Since this interview was conducted, a couple of things happened up at Baby Woodrose HQ. What will matter to most people, is that they released a couple of singles. What matters to me the most though, is that I finally got to see them live. And in what a more befitting venue, than the basement of White Trash in Berlin. Those who haven't seen Baby Woodrose live, are in for a surprise. Away from the studio, the band transforms into a lysergic Juggernaught who sets out to offend all but the most hardened ears. Their heady mix of Garage, Acid and Who riffery turns into a psychedelic mash of fuzz,buzz and feedback. Their layered studio sound is compensated by sheer volume that no 3 man band has produced before. The bass and drums pummel along, and manage to keep it all together, and their live enginner (their fourth member), like a Lee Scratch Perry on acid, drowns everything into a sea of space echo and reverb. While not for everyone, if you can take it, it's an experience to be had.
You just released Chasing Rainbows, which has been touted as a return
to the vintage Baby Woodrose sound, yet it picks up where Love Comes Down
leftoff. Is the dreamier psychedelic soundscapes a new direction for BabyWoodrose?
No, not really. Anybody who knows about the other stuff we've been doing
through the last 20 years would hardly be surprised by this side of my
songwriting. It's actually more of a return to where we were right after
the first album, since we abondoned the idea of having a producer and just
did everything outrselves again this time. To me Money For Soul and Love
COmes DOwn were attemps at a new direction, featuring short and to the
point rocksongs with an "inyourface" production ethic.
Chasing Rainbows was issued on Bad Afro. What was the reason for
returning to the label?
We didn't feel comfortable with the majorlabel deal we had and sold less
records, so Lars took us back in. It feels like home to us.
This must be the best sounding Baby Woodrose record to date, with extra
instruments like sitar, flutes etc. Did it take long to record and how did
you record it?
Thank you very muuch! I agree! No, it was done considerably faster than
the last one we did, mostly due to our editing budget being zero! We
didn't fiddle with any tracks in protools, no splicing, no copying,
everything passed by a tape machine and is as it was recorded. It's an old
school mix too, no flying faders, no digital effects and no plugins were
used.
Are you using vintage instruments or you use anything that will work
for you? How do recreate your layered sound live?
We like vintage gear, but basically we use whatever is at hand and
whatever idea comes up we'll try. We're not picky or dogmatic about it. We
don't try to recreate anything live either, live we're an asskicking
punkband compared to our records. Music should sound real, too many bands
nowadays rely too much on desktops and pre-recorded backing tracks, even
bands who claim to be "rocknroll"...
Bad Afro is re releasing Blows Your Mind on vinyl. What's the story, and
do you think that vinyl is still relevant in the age of MP3 and My space?
What's your opinion on MP3 and do you still buy vinyl records?
The story is that the first album was originally released on vinyl by a
spanish label who has since gone bankrupt, so it was about time it came
out again as the originals were getting soughtafter by all the fans who
catched on to us after it wad deleted. To us, an album isn't really
released until it's on wax, we don't care much for mp3s.
There's also new records by On Trial, Dragontears and The Setting Son.
What's Baby Woodrose's involvement with these records?
I'm producing The Setting Son, used to play in On Trial with our beloved
bassplayer and Dragontears is an outlet for freakier and more experimental
music. It's kind of like a playground for people in this family of friends
revolviung around us, On Trial, Setting Son, Baby Woodrose.
Is the Scandinavian still buzzing?
From what? The drinking water?
What's next for Baby Woodrose?
Right now, we're working on the second Dragontears album, recording some
farout sounds. It will be quite strange this time. I'm also helping The
Setting SOn picking songs for his second album and we've still got some
touring left before we can start recording our follow up to Chasing
Rainbows.
Interview by Tolis Apostolidis
|