Feature: LA’s Wax Owls Weave Indie Folk Reveries on ‘Cowboy Cologne’

Wax Owls’ Gerry Hirschfeld takes us track-by-track through the band’s breathtakingly beautiful, soul-stirring debut EP ‘Cowboy Cologne’ – a tender, triumphant indie folk tempest that aches with the warmth, weight, and wonder of life itself.

for fans of Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, José González

Stream: “Freckle” – Wax Owls

Wax Owls’ music isn’t just a balm for the ears; it’s a blanket for the soul.

Ever since they debuted in 2020, the indie folk band from Los Angeles have turned heads and stirred hearts through sweet songs full of warmth, nuance, and depth. “Touching lyrics, rich harmonies, soaring melodies, and gentle acoustic instrumentation prove a winning combination for this rising trio,” Atwood Magazine quipped two years ago. Wax Owls’ vulnerability is undeniable, and in the intimate spaces they create, artist and audience alike find not just strength and hope, but connection – a pull toward something greater than ourselves.

After nearly two dozen singles, Wax Owls’ debut EP offers a breathtaking expression of their raw humanity, capturing the band’s talent for channeling big feelings into soft, spellbinding sounds: A tender, triumphant indie folk tempest, Cowboy Cologne aches with the beauty and weight of life itself.

Cowboy Cologne - Wax Owls — Cowboy Cologne – Wax Owls

Called it a draw and then you took my hand
Said maybe the endings the start of the plan
I looked in your eyes and the freckle it contains
It’s harder to swallow the life we forsake

I hide my confessions in songs but obscure
The truth and my faults
in the strangeness of words
So hold out the fire or fold it away
Cause you get a free start when the money can pay

Give a weight for hope
Walk it off, stay close
What a cruel twist of passion
That nothing would happen
Cause it used to be healthy to stay
Oh it used to be healthy to stay

– “Freckle,” Wax Owls

Independently released September 6, 2024, Cowboy Cologne is an enchanting best-foot-forward from one of Los Angeles’ most exciting indie folk up-and-comers. The brainchild of multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Gerry Hirschfeld, Chris Tsaganeas (drums), and Bobby Kay (bass), Wax Owls have been a mainstay of Atwood Magazine‘s pages ever since we first discovered their 2020 debut single “Set It Free,” which itself offered a sorrowful, yet hopeful message of longing and emotional release. “Like a big musical hug, it wraps itself around us and squeezes – not too tight to suffocate, but just tight enough for us to know someone’s there for us; that someone cares,” we wrote of the band’s “sun-kissed” sound in a 2022 track review.

Arriving four years into the band’s career, Cowboy Cologne is a five-track, homemade DIY collection of songs written, recorded, and produced over the twelve months, capturing frontman Hirschfeld’s life in snapshots and sentiments, movements and emotions. His lyrics are confessional and unfiltered, his vocals full of passion and heart, and the music itself seems made to meet every moment – rather than driving the songs, Wax Owls seem to have listened to what each song needed to become, hence the pairing of softer, heartrending acoustic music like that of opener “Ladybug Season” next to more cinematic, dramatic, and built-up arrangements like “Overpriced Buffets.”

“This record was recorded at our home studio, which gave us time to develop the songs to have the feel we wanted,” Gerry Hirschfeld tells Atwood Magazine. “Self-recording and self-producing was wonderful because we didn’t feel rushed to get a perfect take on the first try. It is about our life over the last year or so – both in terms of scares (e.g. ‘Ladybug Season’ is about my mom having a heart attack) and successes (‘Guess You Knew’ is about having a friendship / relationship where you are so connected with someone often you don’t have to say anything and they simply understand).”

“I hope that it shows that we love reflective music with vocal harmonies and lush arrangements. I hope that it comes off with a folksy feel that is forward looking.”

“I don’t think there is ever a clear vision,” he says of the band’s creative process. “It is always, ‘what would make this song hit emotionally?’ Sometimes that means making a really lush and full arrangement, like ‘Overpriced Buffets,’ but other times it would be about stripping back and being more vulnerable like in ‘Freckle.’ The goal is always just to have a production that gives the song the most emotional weight. After that, I just hope that the songs sound coherent together… but I am too close to them to be sure. The biggest change we had was that Chris was able to set up a space to record live drums, which I loved. Prior to that we would either have to program the drums or have Chris record isolated individual drums.”

Go, tell me the consequence,
and what I can learn from it,
and gnaw out from the cage
Maybe it’s phosphorus,
fluorescent and obvious,
no one’s self-made

Maybe we’ll fall
(call it kismet)
Maybe we’ll crash and burn somewhere gold
(just a fleeting feeling)
Forgive and recall the ways
(I used to know you)
Saddle bound after the engines fold
(paint our picket fences)

Maybe we’ll crash and burn somewhere gold…

**Hirschfeld candidly describes Cowboy Cologne as a reflective, vulnerable, and hopeful record.**

The album’s title, he explains, is the name of a natural growing sage plant in Southern California.

“You can find it on my hiking trails just outside of LA. It sort of has a lemony smell that I really like. I wanted something that reflected Southern California in an ‘off-the-beaten-path’ kind of way. When I think of that plant or that smell, I think of hiking outside the city in the mountains. It reminds me of times I’ve spent appreciating Southern California’s natural beauty. I hope the record has a similar feel to that.”

