Front Row - Nat & Alex Wolff

By: Jeffrey Valfer
TeenNewsNet Editor




Besides writing and recording Black Sheep, the brothers have been busy with acting roles. Nat can be seen in the upcoming New Years Eve and Peace Love and Understanding, while Alex appeared in episodes of the TV shows Monk and In Treatment. He also has a role in the soon to be released movie The Sitter.

Their careers have been nonstop since they were toddlers. With the influence of artistic parents, their mother Polly Draper is best known for her role in Thirty Something and father Michael Wolff as Band Leader on the Arsenio Hall Show, Nat wrote his first song when he was five and Alex learned to play the saxophone at two and a half. Although their parents knew they had talent, they were cautious about pushing their children into the limelight. After much convincing by Nat a compromise was formed where Ms. Draper let him film his own sitcom “Don’t Eat Off My Plate.” Beyond that, the boys asked their father to arrange a recording session with the three of them. After seeing them record, Ms. Draper came up with the idea of creating a “Mock Documentary.” The film was made as if the band was huge like The Beatles. At the time that Nat was nine and Alex was six and a half Ms. Draper started to create The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie. As an independent film, it was shot at the family’s apartment and featured celebrity friends Cyndi Lauper, Julianne Moore, Ann Curry, Uma Thurman, Tony Shalhoub, Ricki Lake, Arsenio Hall and the complete cast of Thirty Something.

A year later, Ms. Draper entered the film into the Hamptons International Film Festival where it won the audience award for Family Feature Film. One of the audience members was Nickelodeon executive Albie Hecht. He liked the film so much he wanted to create it as a TV series. In the summer of 2006 production started on The Naked Brothers Band. The movie aired on Nickelodeon on January 27, 2007 followed by the series premiere on February 3rd. The show lasted for three seasons ending on June 13, 2009.

From toddlers to teens the boys have remained busy and focused on their careers. This is evident on the day of our interview. Their day started with school then a drive to their Publicists New Jersey office to do interviews. It is now 5:30PM and I have Nat and Alex on the phone on their ride home from Jersey. Their day is still far from done as they have school work to complete after they get home. As we chat over the next thirty minutes they reflect on their past, share with me how they have matured and what fans can expect from them as a duo rock band:

TNN:      You both started you career at a very young age.  Do you ever reflect back and are amazed of all the things you have already accomplished?

Nat:       We are all constantly excited.  I think in perspective it is cool that when I was twelve I played on the Kids Choice Awards in front of a crowd (TV) of almost 20 Million.  That is pretty crazy to think about. Then I wrote all those songs and I am proud I wrote all those songs and became self satisfied. The thing we learned at a young age that most don’t is it is really about the music.  It’s always about the work, because all the other stuff is a result of that. 

Alex:      It’s awesome we started so young it gives us a “we’ll be ready” for all the kind of stuff that’s going to come.  It is good we had it [experience] so young, so we don’t mess up and do it the wrong way when we are older.

TNN:      Another big benefit is your parents.  Your Mother is an actress and your Father a musician.  What advice have they given you?

Nat:       The whole thing with starting was because of them.  I learned from them that the work is the most important thing. 

Alex:      They taught us to appreciate all the forms of art, see the good in everything.

TNN:      Nat you started writing songs at the age of five and Alex you were playing the Sax at the age of two and a half.  Now you are sixteen (Nat) and thirteen (Alex) are there any other skills you haven’t or would like to learn?

Nat:       I think as song writers we want to mature. I think our new album Black Sheep shows us maturing as people and you can hear that in the songs.

Alex:      I want to get better at being more open to do different things. I want to try different [music] genres.

TNN:      Speaking of Black Sheep it is a metaphor for not fitting in.  After finishing The Naked Brothers Band it seems your goal is to not fit in or conform, but to do what you believe in as artists versus what the rest of the industry would feel you should be doing.  How important is this as artists to be able to have self expression?

Nat:       We had a lot of chances to be more like these kid artists that were kind of being manufactured and we decided to go on our own route that was kind of more honest, weird, quirky and just us.  This is why we felt like the Black Sheep and kind of felt like it in every way of the word.  The whole album feels like that; kind of coming from an outcast type place. People who have heard the album, especially teenagers can relate to it. I think people that are older are like “I remember those times.”

TNN:      When people talk about the two of you it seems you have become one identity.

Nat:       We look at it as a rock duo band.  We don’t look at it as The Naked Brothers Band with a different name. 

Alex:      Before it was easier to relate to us because we were fighting brothers; goofy little kids.  Now we are that stage of awkwardness and pimples, frizzy hair, braces and all that stuff. I think people can relate to that stuff even more now.  I think its better because our identity has become more similar like bands are…like they have their own set medium.

TNN:      Your biggest musical influence is The Beatles.  Based on this, have you ever thought of adding others to your group?

Nat:       We have. We thought about calling it a different name and starting over. But we already toured as Nat & Alex Wolff and the truth is we play these duo gigs and we have a band that we love which is our band on stage.  When we go into the studio it’s just the two of us and we work best that way.  The Beatles happened so naturally and this happened naturally, we were born.  This is how it happened and this is how it’s working.  People that see our duo shows refer to us as Simon and Garfunkel.  I love Simon and Garfunkel, but we are both the song writers so neither of us wants to be Garfunkel, no offense to Garfunkel he’s pretty awesome.

