Patricia Wolf is a musician, sound designer, and field recordist residing in Portland, Oregon. Wolf’s work sonically unites natural and modern worlds, integrating ecological sources into her minimalist electronic compositions. Using melody and repetition she lures listeners to her hypnotic inner space, conjuring vivid textures and atmospheres imbued with emotion. Wolf's debut album, I’ll Look For You In Others was released in February 2022 on Past Inside The Present and was quickly followed up by her 2nd LP See-Through which was released on the Catalan label, Balmat. In June of 2024 she released "The Secret Lives of Birds" on the UK based label Nite Hive.

In 2024 Wolf also created the soundtrack and did the sound design and sound mixing for Edward Pack Davee's new feature length film, Hrafnamynd. The soundtrack by the same name was released on Balmat July 11, 2025.

Could you share with us what mood or feeling guided you while putting this mix together?

The mood and feeling that guided me while making this mix is an acute awareness that the world is transitioning towards something unknown, as it always is, but at this time I am perceiving it as more chaotic and tragic than I have ever experienced in my lifetime. I ask myself, how does one respond to change and uncertainty? With hope or with despair? I have been in a deep state of observation and analysis lately. I’ve been reflecting on the history of humanity and the history of the planet in geologic terms. This mix spans many genres, but I feel that all of the music reflects a desire, in spite of loss and pain, to survive and work towards a better world. Many of the songs contain some melancholic feelings, but they also contain a stubborn tilt towards life and resilience. I have included the music of friends or music shared with me by friends as well as some discoveries that I have come across on my own. This mix feels to me like a tale of a wanderer looking for a place of peace and calm in a chaotic world, finding friends, finding sadness, finding beauty, experiencing loss, doing what one can to hold onto hope.

What feels like the most efficient way for you to create and produce new music at this time, and what kind of workflow has been working best for you?

The most efficient way for me to create and produce new music at this time is to make sure that I am engaging with the world and finding things that excite and inspire me. It’s so important to always seek out new sources of wonder, fascination, and a connection to the wider world both in the present age and in the past. It may come from a book, the study of an unknown subject, a life experience, current events, or a work of art or music. I also need time to reflect and daydream so that I can go into the studio with a feeling so strong that it just wants to flow out of me into sound. From a technical standpoint I have learned that it works best for me to limit the instruments on which I will compose. As someone who loves melody and harmony in music, it’s become more important to create an emotional idea that is reflected in a special combination of notes than it is to have the most novel sounds coming from the newest instrument. I included a few piano compositions at the end of this mix to underscore that idea. With just one instrument one can make such beautiful music with infinite possibilities. As someone who mainly uses synthesizers it's really important to hold that thought in my mind about what it is that I truly find most important in music.

How do natural sounds influence the atmosphere or emotional space you’re trying to create in your music?

I would consider myself very sensitive to sound. I prefer environments where you can still hear the sounds of birds, wind, rain, as well as the sounds that humans make without the human made sounds taking up all of the space. I think for that reason I tend to make music that either leaves open space for other sounds to come in or I place natural sounds alongside it to give a sense of what feels like balance to me. I think for me it’s a way of feeling a sense of communion with the world and other living things. It leaves space to show that we are all connected and interdependent. I think that is more true to the nature of things, that we are part of an ecosystem of biodiverse and intertwined lifeforms.

I can’t cite any specific books or visual arts that have had an obvious influence on my work, but it’s so important for me to read, watch films, and see art every day. It’s what keeps me inspired. Some books that I have been reading lately that have had a profound effect on me are A Ravel Reader Correspondence, Articles, Interviews by Arbie Orenstein. Ravel is my favorite composer and it’s been such a privilege to peer into his letters and see what kind of person he was day to day and juxtapose that with his artistic work and the many events of his life such as when he started finding success after so many unfair setbacks while at the Paris Conservatoire, his friendships with other composers and musicians who would perform his works, his entry into The Great War, the loss of his mother, his way of dealing with politics and the business side of things. I look up to this man as a mentor. I’m also reading a book called Resonant Recoveries: French Music and Trauma Between the World Wars by Jilian C. Rogers. It discusses how music was used in a subversively therapeutic way during WWI And WWII. During this time, it was suddenly socially forbidden to be in a visibly mournful state despite the overwhelming losses that society was experiencing.. One was expected to be solemn and calm.. Through intentional methods of composition and playing techniques and with considerations for the subconscious, movement, and tactile instructions, artists and composers exchanged works with one another meant to help people cope with the overwhelming pain at that time. It reminds me that as composers and musicians we can do so much to help people through horrific times.

Is there a favorite film or director whose work you would love to score, and what is it about their storytelling or vision that draws you in and inspires you musically?

I think it would be amazing to work on a film directed by Ari Aster or Yorgos Lanthimos. There’s an emotional, psychological, and mystical depth to their films that I find so inspiring. Their storytelling tends to have so much tension woven in. I think that sound and music can amplify those feelings even more making for a strongly affecting and unforgettable experience.

What are some daily rituals or habits you follow that help maintain your creativity and focus?

Reading, journaling and listening to my favorite classical composers and other works of interesting music is probably my most important habit to help me maintain my creativity and focus. I love to go birdwatching and take walks and hikes where I can notice the changes or states occurring in nature every day. I also love to play board games to keep my mind sharp in a different sort of way.