, you know, she's. She knows her fashion, she knows her music. I don't know. You know, she should be in the. In the stature of, like, Dua Lipa or something, in my opinion. And, you know, we're trying to make it happen for her. [00:39:57] Speaker A: So how did you discover? [00:40:00] Speaker B: I've heard about her here and there. [00:40:01] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:02] Speaker B: I remember being signed to Randy Lennox actually through, like, with. With Universal Music. And we were sitting down. He's. He became the head of Bell. [00:40:11] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:12] Speaker B: And. Yeah. Great guy. Great friend, even in time. Right. So. And. And we sat down. I think he told me about. He's like, what do you think of Danny Doucet? You know, this was a long time ago. [00:40:21] Speaker C: Oh, wow. [00:40:22] Speaker B: So this. This was like when I was just getting signs. [00:40:25] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:26] Speaker B: So how did you know? She's been doing it for a while then, you know, it's. Yeah. So he introduced me to her and then in time, I guess she followed me on Instagram and then we followed each other. She would send me some stuff. But it's one time we had a friend in common and she. She introduced me to her and I was like, you know what? We just. We're starting our new label. What are you doing these days? You know, and she played me some of her songs. We had a meeting and I told Pascal, I think we got our first artist. [00:40:50] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:50] Speaker B: And that's. That's how it worked on itself. [00:40:52] Speaker A: Nice. Yeah. Well, she's doing some big things and hopefully more on the horizon from her in the future. [00:40:57] Speaker B: I think so. [00:40:57] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:40:58] Speaker A: Fantastic. [00:40:58] Speaker B: She's the one to watch for sure. [00:41:00] Speaker A: Okay, talk to me about new music on the horizon for Carl Wolf Touring. Where is the. I mean, you. Fresh off of the Vaughan International Music festival performance on 4th of July, 2025. You killed it out there. All you have to do is. I mean, I'm sure you saw tons of his Instagram stories at Carl Wolf's and they were just. You. You lit up the. The night. I mean, who like, talk about celebrations in the US and on. On the Canadian side on 4th of July that night, you were really lighting up those fireworks on. On Friday night. So where's the party at with Carl Wolf the remainder of summer 2025 and beyond? [00:41:37] Speaker B: We're doing tons of shows. I'm always. Summer is the thing for me. We love to tour. [00:41:40] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:41:41] Speaker B: So we're doing a bunch of stuff. I'm doing the Casa loma actually on the 15th of July. So that's rock orchestra. Really cool with a rock band. And we're playing Africa, like a symphony. Like a whole rock symphony thing. It's. It's amazing. So you can get tickets for that. It's July 15th. I'm in Ottawa July 16th. We're doing another Casa Loma event on August 5th. Yeah. I've got tons of other shows, so, you know, just check out my Instagram. All the. All the stuff. Yeah. [00:42:09] Speaker A: On your website too, probably. [00:42:11] Speaker B: All that stuff. Stuff. Spotify has the tour dates. [00:42:13] Speaker C: Yeah. [00:42:14] Speaker B: So you can find it everywhere. [00:42:15] Speaker A: What's the one in Ottawa you play? Lebanese festival. And that's this summer, too? [00:42:19] Speaker B: This summer, yeah. July 16th. [00:42:21] Speaker A: Amazing. [00:42:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:42:22] Speaker A: So that's amaz. Carl Wolf. It is so good. To chat, talk mental health, music. Always great to to see you and support you. [00:42:38] Speaker C: Sam.