TNN:      Besides The Beatles and Simon & Garfunkel, if I were to steal your IPods’ what music would I find on there?

Nat:       I love Neil Young and Warren Devon. 

Alex:      We love Nirvana. We love Dylan, Cat Stevens, Vampire Weekend and Velvet Underground.

TNN:      When The Naked Brothers Band show started Alex you were six and Nat was nine.  How did you adjust to being part of a popular show on Nickelodeon and being heartthrobs?

Nat:       Because we go to real school and live in New York we kind of avoid a scene.  The best part of it is that we have people that come to our shows and really like our music. The rest of it makes us happy, but we really do not think about it too much.

TNN:      When the show ended there were a lot of rumors as to why.  Can you tell us the real reason?

Nat:       We wanted to pursue doing our music. After the show ended we went on tour. We had done it for three seasons and we wanted to go on tour and it was a pretty mutual good thing.

TNN:      You must get a lot of fan mail.  Have you ever received anything unique?

Nat:       We got this beautiful book that all these fans made together. They put together their stories and our stories with pictures of us and pictures of them and it was really touching.

TNN:      Nat, speaking of admiration you are sixteen, so at this point can you tell us what type of girl interests you?

Nat:       A girl you can just talk to for awhile, because the other things die out pretty quickly. 

TNN:      From watching and listening to you both it seems that Alex is the practical joker. Is this accurate?

Alex:      I’m not really that into practical jokes, but I like making jokes and doing weird things. I don’t really pull pranks that often.

TNN:      Last year you got to perform at Pop Con and World Earth Day. Plus, you had performed with Justin Beiber and Selena Gomez. What were those experiences like?

Nat:       It was pretty awesome because we were at Nassau Coliseum in front of 20,000 people.  I didn’t really know them before doing it. I got to hang out with Selena and she was super nice and Justin was great.  At that point I had never really heard him play.  I heard some of his songs on the radio.  At that point [seeing him perform] I thought he was really talented and cool.

TNN:      Do you prefer performing in front of a large or small crowd?

Nat:       I like big and packed. It’s a totally different vibe. It’s weird, when you do a big show it’s more of getting the audience into it.  In a smaller show you can jump around with your guitar and be more introverted.

Alex:      I kind of like it when it’s small and packed with a lot of people packed into one area.

TNN:      Speaking of performing will there be a tour following the release of your Black Sheep album?

Nat:       We just did a little tour with this band called Carolina LIAR on the west coast.  Alex is doing a movie after the album comes out, but after that we should be doing a tour.

TNN:      Speaking of movies what is it like going from the small screen to the big screen?

Nat:       We kind of shot our show like a movie which was one of the cool things about the show.  A two camera set up, no laugh track, it wasn’t like a sitcom. The only difference is you have a longer time to prepare for a smaller thing. With the show you can go crazy working on three episodes at once.

TNN:      Because of that would you ever do TV again?

Nat:       Yes, if it was the right thing.

Alex:      I was on the show called In Treatment. It was recurring. But not really starring. I don’t know if I would really be up to doing a starring thing for a show, but I might.  It all depends on the show.

TNN:      In your new video Thump, Thump, Thump it stars Abigail Breslin. Part of the theme is the two of you get into a fight over her.  In real life who would win?

Nat:       I’m three feet taller, so maybe in a couple of years.

Alex:      I’m big and bronze.

TNN:      Yes, but in the end Alex does win and gives her a rose.

Nat:       That was all fazed (laughing).

Alex:      That is such a lie (laughing).

TNN:      Having people like Abigail Breslin and Miranda Cosgrove guest star in your projects is pretty cool. What does it mean to you to have some of Hollywood’s biggest younger female stars want to be associated with the two of you?

Nat:       In both those cases they were our friends, so I didn’t think about it too much.  I just think we are really lucky for having them take part in our stuff. I was super excited to have her [Abigail] in it because I think she’s an awesome actress and cool girl.

TNN:      You both go to regular school. How do you separate who you are in school versus who you are as teen icons?

Nat:       When you first come to a new school kids give you a little weird out because they first seen you on TV.  I think once you get in the swing of things people start to see you as the goofy guy that you are.  

Alex:      It’s weird. I have two lives, but no one really talks about it. All they ask about is the work.  I kind of think it’s because of our school, because everyone has jobs and are doing their thing, so they do not have time to waste talking about your stuff.

TNN:      Going from The Naked Brothers Band to your new album what would you say fans can now expect from the both of you?

Nat:       The Naked Brother Band albums were kind of honest and true to whom we were then and this album is honest and true to whom we are now.  We’re different people, so it’s reflective of that.

Alex:      We are not different people, but we are in a different place.

TNN:      Besides being brothers are you best friends?

Nat:       We don’t hang out in school together too much, but doing music we are pretty unified. We have different ideas, but are respectful of each other’s ideas. In music we don’t really fight that much.

TNN:      How important is using social networking like Facebook and Twitter to communicate with your fans?

Nat:       I think it’s awesome. We use it way more for professional than we do personal.  We have a Twitter and a Facebook that is connected to it. People really respond to that stuff. It’s the way of the future. 

Alex:      I like Twitter, I can tweet and say a bunch of random stuff.