Nat & Alex Wolff are an American pop rock duo from New York City, consisting of actor and musician siblings, Nat and Alex Wolff. The siblings' musical efforts were initially discovered during their work on the Nickelodeon television series The Naked Brothers Band, which was created and produced by their mother, actress Polly Draper.[1][2] It was adapted from the self-titledmockumentary film that Draper wrote and directed.[1][2][3] The duo's initial teen popboy band called "The Naked Brothers Band" was depicted as part of its participation in their Nickelodeon series that aired from 2007 to 2009.
History
2001–2004: Early years and the Silver Boulders
While Nat was in preschool, he formed a band called the Silver Boulders with his friends, which included David,[3] Thomas, Josh, Walker (son of news journalist Ann Curry), and Cal (son of actress Julianne Moore).[1][4] Nat wrote his first song titled "Mama Don't Let Me Cry"[5] at the age of five.[3] At the time, Alex was not allowed to be part of the band, as Nat felt it would be unfashionable to have a brother in the same ensemble.[1]
When Nat, who lives in Lower Manhattan of New York City, was four years old, his father, jazz pianist Michael Wolff (bandleader on The Arsenio Hall Show)[1][2][3] played Nat music, primarily jazz. One day, Michael overheard Nat teaching himself how to play major chords on the piano; Nat told his father that they were his "proud chords". After hearing the music of The Beatles, Nat became inspired and watched all the group's films including Help!.[1] On the other hand. Alex discovered how to play the saxophone at the age of two and a half. As recalled by the boys' mother, actress Polly Draper (star on ABC's Thirtysomething), Nat and Alex were infants when they arose from a bath proclaiming, "We're the naked brothers band!"[1][2][3]
After the September 11 attacks, six-year-old Nat composed the song "Firefighters" for a benefit he performed with his band, staged behind his Lower Manhattan apartment. Alex desired to be part of the concert, and so Nat created "a fake plastic saxophone" for him to play.[1] The charity ended up raising over $45,000 and was donated to the children of the firefighters who were killed during the terrorist attacks. After the band's charity concert, the band performed shows at Christmas parties and wedding ceremonies.[1]
After being inspired by Ringo Starr from the Beatles, Alex chose the drums as an alternative instrument to play.[1] Alex learned how to play, as he viewed tapes of Starr playing, which resulted in him becoming a proficient drummer. This persuaded Nat to allow Alex to join his band. At the age of 6, Nat composed a melody without lyrics. He later desired to compose a song that sounded like The Beach Boys' music. Subsequently, Nat wrote the song "Crazy Car".[1]
In 2003, Nat was featured in his mother's play Getting Into Heaven at The Flea Theater. Nat also performed in The Heart of Baghdad at the same theater.[2]
2004–2009: The Naked Brothers Band
Nat begged his mom to be a child actor by putting signs on his door that said: "I want to be a child actor!" At first, she refused by explaining that it would be too difficult, so she made a compromise with Nat; in 2003, she let him film his own sitcom titled Don't Eat Off My Plate.[2] After that, Nat begged his dad to record a tape in the studio with Alex and him, so Michael arranged a recording session for the three of them in the studio. While Draper saw them recording in the studio, she came up with the idea to make a "mock documentary" about the band as if they were huge like The Beatles.[1] During summer 2004, the film took production at the family's real-life apartment and throughout New York City,[2] at which time Nat was 9 and Alex was 6-and-a-half.[1] Draper wrote and directed The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie, which was designed as an independent family project with a budget under $1,000,000.[2] The film consisted of celebrities who were friends with Draper and Wolff, including Cyndi Lauper, Julianne Moore, Ann Curry, Uma Thurman, Tony Shalhoub, Ricki Lake, Arsenio Hall, and the complete cast of Thirtysomething.[1][2] Nat Wolff wrote and performed all the songs, except for "That's How It Is", which was written and performed by Alex Wolff.
On October 23, 2005, Draper and Wolff entered the film at the Hamptons International Film Festival, where it won the audience award for family feature film.[2][6][7] Meanwhile, Albie Hecht, a former Nickelodeon executive and founder of Spike TV, was in the audience that day. He ended up bringing the film to Nickelodeon, suggesting they develop it into a television series. Tom Asheim, the vice president and general manager of Nickelodeon said:
"At first, we were intrigued by the idea, but we weren't sure kids would get the vague-tongue-and-check-of-it. Then a bunch of us took it home to our own children and they loved it."[2]
Eventually, the staff at Nickelodeon persuaded Draper to put together a television series after comprising with short, 13 episode seasons over the summer and early autumn, so the boys were able to attend private school throughout most of the school year. Draper recalled, "When Nickelodeon first asked us about doing a series, we said, 'How about a cartoon, so the kids could stay normal?' They said, 'No, we love your kids.'"[8] In the summer through the early fall of 2006, the first season of the self-titled series took production.[2] On January 27, 2007, The Naked Brothers Band: The Movie aired on Nickelodeon, and the self-titled series aired February 3.[2] Polly Draper was the creator, head writer, executive producer, and frequent director of the series.
Nat and Alex never really realized how big they were until October 8, 2007. Band members Nat, Alex, Thomas, David, Allie DiMeco (who stars as Rosalina and Nat's crush on the film and TV series), and Qaasim Middleton (who replaced former band-member Josh on the series) had an autograph-signing at Times SquareVirgin Megastore for the band's release of their self-titled debut album The Naked Brothers Band. There were 1,500 fans that waited outside of Virgin Megastore for hours; some camped out overnight.[1][2] They also had a live performance on ABC's Good Morning America with the band's song "I'm Out".