Memorable moments abound on the sixteen-minute journey from “Ladybug Season” to “The Waiting Room” – a listen that is best done all at once, maybe even a few times over, to appreciate the full effect of Wax Owls’ artistry. From the radiant harmonies and acoustic guitar noodling on the aforementioned opening track, to the immersive and shiver-inducing chorus of “Freckle” and the sweet heat emanating off of “Guess You Knew,” Cowboy Cologne is as dazzling as it is demure – a record made to soundtrack life’s special moments, as well as all those spaces in-between.

“My favorite is ‘Ladybug Season,’” Hirschfeld smiles. “It is the most vulnerable song lyrically. Plus, Alex Katunich, the former Incubus bass player, recorded bass on that song. I grew up a huge fan of Incubus records he was on (‘Make Yourself,’ ‘Morningview,’ and ‘Science’). It was a real cool moment getting to work alongside him.”

“My favorites are ‘The Waiting Room’ and ‘Ladybug Season,’ drummer Chris Tsaganeas adds. “I like ‘The Waiting Room’ because the production was a ton of fun tracking ‘clicky stick hits’ and other random percussion choices.”

As for lyrical highlights, Hirschfeld cites two lines that continues to resonate for him – one from the song “Freckle,” and the other from “Overpriced Buffets”:

“I hide my confessions in songs but obscure, the truth is my faults in the strangeness of words.” – “Freckle”

“Blues, the way that the lawyers sing, at company retreats, with overpriced buffets.” – “Overpriced Buffets”

This being Wax Owls’ debut EP, Hirschfield has realistic expectations for the record. “I hope that listeners just like the songs – or at least one of them,” he shrugs. “It’s cool when people are excited enough about discovering a new song or a new artist to share that with other people. I hope that happens.”

While it may still be early days for the indie folk trio, there’s nothing premature about their breathtakingly beautiful sound or their soul-stirring songwriting. Cowboy Cologne speaks to life’s complexity – from joy and love to grief and pain, it’s a record made from those real, raw moments that we all have, or will eventually know all too well. Wax Owls sugarcoat nothing and ask nothing of us in return, but that we listen to their songs and take from them what we need – be it a sense of connection, of hope, of love, or even of longing.

“There’s so many ways to fall; does it even matter?” Hirschfeld wonders aloud in album closer “The Waiting Room,” a cathartic song whose closure is particularly heavy and hard-won. “Waste away the time until you fade into the fog,” he sings, “Like a raindrop in a pond on the morning after.” Wax Owls may not have an answer to all our big questions, but damn if they don’t help us feel a little less alone.

And in the end, that’s all that really matters.

As for the band themselves, this EP has clearly affirmed their sense of self and their commitment to their craft. “For me, I learned more and more about production and got an excuse to play and record a bunch of instruments,” Hirschfeld shares. “Since we self-produced and self-recorded everything, we got the DIY experience that solidified the ‘we can make things on our own, we can be self-sufficient’ headspace. Plus, in making things on our own, I was able to learn a lot. It’s always great coming away from something a bit more experienced and skilled.”

Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside Wax Owls’ Cowboy Cologne with Atwood Magazine as Gerry Hirschfeld goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of the band’s debut EP!

— —

:: stream/purchase Cowboy Cologne here ::

:: connect with Wax Owls here ::

Stream: ‘Cowboy Cologne’ – Wax Owls

:: Inside Cowboy Cologne ::

— —

Ladybug Season

I wrote “Ladybug” season following my mom having an unexpected heart attack the exact same evening that Chris broke his leg and was rushed to the ER. I was visiting Chris in the ER when my sister called to tell me that my mom was being rushed to the ER for a heart attack. Thankfully, they are both ok. But the song is about navigating that frightening experience. I ended up staying a few nights in the hospital with my mom. We didn’t have much to do to pass the time and she likes listening to me play guitar, so I ended up writing the guitar part while in the hospital room with her. It felt appropriate to use that guitar part as the basis for the instrumental of this song.

Overpriced Buffets

For both Chris and I, it was the risk of pursuing our passion in music because we were dissatisfied with being lawyers and we would both rather fail doing the thing we love than being ok somewhere we hated. Once we had come to that realization, what could have been a frightening moment, became exciting. We wanted that cathartic excitement to be reflected both in the melody but also the music of the song.

Freckle

“Freckle” ultimately becomes a meditation reflecting on our past decisions, intimacy, and the tension between pursuing passion and embracing practicality. Throughout the song, there’s a sense of introspection and a willingness to confront truths, even when they’re uncomfortable. Musically, this song has been through many incarnations before we settled on this version. I was heavily inspired by Elliot Smith in how I wanted to treat the vocal production. I think it adds a layer of vulnerability that reinforces the lyrical themes and enhances the sparseness of the rest of the production, which stands in contrast to a lot of our other songs.

Guess You Knew

“Guess You Knew” is about having a friendship / relationship where you are so connected with someone often you don’t have to say anything and they simply understand.

The Waiting Room

“The Waiting Room” is about the journey through emotional turbulence, accepting change, and the slow and sometimes painful process of moving on. While there is a resignation to the inevitability of certain events, there is also an acknowledgment of personal growth through the shared experience of loss and reflection. ‘There’s so many ways to fall, does it even matter’ underscores the setbacks we all face while questioning their importance in the grand scheme of things.

— —