VENICE, CA — Wolf at the Door (http://www.wlfdr.com) is a new music production studio — and surf shop — that caters to advertising clientele. The company was founded by partners Alex Kemp and Jimmy Haun, who live and die by the credo: “Make rad shit with rad people.”
Wolf at the Door provides original music, music supervision and sound design services for the ad industry, and occasionally, for their buddies’ films. Kemp was composer at Chicago-based companies Catfish Music and Spank, and was the former creative director of Hum in Santa Monica. Haun spent over 10 years as the senior composer at Elias, in addition to being a lauded session musician. Between the two, they’ve been signed to four major labels, written 11 tracks for Super Bowl spots, and have composed music for top agencies, including W+K, Goodby, Chiat\Day, Team One, and Arnold.
Inspired to create a place that would reflect their love of art and design and the raw creativity that Wolf at the Door brings to its music, Kemp linked up with longtime friend Scott Brown, a former creative director at agencies Chiat\Day, 72andSunny and Deutsch. This idea took the form of a surf shop and brand: Lone Wolfs Objets d'Surf. Behind the retail shop is the company’s recording studio and production office.
The team has also launched their own original surf talk show/Web series. Everything’s Not Working has featured guest pro surfers such as Dion Agius, Nabil Samadani and Eden Saul, all hosted with offbeat humor by Zach Williams. The installments were produced by their in-house design and production team Black Rainbows of Death, and of course, feature music by Wolf at the Door.
On the client side, Wolf at the Door recently worked on an Experian commercial directed by the Malloy Brothers for the Martin Agency, as well as a Century Link spot, directed by Malcom Venville for Arnold Worldwide.
“Our approach to music is always driven by who the brand is and what ideas the music needs to support,” says Kemp. “The music provides the emotional context.”