Nat stated that for the series, he would write 14-15 songs for each episode.[9] On April 15, 2008, the brothers released their second album, I Don't Want To Go To School. The album had a total of 12 tracks, along with two bonus tracks, and a poster. As part of a Wal-Mart special sale, it included a DVD featuring a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Draper-Wolff family and the siblings' bandmates.
The brothers then started their first national-tour, called Nat & Alex Wolff: Fully Clothed & On Tour, which started on November 1, 2008.[10] Nat and Alex, along with professionally trained musicians that include Jacob Hertzog (music director, guitar and backup vocals), Misty Boyce (keyboards and backup vocals), Chris Muir (musician)|Chris Muir (bass and backup vocals), and Boris Pelekh (guitar, drums and backup vocals), performed songs from and even some from the upcoming episodes. Some concerts they performed at include the Capital One Bank Theater in New York City, the Theater of the Living Arts in Philadelphia, the Berkeley Performance Center in Boston, The Roxy in Los Angeles, and the House of Blues in Chicago, New Orleans, Florida and California.[10] The tour ended shortly after on December 14, 2008.
2009–2010: Duo career and touring
After The Naked Brothers Band television show ended in 2009, the brothers continued to pursue music but emerged as a duo group, as the duo's old band name was owned by Viacom, a trademark of Nickelodeon. The initial band ended, partially due to the conclusion of the television series, which was abruptly cancelled at the request of Draper, who claimed the production schedule was too much for the brothers, on top of their education.
Frequent touring band members — Jake Hertzog, Boris Pelekh, Chris Muir and Misty Boyce — provided back-up instrumentation for the brothers as they toured in 2008.[11] Following the 2008 tour, the brothers confirmed their first full-length summer tour, titled "Nat & Alex Wolff: Summer Road Trip Tour". It began in June 2009 and ended in early October 2009.
The brothers performed at Pop-Con 2010, alongside Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and many other teen performers. Thereafter, the duo performed at the Earth Day 2010 concert in New York and played many new songs there, such as "Fire and Kerosene", "18", "Disappointed" and others. It was during these performances that the brothers realised crowds had begun to shrink, something that come as a surprise to them.[12]
After the brothers completed their tour in 2009, they revealed that they were working on a new studio album, post their Nickelodeon TV series. Two demo tracks — a cover of Bruce Springsteen's song "Dancing In The Dark" and of The Beatles' song, "A Hard Day's Night" — were leaked onto the siblings' official website.[13]
The brothers began recording their first non-Nickelodeon studio album in early 2010. Of the writing process, Nat said, "The material is a bit more mature, as I have matured as a [song]writer."[11] Leading up to the album's release, the brothers starred in their own web series on YouTube, which was written and directed by their mother, Polly Draper. New episodes were uploaded weekly in the lead up to the release of the album; most of which featured snippets of tracks that appeared on the album.
The album, Black Sheep, was released in the fall of 2011. The album was produced by their father and Daniel Wise, a client at The Soundmine Recording Studio.[14]
2013–2020: Smaller Releases and Public Places
Following a brief period of touring, in October 2013, Nat & Alex Wolff released an album of previously unreleased songs, entitled Throwbacks. The album primarily consisted of songs the musicians wrote during their time on their Nickelodeon show, The Naked Brothers Band. The songs were initially to be released in 2009, however, due to contracts with the brothers, the rights to the music were occupied by Nickelodeon.
In 2014, the brothers continued to release music, in the form of several double-singles. In late 2014, they released a double-single, "Cities/It's Just Love". Three months later, they released "Last Station/Rules", and, on October 7, an additional double-single, consisting of "Where I'm Goin'" by Alex, and "Rock Star" by Nat, described as 'melodic folk tunes, perfect for a chilly fall day'. [15] An alternate version of Rock Star was also featured in the 2013 teen romance film Palo Alto which included Nat in a starring role.
In 2015, Nat penned and performed the single, "Look Outside", which featured in the feature film, Paper Towns, also starring Nat.[16]
The brothers released their first extended play in November 2016, titled Public Places.
In late 2019, the duo released the double-single, "Cool Kids/Note". Whilst the duo did not release any major efforts over the next couple of years, they continued performing live for fans on their social media accounts, and even reunited with former Naked Brothers Band cast-mates for a live sing-along reunion on Instagram in 2020, during the COVID lockdown.[17] In late 2020, they released the track, "Glue", which was inspired by Fleetwood Mac, the Replacements and the National.[18]
2021-2024: Table For Two and Subsequent Touring
As COVID lockdown forced the brothers to share a living space once again, the two started to collaborate on new music, experimenting with different genres and sounds.[19] In September 2022, the brothers released "All Over You", a Prince-inspired genre bending tune, described by Nat as, “the tune you put on the night before you leave town when you’ve just fallen in love."[20] The duo finally released their second studio album, Table For Two, on June 15, 2023.[21] According to Paste Magazine, the Matt Wallace and Tone Def-produced album was 'unrushed, initially meant to come out in 2021, but Alex and Nat chose to push it back while focusing on their ever-more-complex medley of side hustles and big-name gigs.'[21]
Following the album's release, the brothers began touring in January 2024, noting it was the first 'fun' tour they had embarked on in years, and that it was 'just the beginning' of their musical journey.[22]
2024-Present: Third Studio Album
In an Instagram post on March 8, 2024, the brothers revealed they had finished their third studio album.[23]
